MetaChat - Keepers Of The Flame.

A few others:
Dirtbombs covering "Chains Of Love"
Donnas - Take It Off

posted by jonmc 01 October | 15:18

I saw the Bellrays open for the Pixies in LA a few years ago (I think it was at the Wiltern). They were so freaking amped up - it was great to see the crowd of mostly-twenty-something-hipsters get totally into it.

But I will defend Radiohead to the death, jon. Their rock-itude is a deep and subtle one. Next you'll be insulting Nirvana.

(Coldplay isn't even a real band, as far as I'm concerned).

posted by muddgirl 01 October | 15:22

But I will defend Radiohead to the death, jon. Their rock-itude is a deep and subtle one. Next you'll be insulting Nirvana.

I like Nirvana (even though Soundgarden, Mudhoney, the Fastbacks and even Presidents Of The United States were often better), but aside from 'Creep,' which I will admit is a fine rock single, Radiohead are in the 'we're too cool to rock out' pile.

I saw the Bellrays last year and I don't think I've ever seen a band put as much into a show. Why they arent the biggest band in the world is a mystery to me.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 15:27

Sometimes I like to rock out.

Sometimes I like a sing-along.

Sometimes I like to brood.

Sometimes I like to get goose-bumps from simple instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics.

Sometimes I like to chill.

Sometimes I just want background music.

Sometimes I like to dance.

I'm glad my musical taste isn't so limited that I'd have to only choose one of those things as "good" music.

posted by misskaz 01 October | 15:40

misskaz: as do I. But my point is even the new-ish bands I linked here are all about a decade old at this point. Nobody is doing this kind of music anymore.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 15:41

I agree, I've been looking for rockin-out bands lately and haven't found good ones. I don't really like Nashville Pussy, though I haven't given them a try in many years. I just think their schtick (confederate flags, etc) is unnecessary.

Sorry if my post came out snarkier than I intended. I rushed back here to make a "I didn't mean to sound like a bitch" post but you beat me to it.

posted by misskaz 01 October | 15:49

As some wise men ask... (one of those banging heads in the audience is probably me, I was at that show)

posted by jonmc 01 October | 15:52

P.S. When I was looking for rockin' bands about 5-7 years ago, I got really into "stoner rock". Which is pretty hilarious for someone that's never once smoked a joint. I was listening to Fu Manchu, QOTSA, Kyuss, etc. I like that stuff still, but I've gotten a bit out of the habit of rocking out lately. Perhaps, as you've said, because there hasn't been good new stuff in that vein.

posted by misskaz 01 October | 16:03

We opened for Southern Culture On The Skids four times, and had a ball with them. They were just fun as Hell live, and really great to drink with.

I'd never compare them to a band like radiohead, though. It's like comparing Mozart to Michael Jackson: apples and oranges.

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:04

Nobody is doing this kind of music anymore.

alt.country has come on strong in that time and sort of replaced this sort of thing; in the same way that grunge replaced hair metal.

That's your cue to bitch about Ryan Adams and / or Jeff Tweedy, btw.

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:07

To paraphrase Paul Stanley (and Bob Ezrin and Kim Fowley), I like the sound of electric guitars. The common element in new rock is that the guitar sounds suck. They're distorted and/or compressed so much in tracking and mixing that there are no dynamics; the guitars are either "on" or "off." And the guitar drama of an individual song is forced into a binary story, where they drop the guitars out for a measure to build excitement, or call attention to some other instrument or a vocal. Guitars sound denatured, and have for a good decade.

That's a generalization that is not only full of exceptions, but seems to be getting better. Bands from Scandinavia are rocking like time forgot, and we're beginning to hear interesting guitar noise again, heading from East to West across the pond and towards the Pacific coast. One can only hope the rest of the rock'n'roll world will heed this alarum, and the riffs will fly higher and higher, mount to the sky, and shower power on us all.

posted by Hugh Janus 01 October | 16:11

We opened for Southern Culture On The Skids four times

I saw SCOTS, the Muffs and Cub on a New Years eve triple bill in hoboken. It was great.

