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Steve Albini Says He's the "Kind of Punk That Shits on Steely Dan"

[Everyone disliked that.]
Steve Albini Says He's the 'Kind of Punk That Shits on Steely Dan'
By Megan LaPierre
Published Feb 06, 2023
Steve Albini would prefer not to do any dirty work ever, thanks. The Poker champ, musician, longtime recording engineer to the stars and occasional edgelord has declared the unthinkable: he's not a fan of Steely Dan.

Albini went on one of his classic Twitter thread tirades today, beginning with a telling I-statement, writing: "I will always be the kind of punk that shits on Steely Dan."
   
Nobody asked him to elaborate, but he did anyway. "Christ the amount of human effort wasted to sound like a SNL band warm up," Alibini continued, sounding a bit like one of those Jimmy Kimmel Live! segments where celebrities read mean tweets. He also said the cult favourites' music was "made for the sole purpose of letting the wedding band stretch out a little," adding that fans calling them "the Dan" need to go trim their beards.

Taken in culmination, it appears that the main reason for the Steely ban from Albini's playlists is the type of perfectionism he sees them as having embraced — namely, the kind where they put the onus on other people instead of themselves. So basically: he thinks Steely Dan should have rehearsed more, and maybe been a little more DIY in their approach to making albums.
   
You could maybe parse out a little something extra about authenticity (whatever that means) from Albini's argument too. "There's some video where they talk about every song on an album," the musician wrote, "and each one begins with the not-bald one saying, 'this song is based on my deep love of the blues, just a very bluesy blues. Deep blues.' Then lays his jazz dork hands on the fucking electric piano..."

Music journalist Steven Hyden astutely noted that, as a 60-year-old Midwestern poker player, Albini has objectively crossed the bridge from punk to Steely Dan at this point. The grass is always greener?