The Enemy – It’s Not OK (Stiff)
2/5
By: Christiana Spens
"It's not OK to be this way / Not OK to be a slave... Teenage dreams... washed away by the minimum wage..."
A cry of anguish from the Midlands band causing a stir with catchy tunes reminding people just a bit of Oasis and even the abandon of the Sex Pistols. They're not romantic and wistful like such bands as Babyshambles tend to be, beneath all the scuffle and dirt, they're more feet on the ground pissed off with things a bit, but managing to address the balance a bit with some rebellious victorious anthems.
There's definitely a sense of defiance - maybe because The Enemy don't have to be slaves to the minimum wage anymore, and their teenage dreams are all happening oh so fast. It's more that they're rousing the crowds to jump on the bandwagon (literally) and be free as well - and as a result 'It's Not OK' is a driving, positive song. If you're thinking about quitting your day job to play guitar, then this is the song for you. So although there's a bit of dissatisfaction going on it's a battle they've won.
But what is this battle? For the Enemy, it appears that their victory is a bit shallow. Sure, they're not working factory jobs, and they're having fun being in a successful band, but surely there's more to fight for than a bit of fame and fortune? Surely there's more to music than stating the obvious with a few victorious riffs? Remember the Libertines?
I know it's getting passé to keep referring everything back to how great the Libertines were, but the battle isn't lost yet. There are a few of us who still pine for songs about ideals and escapes and the whole Arcadian imagination, songs that were poetic and euphoric and high. And yet bands keep springing up who want to sing about gritty streets and grey skies and the things that are meant to be avoided in life.
"It's too easy to be a dreamer / Wake up and be free," sing The Enemy. Perhaps this is the change that is taking place: the idealistic and romantic beauty of the Libertines and the other bands who shared that sensibility, is being replaced by this gritty realism, somewhere between being pissed off with the rain and finding fulfilment in posing as a social realist. I thought that was what politicians were for.
These new bands seem to think that getting off the minimum wage and singing about cigarette butts is a majestic triumph. They say it's not ok to be a dreamer anymore.
I can see what they're getting at: if you're going to dream unrealistic visions of Arcadia and strawberry fields, then maybe like Icarus you will burn your wings under the scorching sun and fall to the ground. Maybe like Pete Doherty you'll be slated and blinded and burned by it all. So maybe it makes sense to be realistic and aim for graspable ideals, to portray grim realities like the Artic Monkeys and the Enemy, to sing about the State of Britain Today in a vaguely apathetic way that sounds quite cool and makes you look grounded.
It's the old battle between the rational and irrational, the dreamer and the realist. Choose your side. For me, the Arcadian imagination, the dream of liberty, mythological as it may be, will always be the only side I want to fight, the Albion will be the only ship I sail - and the Enemy? Will always be just that: the enemy.
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