From the In Box: It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXXI

Your comments aren't working on Media Diet! Wasn't CIV made up of old Gorilla Biscuits players? I didn't realize that they sold their song for a car commercial. How do you feel about this? I know that I wouldn't like it if it was a GB song, because I kinda lost touch with the scene around the time they broke up. Heck, I don't even like that they use a Clash riff in a car commercial or a Stooges tune for luxury cruises. It kinda ruins the song for me, I end up associating it with the advertising imagery -- which is what it's supposed to do -- but I loved the music before that. Besides, isn't it weird for a song about drug addiction to be used to sell high-end goods and services? Let me know what you think. -- Jeff Buddle

Good memory! Civ, nee Anthony Civocelli, was in the Gorilla Biscuits, one of the first NYHC bands I got into when I started tape trading in the late '80s. Civ went onto his own project later on, recording several albums for Revelation Records. "Can't Wait One Minute More" comes from "Set Your Goals," Civ's first LP. I can't find the entire lyrics -- although they have been derided as repetitive -- so I can't confirm the drug addiction reference. The video got a lot of airplay on MTV, so surely lyrics live somewhere.

How do I feel about a hardcore band's song being used in a car commercial? I'd feel differently if it were the Biscuits and not Civ, as I see the two as being relatively far removed, and Civ as being rather mersh. That said, I think it's a net positive. One, it inspired me to dig back into my HC tape trading milk crates to find some Biscuits records. Two, it could introduce a whole new crowd to the music. And three, people who don't make a lot of money making a lot of money for a lot of years benefit from the royalty stream.

What's the down side? They didn't make the song for the advert, so the creative motivation can't be second guessed as strongly as it might be otherwise.