Spring Break
GUEST COLUMNS
The problem plaguing modern music is you.
By: Andrew Bennett
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Opinion
In response to the articles on music Monday, asking, "what this generation of artists can do to redeem themselves." I contend that it's not a shortage of talent or the artist's lack of training causing these musical doldrums. The reason is you - the consumer.
The condition of popular music can be examined in a case study of the rock 'n' roll band At The Drive In. Touted as the next Nirvana, At The Drive In brought to the scene a style that broke from popular rock acts of the time, fusing punk energy with screaming pop choruses.
They were innovators, but it became pop in the way Nirvana became pop. After the band split, we began to see the roots of what developed into the so-called "hardcore" genre with the subsequent forming of Sparta, while the Latino factors of the group formed the avant-garde, progressive collective The Mars Volta.
Specifically, in rock music today rock-bands that call themselves "hardcore" can attribute part of their sound to At The Drive in. The screaming, the on-stage mayhem, the teenage boo-hoo angst is all attributed to the El Paso band and the fad they started.
So what can we learn from this and why did Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez split? Because they realized that the At The Drive In sound was just a fad. It had no substance. Current rock is characterized by a dearth of musicality, a lack of lyrical depth, and a dependency on a repeated, easily digestible phrase to sell the chorus.
The masses have always had trouble recognizing what music is just a fad. Therefore, they put their faith in commodified art and the industry fuels the trend sacrificing substance for profit.
As Nickleback and Buck Cherry fill the pop waves with crude shock-lyrics and grossly recycled composition, even the underground scene of "hardcore" bands has no validity.
Rock does need a new hero, and it's not going to be someone dripping with tattoos, angrily throwing their guitar around, screaming that they're broken and singing about how much women hurt their hearts.
The condition of popular music can be examined in a case study of the rock 'n' roll band At The Drive In. Touted as the next Nirvana, At The Drive In brought to the scene a style that broke from popular rock acts of the time, fusing punk energy with screaming pop choruses.
They were innovators, but it became pop in the way Nirvana became pop. After the band split, we began to see the roots of what developed into the so-called "hardcore" genre with the subsequent forming of Sparta, while the Latino factors of the group formed the avant-garde, progressive collective The Mars Volta.
Specifically, in rock music today rock-bands that call themselves "hardcore" can attribute part of their sound to At The Drive in. The screaming, the on-stage mayhem, the teenage boo-hoo angst is all attributed to the El Paso band and the fad they started.
So what can we learn from this and why did Cedric Bixler Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez split? Because they realized that the At The Drive In sound was just a fad. It had no substance. Current rock is characterized by a dearth of musicality, a lack of lyrical depth, and a dependency on a repeated, easily digestible phrase to sell the chorus.
The masses have always had trouble recognizing what music is just a fad. Therefore, they put their faith in commodified art and the industry fuels the trend sacrificing substance for profit.
As Nickleback and Buck Cherry fill the pop waves with crude shock-lyrics and grossly recycled composition, even the underground scene of "hardcore" bands has no validity.
Rock does need a new hero, and it's not going to be someone dripping with tattoos, angrily throwing their guitar around, screaming that they're broken and singing about how much women hurt their hearts.
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