I'd never compare them to a band like radiohead, though. It's like comparing Mozart to Michael Jackson: apples and oranges.

Beside the point. To extend the metaphor, it seems there's no oranges in the stall, which sucks. I'd like to have some new bands to listen to that play this kind of stuff (unironically).

That's your cue to bitch about Ryan Adams and / or Jeff Tweedy, btw.

Wilco I liked a lot up until Simmerteeth where they got all mope-rock. Ryan Adams is a pretentious ass.

alt.country has come on strong in that time and sort of replaced this sort of thing; in the same way that grunge replaced hair metal.

trends come and go, but you have to figure that there'll always be and audience for certain things. Even in the age of marmalade skies there was The Who and CCR. Today there's nothing for flat-out rock. And 'alt.country' (I hate that term) can co-exist quite nicely with balls-out rock: Exhibit A.

The common element in new rock is that the guitar sounds suck.

Vocals, too. White guys seem to think they're only aloud to mumble or whine these days (or in the case of hardcore, shout monotonously). It's OK to sound off like you got a pair, dudes.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 16:13

Radiohead are deeply awesome.
I'm no real fan of hard rocking rock rockers. I think I grew up on the wrong side of the rock/punk split. Either that or all Rock was spoilt for me by the Quo.

I like songs like Manson's Disposable Teens and Motorhead's Ace of Spades, but otherwise I just *don't* get it.

Now You've got me thinking...
*wanders off - looks for some Rammstein. God, I love that song.

posted by seanyboy 01 October | 16:14

Hey, jon, did you see this? I doubt you’ll make much of Smoosh, but Tiny Masters of Today and (especially) Skullbot may be right up your alley.

You may also enjoy:

Killswitch Engage – Holy Diver (yes, that Holy Diver, with bonus points awarded for goofy video.)

Wolfmother - Woman

posted by bmarkey 01 October | 16:16

I think I grew up on the wrong side of the rock/punk split

I don't see the split. The best punk (Clash/Ramones/Dictators/Blondie/Damned/Stiff Little Fingers/Social distortion) all rocks just as hard as this stuff here. And I'd never call Radiohead punk. To me they're prog, which is the opposite of punk.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 16:18

OK - Call me a teenager if you will, but at this moment, there's nothing's better than German's subverting fairy tales

posted by seanyboy 01 October | 16:19

I think that Drive-By Truckers are still going; surely they qualify? Did they break up?

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:19

Ther Wolfmother track wasn't bad in a I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Zep way.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 16:20

Either that or all Rock was spoilt for me by the Quo.

Truer words were never typed.

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:20

Ryan Adams is a pretentious ass.

We're going to see him in November with the new Cardinals lineup. He's sober these days, and hopefully his ADHD has cleared up (he was wasted the last time we saw him).

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:22

Quo had their moments: "Paper Plane" is a killer song.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 16:22

"Nobody is doing this kind of music anymore."

Bullshit.

Black Mountain. Cherry Valence. The Avatars. Tyvek. SSM. Thee Hentchmen. The Hard Lessons. Human Eye. 25 Suaves. Comets On Fire. Bantam Rooster. The Coronados. The Butcher's Orchestra.

posted by klangklangston 01 October | 16:25

I never called radiohead punk either.

Anyway, I just like my heavy music more thrashy and more punky.

The first post you linked to has a guitar sound that just irritates me. I don't know exactly why that is, but to me it's miles away from the opening bars of something like I fought the Law - a songs which brings a big old smile to my face.

posted by seanyboy 01 October | 16:27

I heard the Avatars. They seemed like a put-on. But I could be wrong.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 16:27

"Paper Plane" is a killer song.

Chuck Berry already did that one. *grin*

Chunka-chunka eighth-note I-IV-V stuff doesn't float my boat unless it has some sort of juicy hook to it.

