The anti-1D express needs derailing

Before I begin this long overdue rant, I must make it clear I am anything but a fan of One Direction. I never have and probably never will buy their music and, to be honest, rarely hesitate to temporarily abandon a radio station when they decide to transmit anything they have ever released.

Why is this? Because I have no interest in their music whatsoever. My active avoidance of One Direction is based purely on personal music taste and nothing else. I am sure many of you will sympathise with this stance and for these people I can assure you that you are spared the brunt of this article. But here’s why the rest of you annoy me:

This is your fault, NME.

Upon browsing the nominations for this year’s NME awards, I couldn’t help but notice once again One Direction are in the running for Worst Band, while calendar boy supreme Harry Styles has been nominated for Villain of the Year.

For years I have always been interested in NME due to the bands that they cover, but at the moment it appears that if you have never salivated over an image of Alex Turner and have even dared to consider lowering yourself to listening to a bit of chart music such as 1D, your opinion automatically loses any sort of value.

The NME music gods would not drink from this mug.

The ridiculousness of grouping Styles in the category alongside sexist Robin Thicke aside (a much meatier article could be devoted to the idiocy of this decision), it has come to my attention the anti-One Direction agenda has reached a degree of exhausting repetitiveness that can only be regarded as the pretentious mission of self-proclaimed music purists to be as counter-cultural as possible.

Harry Styles is not a villain… far from it, in fact.

So, what is Harry Styles’ crime exactly? His fame? The record-breaking feats of his band? The irrevocable heartthrob status of his band?

I would suggest all of the above.

Prejudice based on popularity is utterly pointless. Unlike Thicke whose villain status is actually justified, Styles has done nothing to acquire such a title bar have popularity thrust upon him, a phenomena that is completely out of his hands.

Why is it Styles has been singled out from the band in the first place? Because he is the most adored and talked about member of the group, perhaps? No other reason springs to mind. This is nothing more than jealousy, people.

A member of The Tab team pays homage to Styles (team member wishes to remain anonymous).

Please put down your pitchforks and calm down.

Of course there are bands out there who we feel deserve much more credit and exposure (many names come to mind from a personal point of view), but I really do struggle to see how Harry Styles and co are accountable for these injustices.

Being an avid fan of the Smiths (obviously I was going to name drop at some stage), I know first-hand the feeling of devoting your life to a band that are listened to a very small percentage of your peers. But why should this be a something to bemoan? Surely the overriding notion should be your love for the band rather than some bitter fixation with attacking other bands for having more Radio 1 airtime and Spotify plays.

Loathing 1D is in no way ‘indie’

If you choose to ignore One Direction purely out of musical preference, continue. If you are one of those who feel they belong to a countercultural, anti-establishment movement confined to the margins of popular music discourse by continually digging at One Direction, do think again.

In declaring your affiliation with the anti-‘mainstream’ sentiment, you are simply subscribing to a phenomena  just as vast and unavoidable as the ‘mainstream’ itself.

Give the poor lads a break.

Life really is too short.

Spend the precious time you have left enjoying the bands that you like, not attacking those that other people like… or at least not in name of such petty & feeble reasoning.

Let’s face it, an already gloomy world would be a much gloomier place if my beloved Morrissey, Robert Smith & Thom Yorke were still ruling the roost.

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