Drummers exposed in this Loserpalooza . . .

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2014)

. . . as the Achilles Heel of any musical group. Subject to inattention, reckless behavior, and mutiny, percussionists can be considered a "necessary evil" at best. At worst, their Sociopathic behavior gets others maimed and killed. Throughout human history, drummers have been tapped to march soldiers to their deaths. The executioner's cue always has been the drum roll. "Andrew," the main character of WHIPLASH, is habitually late to his band practices. WHIPLASH shows Andrew on one such occasion speeding 80 mph in a 25 mph school zone, causing a horrific multi-vehicle crash. Fortunately, "Nicole"--Andrew's short-term girlfriend--wises up and ditches him for a normal guy. I've personally hung out with marching band types all my life (as they make better conversation than the rest of the people around here, who've suffered countless concussions playing with their pigskins). Band folks are great pals, except drummers. The only drummer 99% of Americans can name is Ringo Starr, who is considered the "black sheep" of the Beatles. No one has even heard of "the greats" Andrew tries to emulate in WHIPLASH, since most of them died broke, as Andrew himself admits here. Bang the drum slowly, and give me baseball any day!