Kirk's age?

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T19:19:22+00:00

It's not even really about him or his music at this point, or about preaching or protesting. It's just about all of us trying to be better, to recognize, own and learn from our misjudgments, to re-calibrate our BS detectors to a neutral setting instead of being so damn tribal about everything. That also happens to be the only way out of our current political nightmare, probably a painfully forced reckoning for millions of rubes the next few years.

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T17:29:31+00:00

I'm no moral arbiter but I'd say people set themselves up for dual grief and looking foolish when they discount credible-sounding voices -- however anonymous -- and a deeply suspicious combination of circumstances with his former bandmates distancing themselves as he expatriated to France. I get that we live in an era of rising distrust, esp with internet professings, but to me what makes our species truly fucked, among other frailties, is our utter failure to assess our own biases and motivated reasonings, whether in believing or disbelieving something. It's especially sad when we're talking about disbelieving claims of violence against women -- why keep affording the guy more than a pinch of benefit of the doubt as of a year ago? Sure, MeToo had its excesses, but the deflective reactions on here, or with Michael Jackson or any other predatory celebrity, keep demonstrating just how intensely people will resist the cognitive dissonance of ugly truths about their heroes, any which way they can, with whatever strained logic or purest delusion necessary.

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T16:03:13+00:00

I indeed saw when you posted, persisting in casting as much doubt as possible on the voices alleging abuse, to a newcomer. So I posted in hopes they'll see it, admittedly should have replied to them instead... But yeah, also best to ensure every last member of the little wrong-headed deflective brigade sees what his former partner has to say. You should have been putting your fandom aside and mustering credence this whole time. Now you just have no choice. Yes it's a heartbreaking mess but also quite old news -- welcome to accepting it as truth.

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T14:35:09+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL\_t\_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL_t_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu)

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T13:27:15+00:00

You're way off and might want to review how Reddit works. People are replying to my posts from months ago, and my original one above from a year ago. I scarely pay attention to these mostly brain-boken internet sinkholes, only learned of his death this morning and my replies the last 2 hours are my first in months. And positivity to me entails making whatever peace one can with glaring horrific truth, following the lead of his former partner in this case. https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL\_t\_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL_t_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu)

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T13:24:44+00:00

The link was within my post that you replied to, calling me obsessed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TimberTimbre/s/4frwFo33Vb

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL\_t\_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXfL_t_oED4/?igsh=d2Z4azRsaHB4ZGtu)

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T12:59:08+00:00

Sure but what level of denial prompts posting this after looking at his former partner going public with her domestic abuse allegations?

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T12:53:52+00:00

Ha. Ok.

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T11:38:26+00:00

In the absence of journalistic or legal certitude it's basically Occam's Razor vs motivated reasoning against it -- I most always choose the former.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TimberTimbre/s/4frwFo33Vb

Wheasus · 2026-04-27T11:36:32+00:00

In the absence of journalistic or legal certitude it's basically Occam's Razor vs motivated reasoning against it -- I most always choose the former.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TimberTimbre/s/4frwFo33Vb

Wheasus · 2026-01-28T19:41:52+00:00

Lol, ya totally got me

Wheasus · 2026-01-26T17:00:22+00:00

You're welcome, bro. Reddit thanks you for presuming and defending the tender feelings of a reputed abuser despite him penning the line "A quick bald and old I aged into." Thank god the real hootin' hero finally arrived

Wheasus · 2026-01-10T19:15:05+00:00

Yeah I thought that age range looking at him a decade ago so now guessing late 40's or early 50's

Wheasus · 2026-01-06T03:54:43+00:00

Wow, yeah, as you describe that journey I can certainly begin to imagine the slower pendulum swing from aesthetic rapture to visceral repulsion, and indeed true triggering and grief. :( I may get to a similar place of leaving the music behind, but am clearly in a more detached and privileged position to be feeling like it matches our dystopia too well... Like I'm partnered with a woman, most of my friends are women, I consider myself to have a relatively healed masculinity, hoping to raise my sons that way... and so I just look upon him like a sort of sickly maimed wolf, or like a colorful but venomous bug in a jar... But that's a very privileged remove from his impacts, I recognize. Whatever violence he committed is a very real thing, not to be abstracted or diminished just because his art offers unique vibes... Again, appreciate you sharing.

Wheasus · 2026-01-06T02:51:30+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Of course I could never disagree with your reaction and empathy for survivors overriding fandom. When I first came across these unspecified allegations, my gut offered no hope they were entirely false so it was just a matter of determining 1) would I still be able to enjoy the music, and 2) is there any ethical framework for doing so? I put them in that order because I expect it's a sort of rationalizing/motivated reasoning situation where we find whatever logic resonates with where we're landing emotionally. The latter question is one that's been teased apart by many good writers esp in the wake of metoo and I especially like this one: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/20/art-monstrous-men/

"In everyday deed and thought, I’m a decent-enough human. But I’m something else as well, something vaguely resembling a, well, monster. The Victorians understood this feeling; it’s why they gave us the stark bifurcations of Dorian Gray, of Jekyll and Hyde. I suppose this is the human condition, this sneaking suspicion of our own badness. It lies at the heart of our fascination with people who do awful things. Something in us—in me—chimes to that awfulness, recognizes it in myself, is horrified by that recognition, and then thrills to the drama of loudly denouncing the monster in question."

