Bored New World: How the Zach Braff Prototype Is Slowly Killing American Music

[26 October 2009]

Natalie Portman popped headphones onto Zach Braff's head and said, "This song will change your life." The resulting sound was not only that of carefully composed dullness, but of a million wealthy white kids investing in dull acoustic music to soundtrack their own romantic melodrama.

By Chris Milam

“I don’t necessarily think 26-year-old white guys are that interesting. So why would I want to make another movie about their coffee shops and romantic pratfalls?”
—David Gordon Green, writer/director, All the Real Girls

“I want everyone to be quiet for this next song. It’s a really personal song to me. And no, I’m serious—I want everyone to be quiet.”
—Un-named Nashville singer/songwriter

Turn on the TV at any given moment and you’ll see a Buick ad accompanied by an acoustic soundtrack as turtleneck-clad, neutered adults exchange wet glances at each other, car coasting into the snowy twilight of this, their American future. Falsetto abounds. In coffeehouses across America skinny-jeaned lads talk about themselves talking about themselves and trade iPods in this, their own personal Cameron Crowe dramedy. MySpace cyber-hocks chubby prep schoolers as Johnny Folk Hero, uninspired girls rejoice, and countless mix tapes are drafted for kids who don’t love each other back, while everyone everywhere who has nothing better to do—and the means to do it—sings along in the plaintive falsetto of their privileged soul. And I’m here, in the back of the room, in a smokeless Nashville concert hall, wondering why the guy onstage is singing into his guitar lifelessly and, even more so, why everyone else in the room is listening.

Welcome to the Art of Self-Entitlement.

I first noticed this trend a few years ago, new to the Nashville music scene myself while discovering my own identity as an artist and performer. I grew up in Memphis, accustomed to the manic energy and bizarre fearlessness of the local artists there. I also grew up watching old clips of Elvis, turning the world with every shake of his hips, or Lennon, snarling at a royal crowd to “rattle their jewelry”, or Hendrix making love happen all over his guitar. I watched Eddie Vedder diving off balconies, Kurt Cobain into drumsets, Sid Vicious marred in blood, Otis Redding sweating gallons in front of a field full of panicked hippies, and on, and on. The same hunger, vitality, and naked desperation of those seminal artists showed in even the least noteworthy local bands—Lucero, even before they were Lucero, sweat through their shirts every set. The same vein that bulged out of Roger Daltrey’s neck protruded from Cory Branan in the first raw performances of “Girl Named Go”. I grew up thinking that’s how artists perform.

But I saw something different in Nashville, and I saw it more and more: soft-spoken singer-songwriters mumbling timidly into their guitar as dozens and dozens of hipsters listened and nodded. These kids sang like they have nothing to prove, and something to lose, and crowds contentedly humored them.

A few years later, Natalie Portman popped headphones onto Zach Braff’s head and said flatly, “This song will change your life.” The resulting sound was not only that of carefully composed dullness (thank you, Shins), but of a million wealthy white kids investing in dull acoustic music to soundtrack their own romantic melodrama. Youth culture is now practically sponsored by iTunes and Starbucks, and if that’s not a class statement, I don’t know what is. Every commercial features acoustic meanderings with a whispering, confessional androgynous voice. Entire movies are soundtracked by the supposedly self-aware acoustic stylings of Joe Latte. Percussion and humor are nowhere to be found. Neither is a pulse. 

Social critics write increasingly about the “Two Americas”, and they’re partially right: the greater American populace has perhaps never been more separate from the wealthiest one percent. The richest minority (Beverly Hills, South Beach and Manhattan), have become the trendsetters for the other 99 percent in Birmingham, Springfield, Boise or Winston-Salem. To a degree, this has always been the case. Cities with the largest media outlets have always contributed the most to pop culture climate.

But while Tommy NewYorkBigwig used to pimp people’s art from everywhere else, now he’s only invested in the kids down the street. The music sounds like it has nothing to prove because the kids making it have nothing to prove. It enacts leisure because its authors come from a background of leisure. And the kids performing onstage don’t care about earning your attention or respect because they’re not accustomed to earning anything. It’s an entire artistic movement of, for, and about the bourgeoisie at a time when everyone in America is living anything but the lifestyle of the rich, famous and bored.

And whether you’re watching one of their movies (about coffee house melodrama, droopy-eyed protagonists, and overlong meta-dialogue), or listening to their music (plaintive, boring mumblings about, you guessed it: coffee shops, love, cigarettes, or feeling like you’re in a movie), or sitting next to them, the underlying (and most offensive) premise is inescapable: all of this is happening because all of the people involved feel entitled to an audience instead of earning one. Of course people want to know about your relationship for two hours while Death Cab rings in the background—why wouldn’t they?

Meanwhile, millions of Americans have a million different reasons to be anything but bored. I won’t enumerate them here—I’ll stop at the words “recession”, “Afghanistan”, and “Lamar Odom’s new wife”. But here’s the point: say your school doesn’t have central heat, say your grandma’s dying, say your cousin just got deployed, say your dad works in the automotive industry, or your mother just remarried, say your stomach hurts, or your car just broke down, or you just paid $65 for a tank of gas, or your city’s only sports team just lost by 45, or your wife is cheating on you, or you hate your job, say you love your job, or your girlfriend is wonderful, say you just canceled cable and it was the best decision you’ve made all year, say you slept soundly for the first time in months; say anything, say everything, say none of it and all of it you feel fit to say… there’s nothing in any of it coming out of the silver tongued kid onstage, singing like he’d rather be somewhere else.

Maybe the most troubling aspect of this entire phenomenon is not even the art itself, but instead its newly adopted audience (people who can’t relate to self-meditation, but want to). In our current climate, if you have access to a Facebook page, you have access to creating the World of You. Also available is the soundtrack to the World of You. And even if you have better things to do, or other things to worry about, or generally more fruitful endeavors to pursue, the newest escapist fashion requires that you lie in your bed, windows drawn, pop in your iPod, cue up Snow Patrol or the Navel Gazers, or the Weeping Gentlemen, or whoever, and “change your life” with Natalie Portman. Then everything’s smooth and dull and gravy. Why buy into your own life when you can buy into the natural privilege and self-entitlement of someone else’s? Where the American dream was once to actually become something from nothing, it’s now to imagine being something instead of nothing. Why make things better when you can just pretend they are?

