Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

my favorite andrew w.k. moment of 2002: sitting in a volkswagen beetle at delaware pridefest (at rehoboth beach, de) with two other bears (bigger, hairy gay men, for the uninitiated), headbanging to “party hard.”
reason #1 to love andrew w.k.: he’s not at all ironic.
reason #1 not to love island def jam: they made him change “girls own juice” to “girls own love.”
reason #2 to love andrew w.k.: to get in the right frame of mind for his album cover photo shoot, he bashed himself in the nose with a brick.
reason #2 not to love island def jam: they covered the lower half of the I get wet cover with a black sticker, so as to not offend retailers (or, presumably, customers).
reason to forgive them: at least they got the album in every record store they could.
reason #3 to love andrew w.k.: he was one of the few new artists in ’02 (’01 in the u.k.) who actually sounded fresh.
reason #4 to love andrew w.k.: a number of guys in his band – playing unapologetically hook-laden, semipop music – are veterans of death metal bands.
reason #5 to love andrew w.k.: his is party music (or, “party” music – three of his album’s 12 tracks include the word in their titles) which doesn’t lower your i.q.
reason #6 to love andrew w.k.: even though he’s pretty ugly, you just know that sex with him would fuckin’ rock.
reason #7 to love andrew w.k.: some of the best disco-rock this side of kiss’ “I was made for loving you” (see: the snare fills on “take it off”). did electric six send a “thank you” card?
reason #8 to love andrew w.k.: “when it’s time to party/we will party hard.”