After stumbling upon blog entitled
The Official Iggy Pop Shirtless Aging Timeline (pure gold) it got me to thinking what new age rockers of this decade (and ones that don’t resemble an old handbag) have left their sweat on our stages, their breath on our mics and their voices reverb-ing inside our skulls for so long after the pub/festival gates have shut that we can’t sleep for days; often waking up half-strangled in earphones with their latest offering on repeat.
This year’s
Splendour in the Grass festival saw over 20,000 camp-ready punters explode over the rolling hills of
Woodfordia like a tie-dyed tarpaulin in an effort to witness 3 days of some of the best musical talent scene-ing right now. And it may just have been the best 3 days of some of our lives.
With that in mind I will start this list off with one of the festival’s ultimate highlights…
(The rest of the list follows in no particular order)
1. Julian Casablancas: The Strokes
Arguably dubbed the best rock voice of this generation, Julian Casablancas is the chief songwriter for The Strokes who formed back in 1998; their first album
This Is It (2001) named by
NME as their
album of the decade. Massive chops to nab that title! The king-hit quality of their live performances beat any studio recording as Julian toys with quirky one-liners and anecdotes (“Flo-Mo, just Flow-in the Mo” – sorry Splendour “in” joke) before man-handling the mic for another round. Julian also released a solo album
Phrases for the Young just last year to mixed reviews: it must be difficult to take a new direction with such an identifiable, sexually charged tone of voice. In his own words “Take it or Leave It” I guess!
Fave quote: “With a hundred ways to do a dozen things, why not try it all?”
Rock Cred Lyric: 29 different attributes, And only 7 that you like, uh oh, 20 ways to see the world, oh oh, Or 20 ways to start a fight –
You Only Live Once
2. The Followill Boys: Kings of Leon (sorry couldn’t separate them)
The Tennessee trio of brothers: Anthony aka Caleb (Lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ivan (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Michael (bass, backing vocals); along with their cousin Cameron (Lead guitar, backing vocals) form the Southern-rock, testosterone-charged unit Kings of Leon. Since they are bound by blood I felt it unfair to separate the 4, who in recently years transformed their raw, twang-tailed version of rock into a more generic power-ballad production with the release of
Only By the Night (2008). Despite this evolution finally achieving the boys chart success, a few people (myself included) were a bit disheartened by there new overly-produced sound (and maybe the fact that I saw pre-pubescent-boppers in school uniform screaming that their ‘sex was on fire’). Their new album
Come Around Sundown is due out October. Let’s hope it packs a sweaty punch of raw riffs - right to the kisser!
Fave quote: "The other night there was someone on the front row and we had played a new song, and then we played 'Trani' which is off our first album. I saw the girl look at another girl and say, 'Is this another new song?' So it's like a lot of them don't know the difference."
Rock Cred Lyric: I cock and load my mergers when you question my mood, ‘Cause you ain’t got no taste. You talking 'bout my baby, I could flip him upside down and I could mop his place. –
My Party
3. Win Butler & Régine Chassagne: Arcade Fire
Husband & wife duo Win & Régine, head up the famed Montreal Septet, Arcade Fire, who recently struck gold with their latest release “The Suburbs” which reached #1 on the
US Billboard charts – almost unheard of where ‘quality’ music is concerned! Both Win & Regine have a background in Jazz: from their heritage or from being honed in their own bedrooms and both are multi-instrumentalists, some of which include: Mandolin, Violin, Guitars, Keys, Piano, Bass, Synth, xylophone, recorders, vocals (obviously) and the hurdy gurdy (strange version of a fiddle)! Arcade Fire’s unique song structure and chaotic rhythms can rattle you like turbulence or ghost right through you; intoxicating and undeniable. So much talent packed into the pants of these two characters it’s no wonder Win often wears suspenders.
Fave quote: “Some bands are just manipulating people to buy music. That’s how 90 percent of the record industry works! It’s basically the same as selling a fucking toaster or a cruise package.”
Rock Cred Lyric: Do you know where I was at your age? Any idea where I was at your age? I was working downtown for the minimum wage, And I'm not gonna let you just throw it all away! I'm through being cute, I'm through being nice. O tell me, Lord, am I the Antichrist?! -
Antichrist Television Blues
4. Kevin Drew: Broken Social Scene & Kevin Drew
Kevin Drew is the chief architect behind the multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist anarchic collective that is Broken Social Scene (and possibly one of the best bands to ever cram up a stage). Drew and the member-changing outfit hail from Toronto in Canada and emerged as part of this new wave of Canadian sound sometimes dubbed “baroque pop” (music-journo speak I know, but it gives you an idea of the antique-usque arrangements of guitars, strings, horns, woodwind instruments and how the group meshes all the talents of it’s sometimes 10+ vagrant members). Drew even started his own record label Arts & Crafts which boasts artists like Phoenix, Feist (who he dated at one stage) The Dears, The Apostle of Hustle & more. For such a pint-sized shaggy-haired package, Drew can belt out one hell of a tune – it can be raw as f**k or serene wash of subtle – either way it is bound to bring you to your knees.