While these questions and a million others go unanswered on the radio waves and split-screens and message boards and blogs and Top 40 countdowns of this Bored New World, I’m still in the back of a smokeless room, waiting for someone, anyone with a kick drum and an amp, a vein in their neck and a thorn in their side, hungry and desperate and raw, to step up and sing something with a heartbeat from the Other America, where there’s something to prove and nothing to lose.

 
Bookmark and Share

Comments

Natalie Portman’s character didn’t “pop an earbud” in Zach Braff’s ear, she put headphones over his head. Do you really not think that “a million wealthy white kids” have *always* “[invested (themselves)] in dull acoustic music to soundtrack their own romantic melodrama[s]”?

If you think that “these questions and a million others go unanswered on the radio waves and split-screens and message boards and blogs,” you’re obviously not reading the blogs, or watching the channels, or listening to the stations where the sort of thing you’re searching for (‘authentic’ music) lives.

I can’t help but think that this piece is a wordy dig at bands like Okkervil River, with its references to life being like a movie, and so on. Funny thing is, though, they’re one of the best bands around at the moment.

Comment by Hugh from Auckland — October 26, 2009 @ 1:41 am

I hate Zach Braff as much as anyone, and think Brooklyn has basically become a 50’s style exclusive suburb based on taste rather than wealth. But I am not sure the two are related (probably correlated). Either way, I’m more interested in how things got that way, which no one has really answered yet.

Comment by Ethan Stanislawski from New York, NY — October 26, 2009 @ 2:34 am

“...the kids performing onstage don’t care about earning your attention or respect because they’re not accustomed to earning anything.”

Precisely.

This is why I take my money, and my applause, to the real musicians who, thankfully, are still out there if one will make just a bit of effort to find them.

Comment by Simone from San Francisco — October 26, 2009 @ 2:59 am

thank you for this article. i’m sick of wimpy being cool. its a common complaint in my circle that no one rocks out, takes chances, or has any fucking fun anymore. what happened to bands like the replacements doing drunken country covers at punk shows? what happened to guitarists like eddie van halen genuinely smiling onstage? what happened to unbridled emotional intensity a al husker du? what happened to upbeat pop music without DANCE-BEATS and 80s revivalist hipsters!? i’ll take my mark kozeleks and jeff tweedys all day, but i want my angus youngs and elvis costellos too… and we are in desperate need of a new crop.
fuck this shit.

Comment by raul — October 26, 2009 @ 4:32 am

“And I’m here, in the back of the room, in a smokeless Nashville concert hall…”

Just one question: why does it matter if the concert hall is “smokeless”?

Comment by Jason — October 26, 2009 @ 5:35 am

If you’re in Tenn, go see Jay Reatard.

Comment by Jason — October 26, 2009 @ 7:12 am

Holy shit, did I just time warp back to 2005?

Comment by Klaus from Atlanta — October 26, 2009 @ 7:25 am

The central premise of the article is correct: indie-rock is deadly dull and it is everywhere. I wish the critics would pay more attention to techno, hip-hop, and worldbeat.

Comment by Brian from St. Paul — October 26, 2009 @ 7:26 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

Wow, thanks for the comments!  As you say, there’s plenty of great music, you just have to know where to look. 

I was initially interested in the way some Top 40 rock/singer-songwriter artists had influenced performance on a local level.  When I wrote this piece, I was noticing that some of these uninspiring trends had trickled down and, for some, become “Lifestyle Music.”  Recently, though, I see a lot of great, vibrant music on the local level—and I think Top 40 is beginning to reflect that, too.  Maybe good music trickles up?

Thanks again for the thoughts, everyone!

Comment by Chris Milam — October 26, 2009 @ 8:22 am

This kind of piss and vinegar might be just the thing on a monday morning if not for the fact that the author doesn’t seem to know what the artist he derides actually sing about. Does he really think that a Death Cab album is ten songs about crying in your half-caf? Jesus, man. Go buy a Mason Jennings album.

Comment by jgraff — October 26, 2009 @ 8:26 am

That’s quite a straw man you got there.

Comment by Joe — October 26, 2009 @ 8:27 am

THANK YOU..wonderful article that articulates something indie culture is loathe to admit..

Comment by sam shalabi from montreal — October 26, 2009 @ 8:55 am

While I enjoy and agree with the majority of this article, I must also agree with the above poster. If this is an attack on Okkervil River, the author has done very little *actual* listening to that band. Specifically because the song it sounds like he’s attacking (Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe) says the same thing this article does. And if the author has missed that point, he’s a fucking twat and that’s fantastically ironic.

Comment by Kris — October 26, 2009 @ 9:18 am

I feel like I’m surrounded by kids who are too eager to compete to be the most nostalgic about the latest soundtrack-movie, and no one really knows what to find naturally appealing anymore.  If it bores me to sleep, I guess it’s artsy enough to be spectacular and my new favorite?  Meanwhile, everyone hides “guilty pleasures” that are probably far more profound than the crap that’s playing at Cafe Coco on a Sunday afternoon.  Natalie Portman makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

Comment by Anna from Nashville — October 26, 2009 @ 9:20 am

Wow, thanks to everyone for the comments!  As you say, there’s a ton of great music out there…you just need to know where to look. 

When I wrote the piece, I was noticing the way some uninspiring Top 40 artists had a negative “trickle-down” influence on a local level.  Now, I see a lot more great, interesting, vibrant stuff on a local level, and it’s peeking through more with pop bands.  Maybe great music trickles up?

I’ve not heard nearly enough Okkervil River (especially this song in question) but clearly I need to!  I’m checking out “Our Life…” now.  I bet it’s great.

Thanks again for all the thoughts.

Comment by Chris Milam from New York — October 26, 2009 @ 9:36 am

From a “real” musician: thanks for ignoring the thousands of us who are playing “real” music, while you sit in a smokeless room listening to dull music. We played shows this weekend, but where were you? When the kids over here were on the floor letting it all out and I was onstage making a damn fool of myself, you were whining about the yuppie onstage over at the boring club across town. When we got in the van and went to the next town to do it all over again, you went home and blogged about how bad music is these days. We’re here. Where are you?

The only reason you’re not finding music from the other America is because you don’t want to come across the tracks and find it.

Comment by Chris from Gainesville, FL — October 26, 2009 @ 9:37 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

A)  That’s why I like the Drive By Truckers.

B)  You know all those sweat-soaked adrenaline bands you worship were just as much of an affectation as the floor-gazing whiners you loathe, right?  And most of them were on heroin.

