Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Best Worst Idea: Design Anberlin's Tattoo Contest

It's been a banner week for dumb shit.

Just when I got done reeling from the auto-tune awesomeness of Vampires Everywhere!'s "Immortal Love," another fantastic impossible-to-ignore piece of cross-marketing synergy via Live Nation came through my inbox like a brown baby boy.

The concept is simple: Anberlin members Joey and Christian have agreed to be tattooed with a design created by two of their fans. Seriously.

To add even more to the branding clusterfuck, someone named Ruthless from the TLC show LA Ink will administer the tattoo. Though suggested themes include orthodox iconography, Gaelic art and "luck of the Irish," the submissions thus far have been varied at best (see below). They're actively seeking contestants through October 22, so you can get in on the action—as long as you're confident you can take on some of these masterpieces.



Then there's a public vote that presumably sways the final selections, and a quick perusal of the official rules states that there's no cash prize—just the honor of having your artistic vision emblazoned on the daring two. In other words, THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH WITH IT.

Stop making this bloggy-style thing so easy for me. I might actually start doing it regularly.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Vampires Everywhere!


Observations and facts based on an otherwise very pleasant press release I received:

1. The above is apparently a real band.
2. They're called Vampires Everywhere! (They somewhat inconsistently use the notated exclamation point.)
3. They just signed with Century Media, making them label mates with Naglfar and Napalm Death.
4. They make the Horrors look quite butch.
5. They use auto-tune (or some Frampton-esque variation) a whole bunch.
6. What the fuck is that guy on the right doing to the Claw?
7. Members' names include Michael Vampire, David Darko and Jay Killa.
8. They are in no way affiliated with Twilight—but they hope to be soon.
9. Based on their Myspace page, it takes six guys to make a band both blow and suck at the same time.
10. I repeat: this is a real band.

Still don't believe me? Check out their video for "Immortal Love."

Vampires Everywhere! from Scott Hansen on Vimeo.

Now you kids get off my lawn.