Fave quote: “We've always been a band that sings about exactly what's inside of us and exactly what's happening outside as well. Like, if we're screaming, let's have something to scream about.”
Rock Cred Lyric: When I was a kid, you fucked me in the ass, but I took my pen to my paper, and I passed you. You know I love the shit, 'Cause the shit tastes so good, I've got pastures waiting in the woods. -
It’s All Gonna Break
5. Marcus Mumford: Mumford & Sons
Marcus heads up the alt-folk-rock troop Mumford & Sons. He plays everything from guitar to the drums to the Mandolin as well as lending his bellowing British-accented vocals to front-wall the house of his ‘sons’ harmonies. Mumford exploded onto the Australian music scene with potentially even more force than they did on their own turf with debut album
Sign No More: “Little Lion Man” voted as the #1 song in
Triple J’s 2009 Hottest 100. They are definitely one of the most phenomenal live acts to surface in recent times touting 4-way A Capella’s - and if you’re lucky enough - you might even get to throw down to a hoe-down worthy banjo solo. The best thing about Marcus is that his humble segways between songs show he is genuinely honoured to perform for fans. Bail me up some of that goodness!
Fave quote: “We used a 100-year old harmonium [to record the album] that I love. Although it's at my parents house, because I can't fit it in my flat. We borrowed a bunch on vintage guitars off people we knew [too].”
Rock Cred Lyric: But you rip it from my hands, and you swear it's all gone. And you rip out all I have, Just to say that you've won. Well now you've won. –
I gave you all
6. Karen O: Yeah Yeah Yeah’s
Karen O is the Geisha from hell, and one that can unleash a fire on a microphone to boot. She is of course front women to the New York trio, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; an indie fusion of rock, dance, art, punk and screaming the f**king house down. Karen’s well known for her churlish tongue and crazy stage antics: when she is up there she totally owns it. It’s as if she is the human embodiment of confetti in a rocket launcher strapped to the gullet of a T-Rex. The band has released 3 LP’s:
Fever to Tell,
Show Your Bones and the most recent
It’s Blitz: taking a less brutal approach to song writing with the latter (my personal fave actually), but its one that will still make you scream their name all 3 times (preferably from a bed with Karen O in it).
Fave quote: “There’s no detachment when I’m up there. I don’t allow myself the distance. I’m fully putting myself out there for the people and for the sake of trying to lure them into the experience. I think that’s why it takes so much out of me. And I think that’s why I resent it to some degree. I feel like I’m picking up the slack for a whole generation of non-believers.”
Rock Cred Lyric: You can keep your black tongue, Well I found at the mortuary, you know I'm gonna want some want some –
Black Tongue
7. James Murphy: LCD Soundsystem
He’s the big guy with the big voice and too much creative and technical skill to poke a drum stick at: writer, musician, producer and DFA Records co-founder; James Murphy. James is probably most well known for heading up the dance-post-punk (although their sound is completely unique) people of LCD Soundsystem. Their latest release “This Is Happening” was dubbed poignantly by
Triple J as a “free-wheelin' masterpiece” – and it is. Fans were obviously nervous to see if Murphy could produce anything on par with the hectic magic of
Sound of Silver (2007) which earned itself a Grammy nomination for best for best Electronic/Dance Album, but deliver he did. Hard to comprehend why but James is highly self-critical. He told Pitchfork recently “It's kinda soul-crushing in a way to listen to 'Perfect Day' and say, 'I'm gonna go write a song like that,' and it'll be fucking horrible by comparison.” Dude - what are you on about!
All My friends,
Someone Great and the epic
This is Happening opener
Dance Yrself Clean with a bass drop that will make you split your pants, Murphy – Daft Punk should be inviting you to play at their house!
Fave quote: "I make dance music, or disco... And dance music isn't really about anything. I can tell if it's working: 'Are people dancing? Yes.' Then I've achieved my goal.”
