Lysander said

[orig][quote]

Well, let's put it this way.

Weedeater used to play to no one at O'Briens, and tour in a small van selling homemade beef jerky at their merch booth. They took turns driving while none of them owned a valid driver's license, drinking cough syrup, puking onstage, and swallowing bags of cocaine for fun. Not many people cared, as this just was not particularly cool except to a select breed of self-described scumbag.

Now Weedeater plays big places, and the same fifty or so scumbags are there. Just add a couple hundred more kids with trucker hats, v-necks, tight pants, and fixies, plus bigger vans, bigger venues, and a tour manager to keep them in line. That's the "sludge" scene in a nutshell.

So-called "hipster" culture has always gravitated towards the "fashion" and ideals of the working class that their upper-middle class upbringings lacked.

Considering either Electric Wizard or Isis a sludge band is a stretch, both have the elements, yet, that just ain't it.

Both have/had pretty significant "hipster" followings. The E. Wiz occult thing is pretty hip right now in "doom/stoner" circles, and Isis's post-metal thing was pretty hip around the time that Oceanic was released, Pelican came out, Mogwai go more stoned, and Neurosis got more motherfucking mellow.

That ain't the marrow of the matter. See Eyehategod, Grief, Buzzo*ven, Sourvein, Weedeater, Noothgrush, and Cavity for real sludge. For me, Cavity is the only one that actually ever mattered musically, but hey, my taste in music blows. Why else would I hang out here?

Proceed by inference. Go see how much the attendance at shows for these bands (at least the ones still active) has jumped, and take a look at who is at the shows.

Better yet, look who is supporting. Weedeater toured with with ASG. Nuff said.

Eyehategod is always supported by the trendiest bands that all the cool kids follow, even the local ones. Personally, doesn't matter to me, good one them, they slugged it out for years and years while no one gave two shits. Form your own damn opinions, that's all they're ever good for.