cabbagepatch47

[cabbagepatch47]

[cabbagepatch47]

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[cabbagepatch47]

urastar

[cabbagepatch47]

Claddagh, Galway, Ireland, 26 May 1913

[cabbagepatch47]

The Rock Slump of 2010s and 2020s

Just listened to the ‘Rock This’ playlist on spotify followed by the ‘Rock Out’ playlist, both of which boast the best in new rock and the rock of today etc. I felt physically ill, I could only listen to a couple seconds of the five songs I listened to before my ears compelled me to skip. The songs compiled of pop songs that had features from traditionally rock artists, loud guitar with extremely soft indie voices, songs that triple j would try to pass off as rock ( even though they are definitely pop/indie- sticky fingers sounding *gag sound*), some poor imitation of a past rock genre or just the most boring song you have ever heard. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH ROCK?!/?! Maybe I’m narrow minded as to what my definition of rock is, but it's so poppy and indie? While there are bands that can be found on these playlists that have that classic rock feel mixed in with a newer sound, (Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Bully, FIDLAR, Momma and Meet Me @ The Altar just to name few - took me half an hour to sift through the aforementioned playlists to find songs that I would genuinely add to my playlist) the majority is already popular bands (Paramore, Smashing Pumpkins), non-rock songs, tiktok formulated crap and indie-rock. I'm not trying to shit on indie rock, but to me it just doesn't have that certain something that other rock genres have, i feel as though it should just be classified as indie. Am I just a stickler, an old 67 yr old white guy crying out “back in my day”? Maybe I’m not searching hard enough or maybe we are in a The Rock Slump. 

The goddamed Rock Slump has been occurring since the early 2010s, there hasn't been a decade-defined rock genre since the 2000s. I mean since the ‘creation’ of rock in the 1950s, there has been a consistent rock takeover, with it moulding into a different sound with each decade. The 1950s housed the rhythm and blues (which would eventually be coined as  rock n roll) and legends like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Pelvis). The 1960s saw the rise of the rock band and the rise in popularity of sub-genres (folk rock, psych rock). Notable mentions of the 1960s: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, The Zombies, Cream and The Rolling Stones. Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, ACDC, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Patti Smith, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Talking Heads, DEVO, Blondie, The Velvet Underground, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, The Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Hole, Alice in Chains, Pulp, Oasis, Blur, Suede, Supergrass, Foo Fighters, The Verve, Silverchair, The Cranberries, Weezer, The Offspring, Green Day, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit (lol, i had to), Radiohead, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes and so many more. I mean I could keep going. These are all iconic bands that anyone who listens to music can recognise. And while there are some pretty cool post-punk acts coming out of Ireland and the UK (Fontains DC, Black Midi, The Murder Capital and Wet Leg (don't kill me, they make good music)), they're still in the early stages of their success and its still pretty bare bones when looking at whats topping the charts (of which hardly any songs are rock). I cringe thinking about the sudden pop-punk that is happening right now with MGK and Yungblud, however Good 4 U does manage to get my head banging- even though I would classify Olivia Rodrigo as a pop artist. I mean what has happened to Rock in recent years? Lots of music critics and writers chalk it up to the massive rise in hip hop's popularity in the 2010s, while I think that's part of the reason, I also think that hip hop and rock have coexisted for a long time, hip hop cannot be the soul reason for the decline in rock. Sometimes Rock and Hip Hop even have a baby (Childish Gambino). 

Is Rock the new Jazz? Will it ever come back? The current state of rock as shown by the Spotify playlists that caused this whole rant is depressing. The post-punk burst is promising but the pop-punk revival is brain-grating. Please god if you're there, birth us a new rock genre, I will be forever grateful. Maybe I am just mad that I missed out on some of the best years in music or maybe i'm seeing it through rose coloured glasses because I wasn't around for the shit and have 24/7 access to the gold. Was that too visual? Maybe I'm coming down from a Daisy Jones and the Six high? Maybe i'm just that annoying that im a ‘wish they were born in the 70s’ type of person