I was very excited today to find the current edition of the RFT - after all, JMB has won an award (in different categories) several different times. I nearly danced around Borders with glee when I saw they’d won - again. I’m passionate about the music, and believe in my heart that everyone on the planet should hear them. I truly believe that talent rests in the individual musician - not in the producer and his level of skill with ProTools. JMB has more talent than any one band should be allowed. Javier’s voice is beautiful and strong (even when he says he has laryngitis), Dave Karns kicks ass on the bass and I defy anyone to find a better bassist, Steve Scott is technically masterful on guitar, and Moises Padilla is a drummer to be reckoned with. Individually these guys are amazing, but combine them into one band and … I’m actually at a loss for words.

As I was flipping through the RFT to find the awards, though, I was baffled. Although I remember JMB being nominated for Best Modern Rock, apparently I remembered wrong. They’d been nominated for Best Pop. Trouble is, the term “pop” grates on my nerves. Boy bands and girl bimbos are pop - JMB is uncategorizable. I love that. “Modern rock”? “Soft rock”? “Latin rock”? Ha. In any case, I dove into the article with glee.

I expected a glowing review; what I got nearly made me rip the paper to shreds. (Why yes, that is PMS coming on.) Perhaps it’s just me; I’ve been known to read things the wrong way. Maybe it’s just coming across a little poorly because I expected it to be so fantastic. Mmmm… Maybe I need to read it again. It’s right here, near the bottom of the page. Or, maybe I won’t. No, perhaps I’ll just highlight the parts that offend me. This is not Javi, not at all. It’s not what he stands for or what he believes in. This article is pure shit.

[…]Pop may be the most meaningless of all categories, but there’s no denying Mendoza’s appeal to a mainstream audience. Take a cute, charismatic frontman, a tight if somewhat predictable rhythm section and some songs that stick in your head without meaning much of anything. Presto! Instant pop star.

Only he’s not a pop star — yet. Over the past two years or so, Mendoza may have toured Spain, opened for Chuck Berry […] and had songs used by the Sci-Fi Channel and MTV’s Real World Chicago, but the big break hasn’t happened. It’s not for lack of work or marketing. […] Mendoza’s music never really fit the Ricky Martin formula anyway. Take the song “Beautiful,” the title track from his latest CD. The acoustic jangle, the sweet organ and the oh-so-’90s drum work may be pop, but it isn’t quite slick enough to sell millions. Tunes such as “Beyond My Reach” might at first listen veer closer to the mainstream success Mendoza craves, but the mix of vague spiritualism — “I know you’re out there/I know you like to hide/But if I find you nowhere/Does that mean you’re just a lie?” […] cock-rock guitar solos and Latin percussion breaks is simply too strange to make sense on any radio format.

Bigger things may yet be on Mendoza’s horizon. Unlike the vast majority of local artists, he’s been able to pack venues such as Mississippi Nights and, over the last two years, the Javier Mendoza Band has actually built a bigger following in Chicago than in St. Louis. As mook-metal and frat rappers start to fade from the zeitgeist, maybe, just maybe, Mendoza’s brand of bouncy, positive pop rock can slip in.

Who is this dumbshit talking about? Javier Mendoza? Like, the Javier Mendoza I know? The Javier Mendoza who recorded a CD of spiritual songs and donates the proceeds to the Washington University Catholic Student Center? The Javier Mendoza who was kind to me after one of his friends dropped a great big A-bomb on my head, and everyone else turned their backs? The Javier Mendoza who is playing a benefit concert tomorrow night for the St. Louis Area Food Bank? That sweet guy? The one who always made me laugh? The one I respect so much? That guy?

Nah, I don’t think he’s talking about that Javier Mendoza.

I’m waiting to hear back from an e-mail I sent Mr. Roy Kasten. I also need to research my firm’s policy on writing letters to editors of newspapers. I’d love to do that as well. This has to be so shitty and disappointing for Javi. Knowing you’ve won an award, only to find out they shred you as they announce it! That’s fucked up. (My language always goes to shit when I’m angry, doesn’t it?)

So, Javier Mendoza and the boys won Best Pop Band. Yea guys! Just don’t let the bastard assholes bring you down!

Proud to be a fan of “meaningless” “bouncy” “vaguely spiritual” “radio-unfriendly” music,

michelle