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:27

I guess it comes down to my formative music. e.g. Sisters Of Mercy, the Dead Kennedys.

posted by seanyboy 01 October | 16:33

Comets On Fire were featured in one of my favourite magazines, Uncut. The Uncut freebie CD is almost always great, and I've found so many artists because of it (thanks, Uncut editors!)... but Comets On Fire just didn't get me going.

posted by chuckdarwin 01 October | 16:37

Oh, Jon, you don't think that the Avatars are a put on, you think you think they're a put on.

Here, go and refresh your memory: Downloads.

What they are is catchy, Blondie-inspired power pop. You've liked them before, but some sort of crank spasm in your head keeps forgetting that you like them. (It was the High Strung that you didn't care for, but you're just wrong about them).

posted by klangklangston 01 October | 16:50

Aw, hell, I'm actually just getting old, klang. It'll happen to you, too. Ijust went out on the porch and pounded a few beers while listening tp "When The Levee Breaks." I'm happy with that, ultimately, I guess.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 17:23

≡ Click to see image ≡
"I used to be with it, until they changed what it was. Now what it is seems weird and scary to me"

*retires to sofa*

posted by jonmc 01 October | 17:34

omg Hugh, you have just nailed what my problem is with mainstream rock these days. Only I couldn't describe it before. It's a lot like why I can't listen to country (any kind) for very long, something about the twang just starts to grate after a while.

posted by casarkos 01 October | 18:03

Nobody around here ever seems to like the Hives as much as I do. But I am not discouraged; they are the world's greatest band.

'Course as I was reading this thread, I was listening to Romeo Void, so maybe I'm too uncool to be in on this discussion.

posted by ibmcginty 01 October | 18:20

Really, jon, you're not giving good prog rock a fair shake. Led Zep wasn't afraid of if. Van Halen dabbled a bit in it. Yes practically grandfathered it. Doesn't mean they "rocked" any less than an archetypical punk band.

I saw The Birds of Avalon open for The Flaming Lips last week, and I think they straddled the divide pretty fucking well for a 20-something band (sorry for the myspace link - all the videos of them on youtube are pretty crap).

posted by muddgirl 01 October | 18:36

Yes sucked.

posted by jonmc 01 October | 18:44

There's a pretty good local Texas straight up rock with a country flare thing going on down here, jon. There's more bands than you could spit Skoal at , but I'll only link three that I think you'd like.

Austin's got the Flametrick Subs who not only boast their own version of Satan's cheerleaders, but a Norwegian(I think, something Scandinavian) lead guitar player, a female drummer that plays standing up, and, to top it off, a bassist that plays the upright in spite of the lack of a left hand. He, naturally, goes by the name Lefty. They're a great live band, though.

On the same sort of tip, but a little more rocky/punky, there's Dallas's own The Von Ehrics, who, coincidentally are playing in Brooklyn on Dec. 1 at a joint called Hank's Saloon. They're self-described as Country Punks and Damn Fine Drunks, so they're probably right up your alley. Plus, they put on a great show. If you get the chance, check 'em out while they're in your borough.

For something a little more cock-rocky, you may want to check out Denton-based Riverboat Gamblers. Always an...interesting show. I know they've played NYC before (cowboy sally saw 'em somewhere up there a few years back, IIRC).

But fear not, the shit ain't dead, it's just a little more difficult to come by and fewer people are into it, but that's okay. For me at least. Occasionally it's nice to live in Texas.

posted by ufez 01 October | 18:53

Yes sucked, but King Crimson and Van der Graf Generator rocked, quite often.

Also: Comets On Fire are godhead, although I've heard rumors of their splitting up.

On preview: Riverboat Gamblers are good, too.

posted by bmarkey 01 October | 18:59

"... Nobody is doing this kind of music anymore."
posted by jonmc 01 October

"... Chunka-chunka eighth-note I-IV-V stuff doesn't float my boat unless it has some sort of juicy hook to it."
posted by chuckdarwin 01 October

Not to snark, because I could've done that hours ago, but, really, there's only so much you can do with 3 chords, in 3 minutes, and people have been doing that for 50+ years, jonmc. chuckdarwin, bless his sad expatriate heart, has nailed it.