C)  Teenagers are bombarded today with all kinds of competing pressures and imagery from all different sides, and you’re calling them empty and hollow because, in their attempts to make sense of it all and belong somewhere, they come upon a little disaffected melodrama?  It’s not their fault their affluent parents coddled them.

D)  Why can’t art just be art and entertainment just be entertainment without the sweeping generalizations and judgments about culture?

Comment by Chris — October 26, 2009 @ 9:37 am

Was this article written in 2004-5? I just don’t buy it today. The coffee shop, mopey mid-20s meta-movie and music was a trend back then, and it was just that - a trend. The only recent trend I can attach to what you’re talking about is Twilight, and that appeals to teenagers (as did Garden State and a lot of the music you refer to). If that’s who you’re going after - teenagers - then that’s silly. Because teenagers, God bless ‘em, and even young 20 somethings, are usually pretty silly. And their tastes will change every few years until age sets a perspective.

Yeah, there’s some bland, boring music out there. And there’s some pretty great albeit innocuous acoustic music too. Why should you attack people for liking something just because it’s inconsequential pop? To assume ALL or even MOST of these listeners are melodramatic idiots somehow cutting themselves off from some perceived real world is a ridiculously flawed thesis.

Yes, I’m not a huge fan of Facebook and the over-reliance of technology as a means of escape. I would agree with you there, but I don’t buy that there’s a connection between that and the music/film trends currently out there. Ipod owners and Facebook users are incredibly diverse in their tastes. I’d go so far as to say a good chunk of these folks are actually seeking out the most compelling music possible, if not for the music itself, then to advertise how hip they are. I’d say that’s a much more prominent trend than what you’re lamenting in this piece.

Comment by John from Austin — October 26, 2009 @ 9:42 am

Every artist caters to your idea of who you want to be.  You want to be known as someone raw, angry, and salt-of-the-earth authentic, so you gravitate to those artists who let you imagine that about yourself. 

What you seem to miss is that your authentic is just as bankrupt as Zach Braff’s authentic.  Bands that actually do have a sense of humor (to whom I, a consumer with a sense of humor of my own, wink-nudge, myself am drawn) understand this.

Anyway, I’m sorry the indie rock zeitgeist (which, despite the Shins, you still have to exert effort to find.  Talk about myopia.  You’d think the internet and, yes, those pesky blogs, would have made it easier to avoid the music you don’t like, and we are talking about you, because someone on the other side of the digital divide would not have the same consumer habits as you.  Talk about entitlement.) doesn’t cater to your particular consumer niche.

I mean, I understand your larger point.  Indie rock is boring and tepid.  Herbert called it “indie landfill,” and I agree with that assessment.  Luckily, so do many of the consumers who bother you so much.  Those same white doodz who listen to someone like Sufjan Stevens (whos song about losing someone to cancer became a touchstone for a friend of mine who was going through something similar) are also listening to MIA, Girl Talk, The Knife, and countless other bands who have either humor, rhythm, or both.  Have you been paying attention over the past 10 years, or is this column just based on your experiences going to a few shows in Memphis?

Next time you try to extrapolate some larger sociopolitical insight from your own musical preferences, at least do us all the favor of recognizing that that’s what you’re doing.  I’m pretty sure Will Sheff would be capable of at least that much.

Comment by Nick from Hartford, CT — October 26, 2009 @ 10:02 am

Good Form

Comment by This guy — October 26, 2009 @ 10:06 am

Hi Chris!

While your article is gloomy, I’m not sure how much there is to be particularly gloomy about. Sure some music can be considered lifestyle music of the privileged white middle class, sure, and in some cases it can be quite boring - sometimes I find The Shins boring.

But I also enjoy them.

Sometimes.

But I, along with many other music aficionados out there (who often belong to the white “privileged” folks you rail against) are very eclectic in their taste, probably more than ever in history. Why? Because the internet has changed everything to the point where the is more of EVERYTHING. There is a lot of soft-spoken folk-inspired stuff out there, but there is also a lot of grindcore, pyschobilly, hip-hop, dub-step, and every other genre.

Really. If the complaint is against music that speaks to white-middle-class people particularly, I know it’s easy to get upset about people feeling emotional when they have all the advantages of the world, but people gotta make art that expresses something, and sometimes you might as well do that. All those other topics you mentioned? Might as well just look to the very vibrant genre of hardcore for that. Listen to Fucked Up sometime.

Comment by Daniel Joseph from Toronto — October 26, 2009 @ 10:06 am

This article was a waste of time. Don’t lump Nashville in with your wannabe clever ramblings that belong in 2005. Where were you when Be Your Own Pet were screaming about fucking shit up? More recently, what about Jeff the Brotherhood, Deluxin’, even How I Became the Bomb? I’m not convinced that you’re in Nashville and if you want some smoke, go check out the 5 Spot in East Nashville. In the meantime, get over yourself.

Comment by Alex, Nashville Native from Brooklyn, NY — October 26, 2009 @ 10:11 am

Good to know!
And thousands of sincere and serious tall people I met on ___Tallconnect com___ are the most amazing people I ever met! they care nothing but real love and chemistry! that’s what we are looking for in today’s world! :-)

Comment by harryup — October 26, 2009 @ 10:11 am

I don’t think that the writer is writing about a trend—I think he’s addressing a lifestyle catalyzed by a trend. A lifestyle that is very different from the one he grew up with.

Comment by Rachel Brodsky — October 26, 2009 @ 10:17 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

though the premise is probably something most people can get behind, to some degree - 26 year old white guys are usually pretty boring - this article and this author wreak of douchebaggery.

attack an easy target like zach braff and then say that music ain’t what it used to be because coffee shop bands aren’t like elvis or jumping into drum sets?

but the worst thing the author does is fail to write that he’s the poster child for the type of behavior he’s referring to.

google his name.

the first first 7 results are his website, his blog, his myspace, his facebook, his cdbaby, his twitter and his mog. also pictures of him in wes anderson outfit, looking all thoughtful and looking into the distance.

i call bullshit.

Comment by matt from urbana — October 26, 2009 @ 10:28 am

There really doesn’t seem to be a common thread to this “article.” What are you ranting against? Mopey kids with acoustic guitars singing about coffee shops? That’s really nothing new. “Wimpy,” nasally pop bands? Goes back even further. Entitled kids guiding trends? Come on, you’ve got to have something more interesting to say here. This is just a belated rant that is in dire need of unity.

