A Snapshot Of Some Of The New Bands From An Old Guy

As much as I love rock music, I spent most of the late 90's listening to classic rock from the 60's and 70's. The reason? I thought most of the rock music from that time was repetitive soulless drivel. It seemed like rock seemed to stop after the grunge trend and all we were left with was Limp Bizkit. I mean, that "My Way" song was good but that was about it for me. I thought I would never listen to a new band again.

But, after the millenium started music started to change again. Suddenly, it was cool for young bands to write songs, play their own instruments and rip off the 80's! With that, I thought I would talk about some of the new bands I listen to:

The Killers - I'm kind of amazed how successful this band has become with it reeking of 80's new wave influence. They are mainly known for the catchy hits "Mr. Brightside" and the gender bending "Somebody Told Me". The whole album is a steady stream of post new wave without any irony, a must for anyone who enjoyed 80's pop music.

Franz Ferdinand - I've bought both of their CD's and think they've got a lot of potential. They remind me of the "skinny tie bands" that used to exist in the early 80's like The Knack. There's some artiness to their sound and a sense of fun in their tone. A little remiscent of the Talking Heads as well.

The Strokes - Sometime's they seem more like a sound than a band, like Television meets the Velvet Underground with a little bit of The Cure and The Cars. While they have never blown me away, I've enjoyed each of their CD's. Gotta love that Tron style video for "12:51".

Hot Hot Heat - A happy, playful 80's throwback. Their songs are upbeat with a poppy melody and some fancy wordplay in the lyrics. I really like the song "Middle Of Nowhere", it made me feel like it should be on the radio with Howard Jones and Belinda Carlisle.

There are a few other new bands / artists I listen to, such as White Stripes, Death Cab For Cutie, Rilo Kiley, Suftjan Stevens, The Shins and Wilco. I hope this current boom of actual bands last for a while as it's nice to pick up a new CD in the store and not know every song from beginning to end before I play it.