I was listening to rock when the first big transistor guitar amps became feasible, in 1964 or so. Before that, any solid state amp over about 50 watts rating would, literally, burn up, if you pushed it hard, in a phenomenon known as thermal runaway. I was a roadie for Cactus, for a season, after they started, and I don't regret it, but I probably have some residual hearing loss, as a result. If you're hard core, go see what they've been doing lately.

But I gotta warn you: there's only so much you can do in 3 minutes, with 3 chords...

posted by paulsc 01 October | 23:48

Bob Ezrin's father was the diet doctor who told me no one would ever want me if I were fat.

posted by brujita 02 October | 00:14

The Rubinoos – Rock & Roll Is Dead

I used to do the Pony,
I used to do the Twist
But my horsie died,
And believe me he won’t be missed

‘Cuz rock & roll is dead and we don’t care
Whoooo!
Rock & roll is dead and we don’t care

I used to boogie at the get-down
But now it seems just a bore
I’m goin’ to a wake
Ain’t gonna twist and shake no more

Rock & roll is dead, and we don’t care
Whooo!
Rock & Roll is dead and we don’t care

Y’know, people have been proclaiming the imminent death of rock & roll for as long as there’s been such a thing. Every couple of years or so there’ll be another wave of self-righteous prigs lining up to dance their personal merry jig on rock’s casket. That’s been going on for some 50 or 60 years now, depending on how you want to do the math.

The thing is, the patient refuses to snuff it. Sure, it might crawl over into a corner and pass out from time to time – might even wake up blue in the bathtub – but rock & roll has yet to die. And frankly, as long as there are electric guitars and thwarted adolescents (chronologically or otherwise), there will probably be people playing it and others listening to it.

Does rock enjoy the cultural hegemony it once did? No. (Neither does jazz, for that matter, and it’s far more endangered; quick – can you name five quality jazz musicians under the age of fifty? Sixty?)

But really, who cares? Things shift and change, the wheels turn, fashions come and go. You might have to dig a little deeper to find the true shining nuggets, but they are there for the taking. It’s a pretty crappy time for music at the moment, but (if I may coin a phrase) the thrill is in the hunt.

posted by bmarkey 02 October | 02:49

Y’know, people have been proclaiming the imminent death of rock & roll for as long as there’s been such a thing.

I think it's kind of a crisis of terms. Music which is made with drums and guitars isn't necessarily rock and roll...

Does rock enjoy the cultural hegemony it once did? No. (Neither does jazz, for that matter, and it’s far more endangered; quick – can you name five quality jazz musicians under the age of fifty? Sixty?)

Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Courtney Pine, Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum. Do I win a prize?

Jazz does really well here amongst the older people, and there is good money to be made playing it for them... but it's all trad stuff, though. Zzzzzz. I hear a lot of it, but it's mainly played by and for pensioners.

But really, who cares? Things shift and change, the wheels turn, fashions come and go. You might have to dig a little deeper to find the true shining nuggets, but they are there for the taking. It’s a pretty crappy time for music at the moment, but (if I may coin a phrase) the thrill is in the hunt.

I think it's an amazing time for music. There's more music available now than ever before! It's so available and easy to sample... the record companies are weaker and the artists are stronger. General musical ability (even among very, very young players) is way up, and new styles are developing. Because there isn't much money to be made by selling CDs, people tour a lot and the summer is full of festivals...

*shrug* I'm having a great time.

posted by chuckdarwin 02 October | 03:45

chuckdarwin, bless his sad expatriate heart, has nailed it.

*grin* Thanks; although I think there must be a good Quo song out there I've never heard (it wasn't that one, but one must exist, right?)

Re: being a sad expatriate: I think I was just born in the wrong country, to be fair. Not everyone is cut out for America. The US is a PARADISE if you have enough money... but I just don't. We could not afford the health insurance, and after I lost my job my wife and I weren't covered at all (the kids were, barely, by the state - but it was paltry).