By the way, I hate to play the iconoclast here, but most of those rock stars (except Otis - that sweat was real) you named were just posturing for their audiences. You’ve seen these things because they were filmed. And they were filmed because they were premeditated and bombastic. Feel like you’re in a movie yet?

And don’t bemoan the arrival of Facebook and iPods or you’ll just come across as an old geezer. Idealizing the past is just as foolish as worshiping the present trends.

Comment by Chris from Austin, TX — October 26, 2009 @ 10:40 am

PopMatters has, many times, accurately and perceptively documented the hipster phenonmenon sweeping through most of the Western World. However, I am confused at the goal of this article. It strikes me as a both diatribe against Indie music and acoustic music at once: “I’m still in the back of a smokeless room, waiting for someone, anyone with a kick drum and an amp”. Yeah, because if your not loud or overly energetic, you just aren’t good. I guess Nick Drake must have really got it wrong then.

As far as Indie music, we must not discard the style simply because some of its followers. While we associate some bands with a trend today, tomorrow they will be remembered as great artists. Broken Social Scene immediately come to mind.

Finally, it is all well and good to complain about hipsters and contemplate the good ol’ days of Vedder and Hendrix, but the article gives off the distinct impression that yesterday’s music was better than today’s. Only history will be the ultimate judge of that. How arrogant.

Comment by Louis Moust from Quebec City — October 26, 2009 @ 10:50 am

What an exciting piece, thanks for the Monday morning jolt!  I don’t have to detest all the Braff-ishness out there (as I’m pretty sure you don’t) in order to call it out.  It certainly is there, and worth mentioning—especially in such a fresh and barbed kinda way.  I really enjoyed the article.

Comment by Jennifer Cooke from San Diego, CA — October 26, 2009 @ 11:09 am

Yawn. Didn’t they say the same thing about Nickelback? There’s a great critique of this “revelation” up on RipFork.

Comment by Jessica_B — October 26, 2009 @ 11:12 am

These are no news. Every phase in rock n rolls history came because of some reason and became unnecessary or hungover just because these reasons were not there anymore. The mainstream have and will always be a delay of what happens in the underground. Still you don’t even have to know what’s in the current underground to know it, just look back at what happened so far… goes round and round… in circles.

Comment by Pedro C Prosdocimo from Chicago, IL — October 26, 2009 @ 11:16 am

Glad somebody’s saying it. I haven’t seen a really passionate concert in ages.

I am looking and listening, but 2009 is shaping up to be dullest year of the decade by far.

Saw enough cool stuff in 2008, though. Much in the folky vein, but then, you know, good. Stuff Like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Port ‘O Brien (first album), Dodo’s, Sons of Noel And Adrian, Sing Fang Bous.

Might not be totally related, but I think my level of boredom also has something to do with the fact that many venues just don’t have the money too book the exciting and good and far away (and expensive) bands right now. I want to see The Harlem Shakes, but they sure aren’t coming to Europe fast.

Talent from around is mostly fairly limited and that’s almost always, everywhere the case.

Whatever the reason; lifestyle, money, or whatever, I agree, overall, depite some exciting albums, 2009 still feels majorly dull.

Comment by arjan from Netherlands — October 26, 2009 @ 11:36 am

Terrific article, Chris, that sums up my boredom with manufactured solo/acoustic/low-fi male-fronted folk music whose bands are all facsimiles of one another.  A number of years ago the record industry was churning out generic hard rock and nu metal bands, and it seems like middle America has responded to that blaring monotony and testosterone by saying, “We don’t want something loud and boring anymore; we desire the faux-introspection of nondescriptly quiet music.”  I’ve learned that the best combative measure is to completely ignore this garbage, because it’s all devoid of any literary insight and compositional talent.  Art is supposed to challenge or inspire a true form, and there’s nothinge even remotely fiery or stimulating about this trendy wave.  It’s all predicated upon self-entitlement (as you wrote), which is not an art but rather a commodity or something to sucker people into buying.

Comment by Grant — October 26, 2009 @ 11:45 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

Brilliant article, I too miss the passion in the music, and especially in the all too watered down folk music currently being pedaled in this country. I saw a band last week at CMJ (and no I have no personal/professional ties to them) who restored my faith in the passion of folk though. Fast forward to 1 minute in and let it build, truly awe-inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyNzsT9rj-U

Comment by Derek Davies from NYC — October 26, 2009 @ 12:02 pm

This same article is written every two years… because it needs to be written.

Comment by Ignatius J. Reilly — October 26, 2009 @ 12:04 pm

Milam is clearly critiquing a specific movement.  There’s no need to get upset about your specific band; he isn’t saying that EVERY SINGLE band is like this, nor is he saying that ALL modern music is bad.  He seems to be simply encouraging readers to look beyond this trend - possibly even to YOUR band.  Why is everyone so offended?

I thought it was a lovely article :)

Comment by Anonymous — October 26, 2009 @ 12:23 pm

Welllll, yes and no.  Even though I find Braff annoying, he has those moments, like introducing Imogen Heap, where he’s actually talking about something important.  And self-indulgent singer-songwriters?  On the one hand, I like topical protest “up against the wall” tunes, but OTOH, I’d rather have a folkie say something cryptic and strange than to have Jackson Browne tell me how much he doesn’t like US foreign policy.

The issue is, can you be personal and minimalist and have something unique to say?  For most singer-songwriters in the ‘00s, the answer is no.  But for a precious few in the 21st century, they’re almost the equal of Dylan.  The ratio of gems to crap probably hasn’t changed all that much from 60s to 00s.

Comment by Loring Wirbel from Colorado Springs — October 26, 2009 @ 12:40 pm

I’d have to agree with some of the above posters, this article seems a little dated.  The sweeping generalizations of folk music were painful to my eyes.  I think the indie music scene is vibrant and there are many powerful bands out right now.  Just to name a few great ones - Dirty Projectors, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Bright Eyes, Antlers, Iron & Wine, Okkervil River, Pink Mountaintops, Choir of Young Believers.  All great artists with powerful, poignant music.

