3. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Harmlessness [Epitaph]
In the original version Iain Spence’s Sekhmet Hypothesis — oft-repeated but never taken seriously by crucial comic book writer Grant Morrison — youth culture parbolates between eras of terse, visceral, aggressive shades of rebellion (very loosely-defined as “punk”), and a more live-and-let-live, cerebral, psychedelic approach to anti-authoritarianism (“hippie” epochs) once every 11 years. Spence conceived of this theory supposing that these cyclical trends correlated with with solar patterns – though dialed back this assertion in light of its complete lack of any scientific backing.
But even though its inventor and most luminous advocate have dismissed it as interesting nonsense, the Sekhmet Hypothesis applies perfectly to the so-called “emo revival.” According to the timeline Spence proposed, we presently reside in a “hippie” period that began in 2010. Such would explain how it is that noted punk label Epitaph Records’ best act of the moment deploys a mercurial, orchestral lineup and freeform instrumental excursions amid eight-minute songs. Plus, TWIABP mostly sing, instead of yell, their lyrics.
Point being: If Spence was right all along music and fashion are controlled by the gravitational pulls of sunspots, The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die would’ve been called The World Is An Awful Place and I am Goddamned Terrified To Die if they had been born 10 years earlier and hit this stride in 2005 instead. Also, we should all brace ourselves for very angry teenagers in 2021.