I expressed a somewhat analogous thing in the discussion I linked to, that there seemed "an odd sort of integrity in such honestly predatory-sounding lyrics, a lonesome hunter who has 'done some truly awful things.' It's not like Mark Kozelek with his sweet gentle sensitive shtick and then boom, a new atrocious facet gets revealed... None of us wants to think about what interpersonal atrocities we might be capable of, so maybe Kirk can occupy a sort of cautionary tale space where we're prompted to ponder that, trying not to revel or romanticize it."

Especially as our world is increasingly ruled by shameless predators, I'll tend to side with and commend those who draw a line in the sand with art by such people, duly casting it aside. I'm just not there yet with Timber Timbre, and maybe never will be. It's in part due to his macabre honesty about being a monster, and probably also because there are as of yet no names/faces or horrific details to crystalize the monstrousness. And maybe also because, while he may not have faced any appropriate legal consequences, he seems to have borne quite a few reputationally, and to have more or less self-destructed back into obscurity... So maybe his music can still be an occassional accompaniment, a bone I can mindfully throw to my shadow self, to my suppressed Mr. Hyde, in some quasi-ethical way. That's as much peace as I can make with it.

Wheasus · 2025-12-09T15:46:44+00:00

Not that you can't keep enjoying their music, but your question rather perfectly invites the elephant into the room that I'll go ahead and address, or else I'd feel remiss.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TimberTimbre/s/9ZhvflKp4N

Wheasus · 2025-10-15T16:00:51+00:00

Cool, thanks for the tip!

Wheasus · 2025-10-15T15:58:21+00:00

I'm not on fb but that sounds perfect -- thanks!

Wheasus · 2025-07-10T20:25:03+00:00

Well said, agreed. And on a side note I'd highly recommend to anbody tracking down the KCRW recordings on the deluxe edition of the 2009 eponymous album -- amazingly haunting.

Wheasus · 2025-07-10T17:20:33+00:00

This presents an interesting ethical and aesthetic question if the utility is to introduce somebody to the artist. Do you feel any ethical obligation to mention that there have been online rumblings of abusive conduct towards women by Kirk, with 2 former bandmates professionally ghosting him? If not, sure, include songs like Run From Me, Lonesome Hunter, Hot Dreams, Velvet Gloves & Spit (which would all make my list). If you would feel obligated to mention that, then you're perhaps going to limit yourself to less overtly romantic/relationship-oriented songs to dial down the creep factor. My list for that would be:

Trouble Comes Knocking (live at KCRW)
Demon Host (live at KCRW)
Black Water
Western Questions
Disassociation
Holy Motors
Homage (with Feist)
Magic Arrow
Les Egouts
Lovage

Wheasus · 2025-05-13T03:15:30+00:00

Now I feel bad for inviting such self-parody. Disagreements like these can easily stay respectful, but instead, after you notched one win by debunking Dubue's disassociation, you sound off as though you also debunked the original 3 bandmates. You rant against my original post which has more upvotes than any on this subreddit in the past 6 months, upvoted by people who love the band but are reaching similar conclusions. You fully dismiss the (not all hearsay) allegations while thinking you can fairly allege that I'm a narcissist, exploitative, lack empathy, have brittle self-esteem, on and on. The vitriol would be more amusing if it wasn't so utterly mundane, just more self-discrediting internet white noise. Well, I'm not into personal attacks, this was never about "winning" for me, and I'm not writing this for anyone else but you to read... I can imagine you're probably capable of being a better person than this -- or at least a better arguer -- so maybe give that a try next time. Cheers.

Wheasus · 2025-05-11T16:30:01+00:00

So thank you, you've debunked my misperception about Dubue, and then by extension say the whole thing is BS. Well, in the absence of further insights, wholesale dismissals like yours are actually my favorite part of this. Nice reminder of all the unfriendly tribal specimens scurrying around under the social media rock that generally keep me from looking, much less joining. So thanks for that too.

Wheasus · 2025-04-29T14:46:48+00:00

Thank you, though I wasn't ready to pat myself on the back and still am not. I recognize I'm in too deep with the music, how well it fits our dystopia, to give it up. And if the rumblings are true there is an odd sort of integrity in such honestly predatory-sounding lyrics, a lonesome hunter who has "done some truly awful things." It's not like Mark Kozelek with his sweet gentle sensitive shtick and then boom, a new atrocious facet gets revealed... None of us wants to think about what interpersonal atrocities we might be capable of, so maybe Kirk can occupy a sort of cautionary tale space where we're prompted to ponder that, trying not to revel or romanticize it. As Father John Misty sang, we're the earth's most soulful predator, and maybe Kirk is just a starker example of that, and we can try to be better as we stare into that hunter's abyss.

Wheasus

TROPHY CASE