Don't beleieve the hype

I'm off the UK Hype Machine. No more even entertaining the notion of picking up another album from some British Isle posterboys for the post-punk/garage-rock/rock resurgence. In fact, I'm not buying anything from any band from anywhere that is somehow squeezed into that categorical descriptor by various music news outlets (I'm looking at you Pitchfork!). I've been burned in the last year or so by the following bands who somehow ended up with my cash in their pockets:

• Franz Ferdinand
• Libertines
• Ambulance Ltd
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Half of them are British, all of them allegedly wonderful, and none of them got more than 2 spins on the stereo. Four boringly consistent albums that...whatever. I don't have the energy for it. Suffice to say, as a result of my experiences I will never purchase albums by the following bands:

• Babyshambles
• TV on the Radio
• Test Icicles
• Arctic Monkeys

The last band being the subject of an article in today's WaPo that spawned this little screed in the first place.