I've been hating Coldplay lately. It's too bad, they seem like the nicest guys. But I really can't stand their music. My friend Beka says it's like listening to margarine, and I think she's right. Unfortunately, there's a new Coldplay album, and the band's relentlessly boring and overwrought music is getting constant airplay. Which suggests that Coldplay is almost universally loved, but that simply isn't the case.

In the New Yorker, Sasha Frere-Jones explains why he doesn't like Coldplay.

Here's an excerpt:

"The tunes are there, usually three to an album, but that is something you could say of even their weakest contemporaries, like Maroon 5. What puts them up into some higher level of accessibility must be an averaging of Martin’s guarantee to never shock or offend anyone—which parents value—and the toy soldier brand of pageantry and celebration that underpins so many songs. Coldplay keep throwing massive parades for themselves, without explanation or merit. Some folks just love confetti."

Click here to read the whole thing.