"Secret" Hipster Show of the Week / Plus, the Boys Consider HBO"s New Show About Large Penises

If there's one thing hipsters love, it's insider information, so speculation has naturally been running rampant this past week over which band was playing the "secret show" at the Record Bar this Wednesday. Rumor had it that this would indeed be a nationally-touring buzz band (as opposed to yet another reunion of a beloved local band that's barely been broken up for a year or yet another "last show ever" from a band who already has other shows listed on their Myspace). And, with the help of some rather obvious hints, most hipsters guessed correctly: the no-longer secret show will be...French indie-rockers Phoenix, a band which, by all accounts, is poised for breakout success with their new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

Pitchfork gives the album a very solid 8.5 and says: "[lead singer] Mars is breaking up his words and meanings into smaller and smaller fragments. His isn't a self-congratulatory, indie-nerd triumph, though, i.e., Mars isn't being cryptic to be an asshole. He's getting better and more sophisticated as his band discards anything-- an outro, a bridge, an extra hi-hat hit-- that could be deemed superfluous."

Chip: "This illustrates the problem with most current music: bands are discarding everything that sounds like music."

Richard: "One of the hardest things to discern in indie-rock is whether the singer is being cryptic just to be an asshole or whether there's a larger purpose. Pitchfork has done us a major service here in answering this question."

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Beginning this Sunday, HBO will air a new comedy series called Hung, the story of a high-school teacher with a very large penis.

According to a recent NY-Times article: "HBO is banking on this show to become a breakout hit. Not just a niche-market gem like “Flight of the Conchords” or a critical (but ratings-challenged) darling like “In Treatment,” but something that speaks to the national mood, a “Sex and the City” for both sexes...".

Perhaps the show will catch on; perhaps not. At any rate, it's certainly provided a lot of amusement for reviewers across the land to fill their reviews with puns that use the words "cocky" and "ballsy" to describe the character and the show, respectively. Do the boys plan to watch?

Chip: "As an exceptionally well-endowed man myself, I think it's high time we see ourselves represented on television as three-dimensional characters with thoughts and feelings...as well as real big dicks."

The NY-Times, piece, however, suggests that the show may ultimately alienate male viewers who possess...let us say, smaller packages.

"The writers have turned a penis into a plot device. What’s more, judging by the first four episodes, they advance the theory — fact? myth? — that bigger is better, risking the alienation of a sought-after segment of television viewers: men who are average in every way."

Richard: "Average men don't watch HBO. The necessary demographic here is wealthy women who wish their husbands and boyfriends had larger penises. Basically, the same audience who watched Sex and the City."