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Are the Smiths Funny - Pitchfork
Column by Tom Ewing

Excerpt:

When I was 16 the Smiths were the most important thing in my life and so I had one particular conversation many times. Somebody would say of the band, "I hate them, they're so miserable." "No they're not," I would pipe up, "They're funny." Cue eye-rolling, exclamations, explanations, etceteras. But I was right-- the Smiths were funny. Not so much for the occasional punchline-- "Caligula would have blushed," "You should hear me play pian-ohh"-- but for Morrissey's theatricality and timing: You could always take him as seriously as you needed to, he never demanded it.

I could say those things until my gladioli wilted, but most of the people I talked to weren't buying it. The miserableness of the Smiths was what I think of as the Big Fact about the band. Most bands have one: The thing that everyone who's heard of an act but doesn't generally listen to them knows about them. The Big Fact about Joy Division is that Ian Curtis killed himself. The Big Fact about Ashlee Simpson is that she lip-synched on TV. The Big Fact about Amy Winehouse is that she likes a drink or two. And so on.