Rise Of the New Flower Children

Although many members of the 60's hippy drippy drug revolution claim that the Flower Child is dead, and that drugs are being abused "dude" by f*** ups like me, what they have not noticed is a distinct shift in the music that is being put out on that market nowadays.

Granted, it lacks the screaming psychedelic sound of Jimi Hendrix or the Quicksilver Messenger Service, a premiere acid rock band from California's love age. Rather, it is digitalized and streamlined: groups such as MGMT, Animal Collective and Santogold have been putting out hip new music that speaks to a generation left in the dark too long by the post-grunge perma-fucked personas such as Thom Yorke from Radiohead.

Rather these new artists are contributing to the rise of the same attitudes that hit the world in shockwaves and scared the living hell out of the nouveau rich ideal American families with their 2.5 kids. MGMT in the opening song of Oracular Spectacular (2009) sings with a blazé attitude about shooting heroin and ditching the desk job. The rest of the album is just as self-gratifyingly liberating; a call to lay down arms, jump around, love everyone, live fast and die young.

Animal Collective rests somewhere along the same lines. The track entitled "My Girls" on their new album Merriweather Pavillion (2008) is an electronica drenched LSD trip as well as a cry out against materialism. Santogold puts out similar beats, albeit less electronica-ey: the main focus is her outlandish vocal capabilities. "Lights Out" a song from her self titled debut album Santogold (2008), which is also the anthem for Bud Lights lime twist brew, raves stylishly about flicking it all off and kickin it just for fun.

Liberation. F*** materialism: give us drugs, fun, wild living and love. This is the message. The 60's had their revolution, and now, the freaks of the modern world want theirs.