Comment by Jay from New York — October 26, 2009 @ 1:25 pm

Another music article crying about the “death” of this and the “birth” of that.  If you quit your aimless fatalist ranting and weeded through the mumbly coffeeshop bullshit that you’re whining about, you would find that there are as many-if not more-determined, emotionally charged, challenging musical acts today as there have ever been.  I just listened to the new albums by Girls, Raekwon, and The Flaming Lips, and those seem like as good an argument as any against the blanket statements you are making about the “State of Music”.  These artist are maybe not as well-publicized as Elvis, Lennon, Hendrix, Redding, Cobain, et al, but on the bright side that means that less lazy people like you, Chris Milam, will be in front of me in the line at their shows.  Go ahead and be the 5,000th person to moan about the ideological significance of the Garden State soundtrack, but the fact is there has always been plenty of lazy, bad music, so stop lecturing us about it and go listen to the good stuff.

Comment by Toren — October 26, 2009 @ 1:45 pm

i think you’re ascribing to indie music a clout or influence that it doesn’t really have except in the imaginations of music critics. also, yeah, this is the biggest straw man i’ve seen since they burned edward woodward. are you just afraid of hurting someone’s feelings by telling them the shins suck? they do, but they’re definitely not slowly killing american music, either.

Comment by owen from austin texas — October 26, 2009 @ 1:45 pm

There’s nothing wrong with any of the ideas here, except that it focuses on a closed off circle of music.

If you look at the Metal genre, you will find those hungry, and raw kids with veins in their necks who don’t buy into greater ideas of self meditation for the sake of self-meditation.

Comment by Daniel N. from NYC — October 26, 2009 @ 2:18 pm

— PopMatters sponsor —

Well, you certainly succeeded in writing the always contentious “hipsters suck! Wheres the passion article” that is becoming so popular these days.

Although, you failed at making yourself seem any different than those you critique. Frankly, “in the back of a smokeless room, waiting for someone, anyone with a kick drum and an amp, a vein in their neck and a thorn in their side, hungry and desperate and raw, to step up and sing something with a heartbeat..” sounds just as, if not more, boring and pretentious as everyone else you complained about.

Nice, reactionary rant over what essentially boils down to whats popular and how, you are cooler because you reject these current trends. Take a look in the mirror next time, Chris. It might help inject a little humble, self-deprecation into your next article and not make you sound like such an arrogant guy who is so bummed because the dude on stage is sweating. Yawn.

Comment by Saxon Baird from Portland, OR — October 26, 2009 @ 2:30 pm

So much I could say, but I’ll keep it to:

-There is always an element of b.s. in criticizing something people already genuinely like- because such criticisms are really of the people, not of the thing they’re into, and thus not really valid.

-This article unfortunately makes a lot of sweeping generalizations which kind of undermine its overall point- which I actually happen to agree with.

-I don’t think the author was trying to dismiss all rock music that’s currently out. And where did the Okervill River thing specifically come from?

-There truly is an element of entitledness to a lot of popular culture now that wasn’t there 10 years ago- people do feel entitled to having an audience, to having immediate access to all information and all forms of entertainment. Everything is so readily available- yet people aren’t any happier or even any more actually intelligent. It does kind of seem like there’s a lot of bet-hedging going on, like there really isn’t much at stake. (God, these sound like over-generalizations too, but oh well. Not enough space to back them up.)

-Lastly- don’t you see a certain frivolousness in the culture of the 30 and under crowd that wasn’t there before? A lack of a certain no-b.s. masculinity? I just have a mental picture of the stereotypical hipster or pseudo-hipster (except not stereotypical, because I see this type of guy everywhere I go), shuffling along in carefully selected, purposefully shabby and boyish, nerdy clothes… do we have nothing better to do than put that much time and effort into crafting a look of agressive nonchalance?

Comment by Daniel from Omaha, NE — October 26, 2009 @ 2:46 pm

I think PopMatters problem these days is too many of their writers are early 30 somethings who mainly frequent their bedrooms or perhaps a wine bar or (who’daguessedit) coffee shops, take a look around at what became of their once relatively aware social circle (or rather “people of their type” - you know, newly married marketing majors who are considering their mortgage options on their macbook air over a large frapachino) - and are generally, and rightly, appalled at what they see. Drowning in Feist and Bon Iver. Jettas, oh the humanity. Contented late-capitalist consumerist creature comforts!

I share your disgust. I wish people didn’t head in this direction (especially as they move from drugging and sexing early 20 somethings to “guess its time to grow up” late 20 somethings). But guess what - these people are not at all an actual reflection of “what’s going on” in “the underground”. The people you’re actually describing are the wannabe cognoscenti who act as a buffer zone between the true blue underground and the always-oblivious mainstream - only it just so happens in this instance that the “buffer zone” is actually 5 to 10 times larger than the underground it surrounds. You’re basically saying that Paste magazine and its subscribers suck, which I can get behind you on, but then you somehow extrapolated that certain demographic to represent “what’s going on” and then you lost me completely and forever. But then again you used Eddie Vedder as an example of a vital passionate artist so maybe I gave you too much credit when I continued to read on past that.

Even freaking Pitchfork knows that “the real shit” these days is loud, abrasive, exciting, and maybe even a bit passionate. Aren’t No Age one of the biggest acts in the indieverse these days? Every decent sized city has a respectable noise/noise-pop/experimental-arty-shitgaze-garage-core scene right about now. Dubstep is just beginning to come into its own and is opening a lot of uninhabited musical territory. Minimal techno is still kicking but lately there’s been an exciting rise of detroit-type (wouldn’t quite call it maximalist) techno led by Redshape and his ilk. The interest in arty techno and other dance-based electronic music has probably risen threefold in the past couple years (though still quite niche-y in the scheme of things).

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that you’re probably old and out of touch. You demonstrate the same traits you apparently loathe. Do you go to McDonald’s, look around at all those silly philistines eating their fillet of fishes and smugly go home to cook yourself fish sticks and fries?

Comment by sean — October 26, 2009 @ 6:15 pm

So you don’t like the Shins. Or bands that don’t sweat piss and bleed onstage. That’s fine.

What’s that got to do with social class? That’s a lame hook to hang this article upon - I mean, plenty of poor folks like, and have created, sappy love songs or tender little tunes - and plenty of rich kids have made a huge noisy and sweaty racket.

I also detect more than a whiff of macho bullshit here: oh no, falsetto - must not like, lest I be thought girly among my manly-man male friends!

And uh, that Zach Braff movie came out like how many years ago?

Also, news flash: mainstream movies prefer bland music! Really? Whoda thunkit?

