What Ever Happened to My Rock and Roll - 5 bands that Rock

Ever wonder what happened to Rock and Roll? do you feel that pop music is making your rock soft? Do you feel that hip hop is lacking the passion you need from the blood and sweat of Rock'n'Roll. Country music is not rock and roll. do you feel that your Rock music is kind of bland, doesn't kick, doesn't push, doesn't rock? Is your rock music a generic blend of Aerosmith wanna-be and Nickelback wanna-be sounds with no originality what so ever? Is your rock ruined by too many keyboards, piano solos, new age crap or cray baby antics... Emo is not rock music! Well if all or any of these are true than I have a cure for your Summer Rock and Roll Blues...

5 Bands that Rock. Bands that stick to their guns and their guns are firing ROCK.

1. Kings of Leon - Composed of three brothers and their cousin, the Followill family make up this Nashville outfit that went from the simple southern guitar rock sounds of their debut, Youth and Young Manhood to the Epic sounds of their fourth release Only by Night. From Nashville, the Kings of Leon have toured with U2, Pearl Jam, Oasis, the Strokes, and Bob Dylan. They broke away from the Lynyrd Skynyrd comparisons to formulate their own sound combing the dirty southern rock sound ("Molly Chambers"), garage rock ("My Party") anthem rock ("On Call") and even discovered an inner U2 with the song, "Use Somebody." Even the ballads rock as their songs never stray far from the guitar. Jared Followill's bass lines pulse and push much of the music forward, causing your hips to sway while singer Caleb brings a tremendous amount of soul to his understated lyrics. Quite possibly the best things about this band is that with four albums every fan has a hard time choosing which their favorite might be.

Favorite Album: Aha Shake Heartbreak

Favorite Song: "Soft"

2. The Gaslight Anthem - Sure, they are only two albums into what I hope will be an amazing catalog but the Gaslight Anthem provide that jersey shore rock music that we all need in life. Imagine if Bruce Springsteen had grown up listening to the Ramones and the Replacements, the result would then be the Gaslight Anthem. Bruce Springsteen wearing Chuck Taylor's, leather jackets and a fist in the air bringing the sky to shambles. Last year's the '59 Sound might be one of the best albums while driving down the open highway that I've heard, in a long time. Brian Fallon does plenty of name dropping of old girlfriends, lost loves and broken hearts than maybe anyone... Sorry Bruce. Fallon sings of old cars, music icons, tattoos, radio songs and youthful exuberance... what more could you want?

Favorite Album: The '59 Sound

Favorite Song: "Casanova, Baby!"

3. the Black Keys - This blues outfit from Akron, Ohio is just two guys, Dan Auerbach on vocals/guitar and Patrick Carney on the drums. With five albums to their credit along with an Ep celebrating the songs of Junior Kimbrough, the band started out playing the blues, which evolved into blues rock but in the end it all just kicks ass. Robert Plant, Josh Homme and Thom Yorke are big fans of the Black Keys and so should you. The best thing about the Black Keys is that they continue to grow and get better. Five albums in the can and each one is better than the last. They brought on super producer and beat maker Danger Mouse to produce their last effort, Attack and Release which must be considered their best album to date. Their mixture of blues and rock can be subtle, huge, delicate or sexy. Their band composition might be similar to the White Stripes but their sound is uniquely their own.

Favorite Album: Attack and Release

Favorite Song: "All Hands Against His Own"

4. The Raveonettes - So what if they are Danish? So what if they sing a majority of their songs in two part harmonies? Imagine if the Velvet Underground, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Buddy Holly adopted a rock band and the beautiful monster that would come to be would be the Raveonettes. Throw in a splash of surf rock and you are golden like hash browns. The Raveonettes like their rock and roll dressed in black, distortion and feedback. It is slick but sexual. Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo sing with an ease and softeness that might be confused for lacking passion but that couldn't be further from the truth. With their vocals passing through like an easy ocean breeze the juxtaposition of the noise from their guitars, hard, fuzzy, loud, distorted, contained and maniacal displaces any sense of peace or ease.

Favorite Album: Pretty in Black
Favorite Song: "Do You Believe Her"

5. Drive-By-Truckers - Athens, Georgia first gave the world R.E.M. and now they can take credit for the Drive-By-Truckers. Another southern rock outfit but unlike Kings of Leon, the Truckers may never leave the dirt and roll of their southern sound. They have incorporated a fiddle, stand up bass, and mandolin to their musical landscape and are deeply rooted in the sounds that surround them. These guys love Lynyrd Skynyrd, and have filled the alternative country void left by Uncle Tupelo. Imagine if Wilco never got soft or imagine if Wilco had some balls. This Rock outfit might be the hardest working act in the business that no one seems to know about even with 7 albums in the past 13 years plus a live record. Not only do they tour extensively but they also worked as the studio band for the most recent Bettye LaVette album, The Scene of the Crime. An album combing soul, country and rock as the Truckers create a fuller sound to aid in the soulful curiousities of LaVette.

Favorite Album: Decoration Day
Favorite Song: "Where the Devil Don't Stay"



I hope you enjoyed this list... there are plenty of other good bands doing rock music these days, i just wrote about a few of them. Rock as of late has strayed from some of the simplicity that made it great. Experimentation is pretty great but often i wonder... What happened to my rock and roll?


if you know of any rock bands that needs some attention, let your voice be heard. music saves so save music !