What Oddfellows Those Tomahawk Are

Oh my god, I never thought I'd see something like this again:



A regular ol' rock video by a rock band!
(Okay, I guess now that I think about it that's basically what Chicken Walk by Don Juan Y Los Blancos is, too, but for some reason I feel like that doesn't count.)
Seriously, I love this video more than my initial reaction thought I did. Nothing happens in it, it's just shots of the band playing. At first glance it's not all that interesting.
But:
1) the video does its job in selling me the song; I cannot get the fuckin' thing out of my head. The whole point of music videos is to showcase a band's songs (the singles, as they were called back in my day). Stone Letter rocks and I wish I was listening to it right now.
2) Tomahawk is a band comprised of old rock dudes; Duane Denison, Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and John Stanier are all old pros who were in other bands before this one. It only makes sense that their music video would be somewhat reminiscent of the 1990s when they were all young turks and music videos actually meant something to people. And back then there were a lot of videos that basically just showed the band performing. And I was never bored then so why should I be now?
The problem is, I made the mistake of reading the Youtube comments under this video (I know it's my own fault) but there seemed to be only two types of comments on this video:
1) people (probably guys) complaining that they don't like Tomahawk and saying things like "not a real Patton band"
2) people (probably chicks) complaining because they don't think Mike Patton is hot anymore.
To the first genre of comment, I say that, no, you're wrong, it actually is a Mike Patton band, seeing as he's the singer and all. It's not his brainchild, Duane Denison is the one in charge, but Mike Patton has been the lead singer for four albums now so I think it's safe to say that it actually is a Patton band.
I discovered years ago that Mike Patton fans are, to put it politely, a little off. It's fine if you don't like every single thing the man's done (I know I don't) but a remarkable amount of Patton fans that I've encountered seem to be in a constant game of One Upsmanship with everyone else, trying to prove that they're the biggest Mike Patton fan. In and of itself that's annoying but what makes it even more irksome is when they try to prove they're the biggest fan by claiming they only like one or two of his bands. Like, clearly they win at fandom because they only like Mr. Bungle and Fantomas, only idiots listen to something as "normal" sounding as Tomahawk.
That's faulty logic. Clearly Mike Patton believes their music is good enough that he not only put Tomahawk on his label but he signed on to be their singer. He doesn't look down on them for being good old fashioned rock music. It's fine if you don't like Tomahawk but don't act like you're better than me because you don't like them. That's not going to work.
To be honest, if I had to rank the bands Mike Patton's been in, Tomahawk might be in my number two spot. ... Yeah, it would. Let's see, it'd go:
1) Mr. Bungle
2) Tomahawk
3) Faith No More
4) Lovage
5) Mondo Cane
6) Peeping Tom
7) Fantomas (though if we're ranking live bands they'd be closer to the top)
8) Patton and Rahzel / General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners (I always lump them together for some reason)
9) Hemophiliac / Maldoror (I always lump them together, too)
That's how I'm feeling right now, anyway. I suppose it's always fluctuating.
The point is, I don't think badmouthing some of the projects the man's been involved with makes you the biggest fan. (I do have to say, though, I met some really, really nice Mike Patton fans when I went to see Faith No More a few years ago. It gave me hope that not all his fans are jerks.)
And as for the whole "he's not hot anymore" thing, I just flat out disagree. He's a gained a litte weight and his hair's going gray at the temples. I honestly think that makes him way more attractive but that's just my personal opinion. His face is still the same, he's still as handsome as ever. And, come on, he's turning forty five this month. Do you really expect him to look the same now as he did back when he was in Faith No More (the first time around, not the reunion tour)?! Twenty years have passed. If he looked the same now as he did then, that would just be creepy.
Oddfellows by Tomahawk comes out January 29! I'd buy it if I were me.

Be seeing you.
-Sally