Artless and Bored

What the hell is up with all of these fucking awesome bands coming out of the UK and Ireland? The Future Heads, The Ordinary Boys, Snow Patrol, and Bloc Party are mining some of the best post-punk nostalgia ever. The embarassment of the US music scene at the moment, that sees so many bands mining Green Day as nostalgia, with the exception of any Dirtnap band. Interscope really dropped the ball by losing The Briefs, who are the most exciting and righteous band on the American Scene. Anyway, back to Bloc Party, who are rocking the Gang of Four meets The Cure territory with amazing ferocity. Their upcoming album is fucking amazing. The jagged guitars, with the funky bottom, and early Cure type vocals, rocking the Agit-Pop like the Gang of Four, will take this band far. Unfortunately, American alt-rockers get bored and want nothing more than sugar coated dullard Green Day copy-cats. The 70's and 80's were a exciting time for music and it is music that is easy to become nostalgic for. The genre's were largely free form, but took their cues from a vast history of music, Captain Beefheart, Velvet Underground, etc..., but fusing some danceable rhythms to agit-prop lyrics. Welcome Bloc Party, we need you here.
When you see terrible bands like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Any band on Tooth and Nail, SUM 41, and MXPX, you mourn for the days before Nirvana signed to DGC. Once the door opened and punk rock was coopted, the outsider status of punk rock died. I love Green Day, but that being said, I hate all of the emo-schlock and pop punk drivel, that has sprung up in its wake. God knows how lame straight edge became, following the host of Negative Approach and Minor Threat clones flooded the scene with their Christian, thinking straight fascism. Now all of the X-EDGE-X kids have gone to college and discovered the joys of drinking and frat parties, so we are left alone to discover music without the annoyance of the suburban football jocks, who used to beat the shit out of us for having short hair and motorcycle boots. Bloc Party, and their stateside contemporaries like Interpol, are a little too smart for the gang of bores who populate most Clear Channel gigs these days. It is great to be able to avoid these dolts when taking in a Wire, Mission of Burma, Interpol, etc..., show. No crowd surfing, or the numb-nutted tribal ritual, Moshing. Though I am not against Moshing, but it has it's time and place, like a Blood For Blood show.
Ok, enough of my numbing grandstanding, buy the Bloc Party CD, "Silent Alarm," when it hits your local music retailer. I have had the fortune of being able to get a advance listen to this fine disc and believe me, it rules. A complete review will be forthcoming closer to the release date.