Comment by 2fs from Milwaukee — October 26, 2009 @ 6:33 pm

Christ, THANK YOU! Jesus, I’m sick of these assholes that have infected EVERY dimension of my youth. These unmovable fucks that live in their delusions and detached sensibilities. Few and far between are the great, and I am sure you can find those musical acts out there.

Comment by Will from MS — October 26, 2009 @ 8:13 pm

...and the banner ad placed at the top of this page is pimping the monotonous, effortless and sometimes dreary music of Kings of Convenience….

Comment by Andrew from Australia — October 26, 2009 @ 8:20 pm

I sense a little relativism rearing its ugly head. These days, there always seems to be a backlash whenever an author has the gumption to actually say, “Hey, I think this person/persons/sub-culture/etc. is lame. And here’s why.”  Hand in hand with this comes the accusations of the dreaded “overgeneralization.” Is it possible to overgeneralize? Of course. Do I see maudlin 20-something’s in girl jeans, dark rimmed glasses, and a pensive gaze everytime I walk down the darn street?  Yes, and if you’re honest with yourself (assuming you live in metropolis) you do too.  And guess what???? They’re lame! They’re not just “different” from me, they effing suck.  I’d go into why, but when a guy wears girl jeans the presumption is on his supporters to defend themselves.  Basically, I say attack this article (or any article) on the merits, instead of crying “deuchebag” and “overgeneralizer”!

Comment by Dr. Benway from Interzone — October 26, 2009 @ 9:25 pm

Hey hey hey, Chris M.! Way to write an article which gets responses!
Some very articulate, balanced and imbalanced responses which is a pleasant change from the very sparse commentary usually generated.
What I like about popmatters is that, while there are a few expected internet rage responses, there are great amounts of worthwhile provocative commentary.
And that guy from Quebec…popmatters is popmatters what does that have to do Chris Milam?

Comment by christopher Linton from Sydney, Australia — October 27, 2009 @ 1:56 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

I have read many of the blogs on here and this is the first time I felt compelled to write something. I think the author has it all wrong. First off the whole attack on hipsters is getting old. I grew up listeming to R.E.M., Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Black Flag, and a slough of other bands many would call indie today. They called us something else back then I think it was mod or waver or something. Anyway it was just a label for others outside of a group to identify us by. Second, it is all just music. There just seems to be a lot more of it. Since there is a lot more of it, I find it hard to believe that the author of this article has a difficult time finding a band with something to say, or is fun. Have you heard of Future of the Left? Have you been to an Art Brut or Hold Steady show? What about The Kills? On the folkier side Beach House is amazing. If you want to dance there is Crystal Castles and La Roux. I find it very narrow minded that people assume that indie listeners all wear skinny jeans and have one specific taste in music. Most I know don’t. Also The Shins are a great band. Don’t dismiss them because they found mainstream appeal. “Oh Inverted World” took years to make. By the way many of the artists up there aren’t kids. The author saying that just makes him sound old. I ought to know I am older as well.

Comment by John Miner from San Lorenzo Ca. — October 27, 2009 @ 3:48 am

@Dr. Benway

I think the more fundamental point is that the only people who care about the supposed social ill of hipster douchebags are privileged white kids who actually think there’s something particularly important about the smug attitude of other privileged white kids who attend their preferred clubs.

It’s not the “relativism” so much as it is the hypocritical solipsism that is itself an expression of the actual social ill in question here (that being the self-obsessed isolation and utterly frivolous outrages of privileged white people).

Comment by Klaus from Atlanta — October 27, 2009 @ 8:35 am

Gosh, what a daring, bold stand to take. What’s next? White kids wearing FUBU?

Comment by Adam from Denver — October 27, 2009 @ 9:59 am

I think the point is entertainment. We’re all so numbed by “Big Entertainment” shoveling piles of drivel into the market that when an independent artist actually gives a damn about the audience they are immediately labeled sellouts or written off as disposable. There is however plenty of room for all. Remember that at the same time Iggy and the Stooges were exploding all over audiences and going mostly unnoticed in their day, Nick Drake was turned about as far inward as you can get and I for one couldn’t live without either. But make no mistake, I’ve been known to throw a beer soaked napkin at the stage to remind certain mama’s boys that we are not at their grandparents house listening to little Johnny play his new guitar.

Comment by Elvis DeLarge from New Orleans LA — October 27, 2009 @ 10:33 am

It presents itself a little differently everytime around, but I’m afraid this happens to every generation.  It’s not about “being mellow”...it’s just about being overly-contrived and making safe choices. 

Here’s the progression: 1.) a few great minds do something innovative and awesome.  2.) The Man zeroes in on it so that he may cash-in.  3.) A bunch of douches flood in to copy the innovators.  4.) The truly great minds move elsewhere to create originality as we all bitch about how the mainstream has become stagnant.  5.) Repeat. (and somewhere in the middle, Natalie Portman says that a song with “change your life”)

Comment by Tim T from LA — October 27, 2009 @ 12:19 pm

Is this article merely the rantings of a failed musician? DVR-d the Hills lately?

Comment by Wes from Memphis — October 27, 2009 @ 12:37 pm

There are good and bad musicians in every genre. I am sure that given the chance a couple of these hipsters would impact you in a positive way. And if not given the chance… cest la vie wouldn’t be the worst thing to miss in life.
Cheers

Comment by John West from Vancouver British Columbia Canada — October 27, 2009 @ 2:31 pm

You obviously never once saw Caitlin Rose while in Nashville. A Shame…

Comment by Nashville Owns You from Nashvegas — October 27, 2009 @ 2:55 pm

— PopMatters sponsor —

Is this the same Chris Milam that comes up in all the top hits on Google? If it is him, it just seems so hypocritical for him to rag on folk rock while making music that sounds like it was composed by John Mayer’s younger brother. You’d think his own music would have a bit more of an edge.

Regarding the article itself,“New Slang” is a fucking fantastic song, and is most definitely not “dull.” I have to agree with pretty much everyone else’s criticisms of this article. “Garden State” came out at least five years ago, and while I agree that there was a time when light, acoustic rock dominated indie rock, I think the tide is already starting to shift back. But even if it weren’t, it still wouldn’t validate your point.

Your entire argument basically comes down to anything done on acoustic instruments is automatically boring and unworthy of our attention. Others have already done a great job of explaining how flawed your logic is, since there are plenty of great artists that primarily used an acoustic guitar in their songwriting.

