Post by halo19 on Dec 17, 2011 16:59:04 GMT -4
How about we get some activity in here.
I recently re-evaluted some of the efforts from the big groups of the movement. While it maybe didn't have as profound an impact as some expected, what I feel it did do is bring moar indie rock to the charts, and it seems like in 2011 it's what people listen to more than really anything. As something that didn't always take itself too seriously, sometimes it felt like an antidote to the bleeding-heart rock taking shape at the time.
The Strokes were the first act to really get the wide recognition, but Is This It was actually my least favorite of the "big" albums of the craze. In fact, I found "Last Nite" more "good" than "great," but "Hard to Explain" really ruled. Their second singles never seem to make a real impact, but they always are the best of the bunch of singles they do. I had also heard "Barely Legal" at the time in between the singles, and the radio station always played it unedited, even tho on a weekly program that only aired on nights.
The new album from them is really good, and I hadn't been following them for awhile.
The White Stripes... "Fell in Love with a Girl" was cool, but hearing "Dead Leaves" at a listening station was what really floored me. I was totally into White Blood Cells at the time, but oddly, it took until their final album before I'd hear an album by them I enjoyed by the first listen. Well, the self-titled as well. De Stijl overwhelmed me by the slide guitar and the blooze at first. Elephant was yet again what I had to realize wasn't WBC the first few times. Speaking of the band, what happened to Jack being in like 3 groups concurrently?
Probably the song of the movement that I liked most was "Hate to Say I Told You So" by The Hives. I often liked what I heard from the group enough that I forgot about all of the detractors, but they were always lots of fun. I bought Veni Vidi Vicious during its heyday, but I always much preferred its follow-up, Tyrannosaurus Hives, which I also listened to way more times total. Most people who have listened to both fairly seem to agree with this, and with the increased song variation and better songwriting, it's kind of easy to see why. The Black and White Album was a lot of fun for me, although it ultimately didn't have a whole lot of staying power. The genre changes were fun, but possibly worked against it a bit. Then again, the single was in their typical style.
The Vines are a band I was a tad weary of at first, seeming to me like a mix between the others in the scene and in fact debuting after the rest. However, I now like Highly Evolved more than I did at the time (I realized this last year, actually). There's a great diversity that one may not have picked up on from just listening to the singles. This is the only one of the four that I personally would consider a real "flameout." It's unfortunate I never heard anything else interesting from the group.
It was actually during this time that I had heard of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who only had EPs out by 2002. Some of what they did after wasn't garage rock, but it was just as satisfying. It's interesting to read a Pitchfork review that called the Black Keys the "survivors" of the movement, because their first album was released then and they were fairly obscure at the time.
I recently re-evaluted some of the efforts from the big groups of the movement. While it maybe didn't have as profound an impact as some expected, what I feel it did do is bring moar indie rock to the charts, and it seems like in 2011 it's what people listen to more than really anything. As something that didn't always take itself too seriously, sometimes it felt like an antidote to the bleeding-heart rock taking shape at the time.
The Strokes were the first act to really get the wide recognition, but Is This It was actually my least favorite of the "big" albums of the craze. In fact, I found "Last Nite" more "good" than "great," but "Hard to Explain" really ruled. Their second singles never seem to make a real impact, but they always are the best of the bunch of singles they do. I had also heard "Barely Legal" at the time in between the singles, and the radio station always played it unedited, even tho on a weekly program that only aired on nights.
The new album from them is really good, and I hadn't been following them for awhile.The White Stripes... "Fell in Love with a Girl" was cool, but hearing "Dead Leaves" at a listening station was what really floored me. I was totally into White Blood Cells at the time, but oddly, it took until their final album before I'd hear an album by them I enjoyed by the first listen. Well, the self-titled as well. De Stijl overwhelmed me by the slide guitar and the blooze at first. Elephant was yet again what I had to realize wasn't WBC the first few times. Speaking of the band, what happened to Jack being in like 3 groups concurrently?
Probably the song of the movement that I liked most was "Hate to Say I Told You So" by The Hives. I often liked what I heard from the group enough that I forgot about all of the detractors, but they were always lots of fun. I bought Veni Vidi Vicious during its heyday, but I always much preferred its follow-up, Tyrannosaurus Hives, which I also listened to way more times total. Most people who have listened to both fairly seem to agree with this, and with the increased song variation and better songwriting, it's kind of easy to see why. The Black and White Album was a lot of fun for me, although it ultimately didn't have a whole lot of staying power. The genre changes were fun, but possibly worked against it a bit. Then again, the single was in their typical style.
The Vines are a band I was a tad weary of at first, seeming to me like a mix between the others in the scene and in fact debuting after the rest. However, I now like Highly Evolved more than I did at the time (I realized this last year, actually). There's a great diversity that one may not have picked up on from just listening to the singles. This is the only one of the four that I personally would consider a real "flameout." It's unfortunate I never heard anything else interesting from the group.
It was actually during this time that I had heard of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who only had EPs out by 2002. Some of what they did after wasn't garage rock, but it was just as satisfying. It's interesting to read a Pitchfork review that called the Black Keys the "survivors" of the movement, because their first album was released then and they were fairly obscure at the time.
