Little Pink Nothing

Try hard enough to recreate the past and you end up only looking backward.

I always wanted Ariel Pink’s music to do more for me. The initial allure was mostly there but ultimately I never found he was able to do much with it. His best albums never left me more than lukewarm.

I’m not just saying that because he’s now being (reasonably) treated as persona non-grata since he and John Maus were spotted at last week’s putsch, or because of his pathetic interview on Tucker Carlson. Pink has had credible allegations of abuse swirling around him for years, and he’s never really bothered refuting his scummy statements on race and gender. It hasn’t been easy to take him seriously for a while now. Nonetheless, saying I’m not a particularly huge fan of his music because of all of this would feel cheap. Left-wing art and politics would be a lot easier if fascists weren't capable of making good art, but the fact is that they are, and denying that is dishonest.

No, I’m saying this because all the grief Pink is rightly receiving right now (please don’t call it a “cancellation…