Rock Cred Lyric: I've heard lies that could curdle your heartstrings (Drunk girls). A couple truths, maybe burn out your eyes (Drunk boys). Drunk boys leave their irons in the fireplace (Drunk girls) 'Cause drunk girls give them too many tries –
Drunk Girls
8. Yannis Philippakis: Foals
The UK university town, Oxford has always been a breeding ground for artistic talent; so it was only a matter of time until indie five-piece Foals spawned. Yannis Philippakis (whose name coincidentally means 'little friend of horses’) fronts the band who with their latest release
Total Life Forever have seen their cult following inflate to epic proportions. Yannis spruiks these high-pitched, angular vocal lines that can flick from ghostly to acidic on one phrase. Layer this over the top of the staccato-ed guitar riff style Foals pioneered (less severe on TLF than on Antidotes), and you’ll have to GPS the location of your own mind to find it. Yannis is said to write music that is ‘sonically tidy’ and it shows. You can lose yourself in the bands sound-scapes of dissonant chords but at the same time you can tell that’s exactly where they want you to be (in 100m, turn left). For a self-professed grouch and ‘boring homebody’ Yannis (who “boringly” leapt into the crowd after their recent Glastonbury set) and the boys have an on-stage energy that will pulsate to your core; it must be that Western feeling.
Fave quote: "There's an old school rock feeling at Reading and Leeds that you don't get anywhere else, people really releasing negative energy. If we had our way, there wouldn't be any barrier between the band and the crowd."
Rock Cred Lyric: I've been to the darkest place I know. You my dear shouldn't fear what lies below, it's just bones. Now you go softly soft, Picking out better bones than your own. Oh I see you creep in the dark. –
What Remains 
9. Kele Okereke: Bloc Party
Openly poetic and overwhelmingly intense; Kele is the co-founder and front man of British band Bloc Party who tsunami-ed onto the scene earlier this decade, breaking down music genre barriers in their wake. I think everyone can remember the first time they heard 2005’s
Silent Alarm, the hypnotic crescendo-ing drum beats of “Like Eating Glass” blew my mind, moved my feet and with one crack-hit of Kele’s piercing croon: addicted my being. Three albums later: still hooked. Kele’s also just released his first solo album
The Boxer while Bloc Party are on hiatus which is definitely more of a retro-synth, dance-pop piece of production for the artist. He tours Australia solo for
Parklife this year and it will be interesting to see if his stage presence resonates without Russell, Gordon & Matt in the half-light behind. (I think it might)
Fave quote: “When British music magazines say we're overly serious or po-faced, I think it's actually an indication that the mindset of people right now is to be completely apolitical and not be concerned about what's happening in the world. To try and draw attention to this, you're labelled as a political party person or something and I think that's sad.”
Rock Cred Lyric: You said you were going to conquer new frontiers, Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast. We promised the world, we'd tame it, what were we hoping for? –
Pioneers
10. Matt Bellamy: Muse
Hailing from Teignmouth, in Devon, Bellamy was always going to bring some kind of meat to the musical table (however strange the mash-up), and he did. Not only did Matt’s progressive metal vocal stylings cut through the wash of mediocrity back in the late 90’s, but the incorporation of rock-piano into Muse’s repertoire must have made many a kid out there re-think there mum’s constant pestering to practice their scales. And if that wasn’t enough, the Muse front-man is now dating Kate Hudson, who came to support him at their recent
Coachella performance (you know you’ve made it when you’re bagged a movie star). Muse’s latest release (to the screwed-up faces of some of their earlier fans)
The Resistance (2009) peaked at No. 3 of the US charts and they premiered it earlier this year at The Big Day Out.
Fave quote: “We were all off our faces on mushrooms when we recorded
Plug In Baby... There was this big field next to the recording studio filled with them. So we ate them all. I don't know what we were doing, but we all ended up naked in a Jacuzzi and I went deaf in one ear from falling asleep in the sauna...”
Rock Cred Lyric: You'll make us wanna die, I'd cut your name in my heart. We'll destroy this world for you, I know you want me to. Feel your pain –
Space Dementia11. Thomas Mars: Phoenix
12. Liam Howlett: Prodigy
13. Tom Meighan: Kasabian
14. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden: MGMT
15. Beth Ditto: The Gossip
16. Wayne Coyne: The Flaming Lips
17. Thom Yorke: Radiohead & Thom Yorke
18. Jake Shears and Ana Matronic: Scissor Sisters
19. Dougy Mandagi: The Temper Trap
20. Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam: MIA
Wild Card: Kevin Parker – Tame Impala
Wild Card: Lawrence Greenwood - Whitley
Wild Card: Jonathan Boulet – Parades & Jonathan Boulet
Please add comments or any you think I have missed!!
Peace out. x