Incidentally, there are still plenty of bands who know what a distortion pedal looks like, if you’re so inclined. Perhaps you should listen to them? It’s not an either/or scenario; Iron and Wine and Pissed Jeans can co-exist at the same time (on the same record label, even).

Comment by Scott W from Philadelphia — October 27, 2009 @ 3:23 pm

What a ridiculously overstated article. It shows no appreciation for the possibilities inherent in (and unique to) various genres of popular music, or for their limitations. It uses catchwords and slurs instead trying to seriously engage with music. It even smells a little of envy, no?

PopMatters, you frequently publish material too bloated with a pride in its own pseudo-cultural analysis to say anything insightful. But this is pretty bad even by those standards.

Comment by Chris from Philadelphia — October 27, 2009 @ 4:28 pm

Interesting article, Chris.  It’s a tricky subject because it’s bound to offend a wide spectrum of people while generating extremely defensive comments. 

I’d be very careful to generalize about what the majority of white middle-class young adults are listening to, though. The Shins might not be the most innovative band around, but people who enjoy them also love the old greats and hard-hitting acts of today.  I’ve found that music lovers’ Ipods have a broader spectrum of genres today than ever before. Saying that anything is “killing American music” is sort of ridiculous.

Comment by Dan Heaton — October 28, 2009 @ 8:49 am

Nashville’s Cortney Tidwell is the answer.  She is the epitome of a new breed and Nashville is quite proud of her.

Comment by Chris G from nashville — October 28, 2009 @ 12:05 pm

seems like it would have been better fit on craigslist and about three years ago.  it’s an interesting look at things, but, there IS good music.  This guys sitting in a trendy club where that shit always is.  Go to the Springwater, or a house show, ya know?  If you’re gonna be lazy about where you go see the music and louse around Douglas Corner or Cafe Coco or wherever, don’t complain about it.  There are some amazing local acts (even/especially here in Murfreesboro) that aren’t boring.  Just LOOK!  And if this is (as I may expect) a jealous rant of a yet-unsuccessful songwriter/musician again blaming culture for entertainment, then, for shame.

Comment by Steven from TN — October 28, 2009 @ 2:17 pm

First of all, I disagree that the movie Garden State is responsible for the state of today’s music. I think ground zero occurred when Volkswagen used Pink Moon by Nick Drake to sell a million crappy cars. And I think a better article would have analyzed how that serendipitous moment in marketing history forever changed the production values and professional goals of musicians everywhere because with the “music industry” dying out artists aren’t necessarily looking for recording contracts or radio play but commercials to get heard. As for the quality of music today; it’s just the same as any other time in history: 98% is crap and you and I will rarely agree on the remaining 2%.

Comment by rich from nm — October 28, 2009 @ 4:31 pm

Sounds like you need to move. Portland and Seattle are always hiring new jaded haters.

Comment by Fred Granklin — October 28, 2009 @ 5:36 pm

i’m a “jaded hater” and all the haters did in portland when i lived there was hate on the Dandy Warhols.
a great choice if one is going to hate, but it gets a little old.
Everclear was added around ‘99.
but that was it.

Comment by dave — October 29, 2009 @ 8:57 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

I think it’s always dicey to suggest that art made in a particular way by a particular group of people is automatically more/less worthwhile than art that’s not.  The problem is not that over-privileged, effeminate white guys are making music.  They probably always have and always will.  Some of them are probably pretty good.

The problem is that the music/entertainment industry prefers this kind of thing—and that pop culture consumers are so complaisant.  Back in the good ol’ days you seem to be longing for, the rock icons you revere didn’t wait for Hollywood or iTunes to tell them what is good.  They had vision and they pursued it.  We need more of that.  If that vision comes from a skinny white effeminate rich kid who plays acoustic guitar and sings great songs in falsetto, so be it.

Comment by jontv — October 29, 2009 @ 9:27 am

“You know all those sweat-soaked adrenaline bands you worship were just as much of an affectation as the floor-gazing whiners you loathe, right?  And most of them were on heroin.”

No, they weren’t affectations - they really were drug addicts and worse, who knew their time was limited and wanted to mean something while they were here.  Go listen to some Jim Morrison again, or Jimi, or Janis.  Or go farther back and listen to Billie Holliday.  They had *soul*, something current bands/acts/singers badly lack.  Instead of whining about a lack of direction (or love or whatever), their faults, their drugs or drink or fights or bad relationships made them, drove them, to create something that transcends the “everyday” to BECOME the songs of everyman.  It’s the death of Syd Barrett that makes a Pink Floyd, the death of Keith Moon that shapes the Who.  There is a huge difference between real and imagined tragedy.  It’s the difference between real and imagined art.

Comment by konkrypton from Independence, MO — October 29, 2009 @ 12:26 pm

konkrypton: Some of the sweat-soaked adrenaline-bingeing bands were actually really heroin addicts, yeah. It’s exciting to live in a nation where someone like you actually wants folks to be heroin addicts so you can vicariously experience their pain. Aren’t you taking “kill yr idols” a bit literally? As the non-heroin-addicted but quite sweaty and adrenalized Dead Kennedys sang, “Come on bleeeeeed for me!”

‘Cept they were being ironic. I don’t think you are.

Comment by 2fs from Milwaukee — October 29, 2009 @ 2:23 pm

2fs - I’m not suggesting that the way to real art is through heroin.  I’m trying to make the point, that real art that moves people comes from a real place, not from a place where “nothing interesting happened today.”

No everyone that can play a guitar has something to say.  God knows we’ve had enough politicians who have nothing to say except more of the same.  Art is taking the specific - your real troubles and pain, your joys and loves - and making them general so that they touch others.  Too many “artists” don’t have that quality. 

All I’m saying is that for every Death Cab For Cutie there’s a Rolling Stones.  It’s just easier for tragedy to touch people, because we’ve all experienced something tragic - a parent that died, a love unrequited, a friend’s life cut short.

Comment by konkrypton from Independence, MO — October 29, 2009 @ 4:44 pm

we’ve all experienced being born too, yet i’ve only ever heard two songs about babies (although they were both great—“Born on the Floor” and that one by Built to Spill). don’t presume to define art; that fourteen year-old girl you’re sneering at is moved just as much by her Death Cab as you were by the Rolling Stones back in 1846. personal tragedy is not any more or less valid a subject for art than eating some some really good food.

Comment by cap'n howdy from in hell with your mom — October 29, 2009 @ 8:31 pm

You want a modern singer songwriter with fire and passion?