I had a chance to move to a country with socialised medicine and I took it. Don't hate me for being happy about that.

posted by chuckdarwin 02 October | 03:52

Music which is made with drums and guitars isn't necessarily rock and roll...

A point I've made myself countless times.

There's more music available now than ever before!

Quantity does not equal quality.

I'm very happy to see the major labels crumbling, believe me, but as the barrier to getting one's music out in front of the public disappears, the ratio of dreck-to-useful skyrockets. Which, again, points out the need for the listener to be vigilant.

Personally, the current vogue for the pseudo-folky and the resurgence of what we might as well call "soft rock" bores the shit out of me. Your mileage may vary, of course. Things being cyclical, it's all gonna change within a few years anyway. My guess is that it will fall on the side of the noisier, but it may well take a shape that none of us can predict at the moment.

And I suppose that that's what keeps it interesting. Where are things going to go next? What's just over the horizon?

On preview: I'm gonna leave the ex-pat thing alone. You had your reasons for leaving, and I'm not saying that if I had the option before me I wouldn't take it. The fact of the matter is that I don't.

I will mention, however, that the playing of the same card over and over does become a bit tiresome after awhile.

posted by bmarkey 02 October | 04:08

Personally, the current vogue for the pseudo-folky and the resurgence of what we might as well call "soft rock" bores the shit out of me.

I can see that, and you're not the only one. To me, it's good and bad. I love some of the really subtle delicate things I've heard this year, and I play with some really amazing folkies from time to time, so I can't bash it.

As far as there being too much out there: there is a lot of legwork to do now for the average listener... but I kind of like doing it.

My guess is that it will fall on the side of the noisier, but it may well take a shape that none of us can predict at the moment.

Klaxons won the Mercury Prize. They're pretty noisy.

I will mention, however, that the playing of the same card over and over does become a bit tiresome after awhile.

I didn't play it! You did; upthread as I recall. I was just trying to explain, officer.

(ironically, I'm the one who is constantly reminding Brits how good they have it! AFAIC, the NHS rules. They just take it all for granted, the bastards)

posted by chuckdarwin 02 October | 04:24

To add a couple of names to the rock pile:

Birthday Suits: we played with these guys when we were in Seattle and they seriously rocked the house. I don't think these youtube links really do them justice.

Also, these guys may seem to retro-y or kitschy, but I think they're fairly sincere in their love for the older rock'n'roll.
Disclosure: I know the drummer.

Loud guitars, shouting/singing, smash-up hardhat and lunchpail drumming, 3 chords in three minutes, hooks or no: I think there will be people playing this kind of music for some time, it's just a matter of finding it.

posted by safetyfork 02 October | 06:37

Where the hell did that "o" go? It's too much I say!

posted by safetyfork 02 October | 07:11

Damn right about Black Mountain! And The Pink Mountaintops, too, though to a lesser extent. "No Satisfaction" is one of my favorite songs of the decade so far.

posted by Hugh Janus 02 October | 08:04

"Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Courtney Pine, Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum. Do I win a prize?"

No. He said "quality.'

Matthew Shipp, Tim Speed, Gerald Carver, Mike Stern, The Bad Plus.

posted by klangklangston 02 October | 12:51

Yes sucked.

Oh, it's on.

posted by muddgirl 02 October | 12:55

Yes is kinda like Grateful Dead; there's no denying the musicianship involved and there might be a song or two that I really like, but there are specific real reasons many people don't like their music -- their sense of harmony, for example, or the tendency for the song's form to disappear up the bands asshole, or the insistence of many of their fans that those who don't like it just don't get it -- so it really comes down to a matter of taste.

I'm not a Yes fan; I prefer my prog zeuhl.

Also I think "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is a tremendous song, by far the best of Yes. Which just goes to show you, I'm not a Yes fan.

posted by Hugh Janus 02 October | 13:13

01 October 2007