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Originally Posted by evollove
Yes, he/she didn't write, "Check out this revolutionary new band." I'm just responding to the not-even-trying of it all. Did you check them out?
Resembling different bands is comparatively groundbreaking. Interpol sounds a bit like Joy Division, but no one confuses the two.
I'm dissing bands who sound like they started as a cover band, then said, "Why not change a chord or two and call it an original?" Maybe I'm also responding to the youtube comments. My bad, I suppose. "They sound like Cocteau Twins. Cool!" When has a lack of imagination ever been cool?
I'm not even saying they're bad. A derivative band might actually end up with better songs than the original. But it's so boring when I hear a band and can tell you exactly what's in their record collection. This happens too often for comfort. Instead of taking inspiration from a period or a movement, I hear a lot of bands that focus on ONE predecessor and run with it. Into a brick wall, as far as I'm concerned.
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Oh, I'm totally on board with what you're saying here. Yes, I too am extremely bored by new bands that sound so much like the bands they're trying to emulate that there is no defensible reason for their existence. If a band sounds so much like another band that their defining characteristic is
how much they sound like that band, then why would anyone give a flying fuck?
I love Wire, right? Like, I really love them, and believe them to be one of the few bands that have achieved absolute musical perfection from within the walls of punk, which they more or less tore down in the process.
But if a band came around and sounded exactly like Wire at their best, it's not like I'd automatically love them. In fact, I'd probably loathe them for scraping 30 year old shit off Wire's boots and selling it as something NEW. Also, since Wire already did Wire perfectly, who the fuck needs a carbon copy?
So I'm with you on that: I guess I just thought you were talking about bands being used more than actual sub-genres or musical terms to describe a sound.
But I think I may have missed something about your original point, so... Y'know. Sorry about that.
But yeah, I prefer musicians who have roots in multiple genres. One of the things I love most about Sonic Youth is that you NEVER hear anyone saying "this band sounds like Sonic Youth!" Of course this is because SY is more of a collage of moods and sounds, and much less of a mix of genres. Their influences are clear, but not because of a similarity in sound.
I'm rambling. Ramblin' man.