The State of Rock

I've been reading lately that 2010 was a horrible year for rock music and thought to myself, "No way, that Black Keys album was amazing! Shit, I saw them twice live in the same year which I haven't done since I saw Phish back in 1999!"  Then I looked at my ipod and other places and noticed, wow, that was the only good rock record of the entire year, so maybe there's some truth to it!

As great as bands like Arcade Fire are, and to a lesser extent Band of Horses and Vampire Weekend, they're really not rock driven.  Without getting into particulars about them, let's just say you're not going to hear them riff away on electric guitars, and world can never have enough power guitar!  As great as Mumford and Sons or the Avett Brothers are, it's their general laid back feel that makes them so appealing.  It's not rock 'n roll. 

The Strokes have a new album coming out this year, but c'mon the Strokes?  Is there any chance in hell they could possibly have a hip sounding record since they haven't really been relevant since 2003?  Radiohead's new album is out, but they haven't made good rock music since "Paranoid Android" and have found themselves lost in a world of strange drumbeats and effects with Tom with an H York whining his tight jeans off over the top of it.  It was fun for awhile, but you'd think they'd get over it eventually and start making rock music again.  "Just" was a long long time ago. 

I've never been one for the pop charts, or the tattooed Mountain Dew rock that gets the most airplay on our local rock radio stations.  I don't need the genre to be "in my face."  I don't need the songs to be about serious problems like limousine drivers getting into accidents in which people's heads are cut off while the lead singer has to breath as heavy as possible while he's singing the tragic lines. 

Taking that out of the equation there isn't much left.  The White Stripes broke up recently.  That sucks, though there really wasn't much more Jack White could do with that box.  The Kings of Leon?  I spent 50 dollars to hear the Black Keys open for them and left about two songs into "The Kings" set.  I understand that with Rolling Stone covers comes a certain amount of egotistical douchebaggery, but these guys almost reached Cam Newton levels. 

All that being said, our beloved new Hard Rock Café is having a Battle of the Bands competition which resumes Thursday night (See sidebar advertisement).  Supporting live local original music is crucial to any area's culture.  Will any of these bands be the next Rolling Stones?  Probably not, but no one will.  Hopefully one of them can be the First whatever their name is.