Check out english folk/punk legend Frank Turner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVuXKLnXZC8

Comment by Chris from London — October 31, 2009 @ 8:50 am

It sounds like the author should stop going to local shows in Nashville. Whereas it might have been the case in the past, I don’t think the live performance survives as the paragon of experiencing pop music. Of course it’s fun to see your favorite artists perform. That’s not the point. The commons of transcendence is now the blogosphere, accompanied usually by that set of headphones slipped over Natalie’s cute little head. College-age kids with acoustic guitars today are strumming a dead horse. Sorry, but you’ll never get anywhere today on the benches of Bongo Java. It is a new world, and though a lot of it remains boring and bloated, there’s a lot of genuinely interesting and moving music being produced. Some of it breaches the mainstream, like AC and Dirty Projectors (I lay myself open to attack), but some of it doesn’t even make it to the blogs. It’s up to you to determine how great of a distraction indie music will be in your life. But of course there are more important things to life…

Comment by youcannotlose from Nashville — November 10, 2009 @ 12:45 pm

After googling you I’m wondering if this article isn’t an exercise in self-hatred…I agree with the above poster…I call bull shit.  And besides…Rock and roll is old…kickdrums are just as boring as acoustic guitars…start playing french horn or something…woof…

Comment by Chad — November 17, 2009 @ 8:32 am

— PopMatters sponsor —

This article was written in October of 2009?  Really??  When was the last movie/TV show you saw set in a coffee shop?  You know that Seinfeld, Friends, and MySpace were all cancelled, right?

As for the rest of your article, do you remember folk music?  Wasn’t Bob Dylan the quiet guy in the room playing his harmonica and singing into his guitar?  Is he no longer a transformative figure in American music?  Further, if you think that there are no agressive bands trying to prove themselves anymore - and perhaps that’s true of Nashville - you need to get out more.  As someone above wrote, “that’s quite a straw man you’ve got there”

This article is ridiculous.

Comment by Ben from USA — November 17, 2009 @ 10:40 am

the author was speaking about how bored everyone is and there is nothing to rebel against because everyone is an individual with freedom overload .an artist needs to suffer

Comment by paul from nj — November 17, 2009 @ 3:32 pm

The argument’s muddled as to whether it’s more about form/style or content/lyrics. Arguing over form seems kinda pointless, as quiet vs. noisy has little bearing on socio-political potency. So I guess the argument’s ultimately more about “having something to say”, and the author’s reacting against “mood” music, such as people listening to mellow stuff with shit lyrics (or even good lyrics) just to escape. I understand the desire for music with more potency and less escapism, but unfortunately pop music can’t change the world, so he might as well chill out about it. These hipsters will need their escapism as they look for jobs.

Comment by Andy from lalaland — November 17, 2009 @ 10:04 pm

I love it when the lazy rockism gets past the smart people (I like popmatters despite this kind of thing).  Some pertinent points about the web 2.0 age, but the blinkeredness about indie as a whole is silly.  Instead of relying on BNMs to feed you you’re own private “Nebraska,” take 10 minutes to find that shit on your own and flog it on all yr downtrodden friends.  Or was this only published here because the writer was part of the right disillusioned MFA circle jerk and ate Ramen Noodles once (“sooo poor in college, y’all”  Were you saving up for a gallavant abroad, mayhap?)  Also, American South Cred apparently=Authenticity Incarnate, despite coming out of a town that’s a notorious cesspool for the commodification of real feeling into product.  “OMGZ!  There are white people with acoustic guitars in Nashville blatantly whoring weaksauce crap that they think the machine will eat up!”  That’s what Nashville is fucking FOR!  Instead of telling you to fuck off and die like a “real” punk, I’ll tell you to find some DIY shit where at least one band is named after a piece of police terminology and where you risk catching a few elbows.  The energy you seek isn’t dead, it’s just not taking over consumer fantasy.  Someone is sweating it all out in a basement near you and just because it isn’t gunning for Grizzly Bear’s slot doesn’t mean it’s immaterial to what culture can be.

Comment by Teh Brilz — November 18, 2009 @ 2:37 am

This guy is a total troll. He can’t seriously believe that a movie is the cause of a musical movement that was well on its way 10 years previous. The popularization of this new movement may have been influenced by the film, but by no means was the music a result of it.

The only thing pretentious and self-entitled is this author.

Comment by a — November 18, 2009 @ 10:15 am

I stopped listening to indie rock 3-4 years ago precisely because it had gotten so boring and lifeless and every new band with converses and skinny jeans was just a rip-off of what had come before.

What I learned from this is that when a genre stops inspiring you, it’s time to move on. I found life and energy in post-rock, in electronic music, in pretty ambient and experimental sounds. That might not be your answer, but instead of whining about how much indie rock sucks, I suggest finding music that does inspire you and raving about it, so other people can discover it as well.

Comment by Anna from Poland — November 19, 2009 @ 4:19 am

no wonder ive never heard of this website.  the writing is incoherent.  Tommy NewYorkBigwig? Art of Self Entitlement? listen you cant just string together made up phrases as a substitute for insight.

Comment by tkt from washington dc — November 19, 2009 @ 11:42 am

i’ve got two words for you: John Frusciante.  the guy’s music is as real as it gets.  also, chris, i happen to play in a band that uses a kick drum and an amp… 4 amps, actually (three guitars—that’s right, i said three guitars—and a bass).  we’re not huge anywhere, but we do have some fans who like our stuff.  and it’s rock and roll.

Comment by Ron from Ohio — November 19, 2009 @ 1:26 pm

— PopMatters sponsor —

Speaking as someone who lives in the heart of Bland Music America, I can see the triuth of this all. Drive down the main street of my time and it’s a good chance you’ll some wanna-be hipster moping along to the latest in the obsessively self-referential genre known as emo. It’s sad, really, when one considers that it started as an outgrowth of the DC hardcore scene…and I’m saying this as a Gen-X’er who was 16 when Cobain shot himself, the days when music still had some meat and fire in it….

But don’t worry. Since the music industry shot itself, more good music its being made than ever, you just have to go find it. Me personally, I;m liking into some pretty obscure retro-metal acts like The Sword. Just listening makes your brain melt in a good way….

Comment by John from CT from Connecticut — November 22, 2009 @ 7:05 am

Add a comment

Please enter your name and a valid email address. Your email address will not be displayed. It is required only to prevent comment spam.

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?