Pluto ~ Long White Cross
(written: 25 July 2005)
At the moment they are trying to decide if New Zealand wants a new flag. Apparently the fact that no one can differentiate it from the Australia flag is a problem (I CAN! Apparently I'm one of about 5 out of 4 million... cmon people. There are only 4 stars and they're red. It's not hard to remember.) Also, there is a union jack (no caps) which a lot of people hate. I hadn't given it much thought... do I care that 1/4 of my flag is taken up by something I don't understand? Apparently I do. I'd like a new flag.
They keep citing the Canadian flag as an example of doing it right. Out of thousands of possibilities they chose the red maple leaf as an effective and uniting symbol. Some jackass wants us to have a silver fern. But not just any silver fern. A stylized one which looks like any old leaf. Cmon. We're trying to separate outselves! So long as they keep the stars I don't give a shit what they do.
Why did I start my entry talking about the flag? I don't actually know.
I guess the title kinda made me start thinking about national identity. It's a clever little song title. Get it? Long white cross? Long white cloud? At least that's what I assume they're on about.
Not many bands from this country really make me want to fly the flag (ooh there we go). Not anymore. I spent a great deal of time and money "promoting" third rate fucking hacks who drowned in their own ego juice.
Pluto, while rife with ego juice, have survived. They survived the dreaded and muuuuuch talked about sophmore release syndrome and put out, what I consider to be a better album than the first. Mainly because of this song.
It's circumstance. If this song was released by a band living in the UK or America it would be a hit. I believe this. But unfortunately for the Pluto chaps, they were born in this little shelterini... the land of the loooong whiiiiiite clooooooud shielding them from the sights of popularity in other countries, but not the likes of harmful UV rays.
Recently I put this song on and my friend recognized it (being a big Pluto fan...) but didn't recognize it immediately as a Pluto song. Because it sounds so much like it could be written by a band of Arcade Fire stature. But no amount of convincing one or two Canadians to buy into the hype will help Pluto and unless they leave the country they live in, they're more than likely going to end up hungry and bitter, or ex-musicians in an office job, getting too drunk at Xmas parties, talking about the good old days to younger members of staff who have no idea what might have been.