5 Reasons Why Indie Rock Doesn't Rock

hutch - i was makin' jokin'.  i like ac/dc, even if their catalog is variations on a single theme (and that theme is "let's kick ass" ;D)

sweetcell wrote:
hutch - i was makin' jokin'.  i like ac/dc, even if their catalog is variations on a single theme (and that theme is "let's kick ass" ;D)

ac dc is what its all about.. if you don't get ac dc you just don't get rock and roll.


In the beginning
Back in nineteen fifty-five
Man didn't know about a rock 'n' roll show
And all that jive
The white man had the schmaltz
The black man had the blues
No one knew what they was gonna do
But Tchaikovsky had the news
He said -
"Let there be sound," and there was sound
"Let there be lights," and there was lights
"Let there be drums," and there was drums
"Let there be guitar," and there was guitar
"Let there be rock"
And it came to pass
That rock 'n' roll was born
All across the land every rockin' band
Was blowing up a storm
The guitar man got famous
The businessman got rich
And in every bar there was a super star
With a seven year itch
There were fifteen million fingers
Learning how to play
And you could hear the fingers picking
And this is what they had to say
"Let there be light"
"Sound"
"Drums"
"Guitar"
"Let there be rock"
One night in a club called 'The Shaking Hand'
There was a forty-two decibel rocking band
The music was good and the music was loud
And the singer turned and he said to the crowd -
"Let there be rock"

I agree with article. indie hiPSTERS make me want to puke..


this particularly hit home:

02. I Am Irony Maaaaan

This is one that really pisses me off. For some reason the indie hipster crowd need everything to be an ironic joke. It?s as if they?re afraid to take anything seriously because it might force them to have to take responsibility for what they do. If the whole thing is a nudge-nudge-wink-wink bit of humor, then when the music sucks they can claim it was all a big punch line. The bigger problem is they take everything that once mattered and make it their little joke. They wear Iron Maiden and AC/DC shirts ironically, then talk about bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and so on with a mocking tone. This lack of reverence for these bands translates to a lack of understanding and thusly a lack of being able to rock. For some of us this music is everything, it?s the lifeblood and watching bands belittle it for their pathetic little scene sucks.

I most appreciated the fact where he tells us what music you cant listen to 'to get it on'. Im paraphrasing because no way in hell am i subjecting even more time to that article.

I guess Death Cab, BSS and others are just not good music that you can possibly swoon a woman with. I dunno transatlantacism is a pretty good album just for that reason. im not saying 'it rocks', but damn - who the hell needs that kind of music if youre just trying to have sex.

I have heard mixed things. They did play the Sub Pop 20th anniversary fest as well as some European shows not that long ago. I plan on hounding Chasny about it if I can bring myself to go to a Lambert venue next week. Chasny can do no wrong but Ethan's band Howlin' Rain is garbage.

ggw wrote:
Comets on fire broke up, didn't they. It's too bad. Their last show at the Black Cat was great. They played every song like it was THE song. The world needs more Comets on Fire.

well

04. Don?t Dress The Part, Kick Out The Jams!! - this is why I fart in the general direction of bands like Free Energy it's like a bunch of kids who watched that 70s show one to many times and playing dress-up


03. Genre Layering Won?t Save You - this one is a personal pet peeve of mine…

The availability of GarageBand has resulted in nothing more than endless records that sound like warmed over demos.  I also wonder how many bands even bother to master their final product anymore. 

Before the advent of GarageBand, bands spent time playing gigs honing their craft before taking time to record.  Now they get together write, record and hope the blogsphere begins the hype.  So many over hyped band get out on tours without doing serious time in front of an audience before hand…

There is a reason why records of yore still sound good, it's because it they were recorded in proper studios with a producer and engineer.  I've been listening to lots of 80s remixes of late and then they were done in a studio by the manipulation of tape, etc.  Remixing is all the rage now, problem now is their done by Indie Rock Hacks sitting in front of a laptop with Garage band.

I wonder when the last time a band listened to a final mix in say a car.  I guess if the final product sounds good on crappy ear buds that's all that matter anymore

And of course the ability to auto-tune any crappy singer makes for even crappy live performances…

ultra snide remark, based on the band feature on NPR this morning it would appear folk music is now code for anyone who can't sing or write decent songs

walkonby wrote:

StoneTheCrow wrote:
All I know is that I recently got satellite radio and it really is a rarity to hear one of their alt stations play something that "rocks". Not counting the silly Lithium channel.

when sirius began . . . they were awesome.  awesome.  now they suck.  all music stations overplay all music, most being reduced to loop computers controlled programming.  not even stern can save that sinking ship.  i only listen to the gay channel and the news now . . . the only good stuff left.

I bought a new car so I have a 3 month Sirius trial. The only 2 stations I have programed are SiriusXMU and the Deep Tracks one. For XMU I sometimes listen on my morning and evening commute and I've seriously heard maybe 20 different songs over the last 3 weeks. They play the same songs over and over and over. I thought the indie station would at least play a wider variety…

jet sucks

MGMT rock indily. 

Not much of an MGMT fan but I will give them credit where it is due.
They did an excellent job with this song.

They definitely play a different loop than the ones the free radio stations play. But it's a loop nonetheless and it wasn't long before it wore out its welcome.

the old school show on XMU is pretty good.  I like Blogger radio too.  Still better than the radio.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
jet sucks

Totally agree.  Horrible horrible band.

chaz wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
jet sucks

Totally agree.  Horrible horrible band.

but they're exactly what the article is clamoring for, right?

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
but they're exactly what the article is clamoring for, right?

that wasn't my impression… what makes you think that?

sweetcell wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
but they're exactly what the article is clamoring for, right?

that wasn't my impression… what makes you think that?

That are you gonna come my way song was catchy and cute….but around the time it came out I was listening to that album in a friend's car and I was honestly shocked at how bad it was.

When talk of bringing back acdc started, my mind went straight to jet.  Thats what we'd get.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:

chaz wrote:

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
jet sucks

Totally agree.  Horrible horrible band.

but they're exactly what the article is clamoring for, right?

absolutely not. … jet are complete poseurs..  and they are not acdc poseurs.. they are rolling stones poseurs.

I saw a magazine 'spread' on them a few years ago… they had the jack daniels bottles, keith look down to a science..


you know guys, you can be genuine and still make chuck berry rock and roll… and every indie band you guys wet your pants over has plenty of role models, influences and blueprints.. they dont' come up with their music in a vacumn. its just the wrong blueprint..its not rock..its not rock and roll..its no fun.

That "My Ding a Ling" song totally rocks.

James wrote:
That "My Ding a Ling" song totally rocks.

No one is perfect.. not even Chuck Berry.. but he did pretty much take rock and roll to the next level and if you could credit anyone for its "invention" it would be him. What did John Lennon say? If you could use another word for rock and roll you could call it "Chuck Berry"..(I paraphrase)

Read this.  This is what he's talking about.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/27321/in-on-the-killjoy