Saturday, June 18, 2005

Leaves Me Cold

My daughter will tell you that every time I hear something that even remotely resembles Coldplay, or one of the myriad Coldplay wannabe bands on the radio, I hit the "scan" button. This article gave meaning to my aversion.
Imagine if the biggest rock band in the United States was fronted by someone who looked and sounded just like George W. Bush. Worse, by someone who was from the same social caste as Bush and who thought that everything Bush does is "BRILLIANT." So BRILLIANT, in fact, that said rock star offered Bush his cell number with an invitation for him to call if he ever felt like chatting about world poverty, or world peace, or fancied being taught how to play a mean F-chord on guitar. You would think that was weird, right? Especially if you associate rock with rebellion -- with the guitar-smashing antics of the Who or the anarchic shenanigans of the Sex Pistols -- and not with schoolgirlish sucking up to the biggest Boss Man of all.

You want to listen to real rock? Check out Sleater-Kinney.

4 comments:

Snave said...

I like the sound of Coldplay. I like how melodic their stuff is, and I know it tends toward the fluffy but I consider it to be impeccably-played and -produced "ear candy". The textures of sound they create are something I find pleasant, but I don't consider their music to be rock as much as pop.

However, they are about the only pop group I like.

My rock tastes tend to run toward "classic" stuff like Neil Young, The Who and The Beatles. If it's slightly more modern music, I like Guided By Voices, XTC, The Verve, and Yo La Tengo (now THERE is one fine band!)

Sleater-Kinney is also very good. They're a group I definitely want to see sometime. Have you seen them play "live"?

Some Guy said...

OK, since I trust you completely I am now downloading Sleater-Kinney from Itunes. I'll let you know what I think!

Some Guy said...

S-K reminds me a bit (so far and I've only had it for a few seconds) of The Presidents of the United States of America. We'll see.

Some Guy said...

Another band you may wish to check out is Juliette and the Licks. Very good.