-snip-

No pretense. No apologies. Oasis was void of indie’s elitism or grunge’s propensity to whinge. Fuck your dues and fuck your dress code. We’re the rock stars now, and it’s on our terms they were saying. Oasis’ rebellion was optimism. They had a dream and an aliveness in their sound, and no one was going to step on it.

-snip-

Now Oasis has reformed for a tour, and here is the point of this whole essay: I don’t believe their return after 15 years is random. It’s not because Noel needs to pay for his divorces, or because Liam mellowed, or some nostalgia nonsense. I believe they are being called back by the collective consciousness of a culture longing for that precious swagger’s return.

These days, people of good conscience have been balled up into a defensive crouch for more than a minute now — and they’re ready to emerge. We’ve been told to be afraid while the bullies eat cake. We’ve been encouraged to acquiesce in despair while the world around us is defouled. Might as well just park your sad blue face in a screen and cuck out till you rot.

As an artist, I sense a collective voice gathering that says: Fuck all that. I think the millions of people at the No Kings protests were there less for a specific policy than because they are ready to feel optimism over fear again.

-snip-