Rock & Roll: Dead?

I was just working under the assumption that new music stopped being good as soon as I turned 30.

 

Jason Isbell comes out with a new album soon. That will make me feel better for a while. But soon I'll be back on my lawn, aimlessly searching YouTube for music that doesn't suck or I haven't heard 10,000 times.

 

The thing about Neil Young fans — certainly at this point — is they'll roll with whatever punches he throws at them, whether it's cover versions of songs like "Oh Susanna," 15-minute feedback excursions, or acoustic country-rock.

I went to one of his Greendale Tour shows and, despite all the between-song rambling and actors on stage, Neil Young pulled it off. It was a helluva show, and all the fans around me were into the new Greendale songs, as opposed to sitting passively, waiting for the "hits" during the encore.

But excitement for Neil Young and other rockers from the 1990s and before only proves Mr. Sunshine's point.

 

Is it bad that I'm sort of afraid of this album? The bar has been set so high after Southeastern in my mind that I'm actually afraid I'll be let down by even a solid album.

 

With an eighth-grader and a high school sophomore in the house, I'll echo Brian's point about music being something cool to have in the background, rather than a passion for young people.

It's something to play on the iPod while you're multitasking — working out, studying, watching TV ... or even working, for some 20-somethings at my shop.

In the 1980s, we used to hide in our rooms and just listen to albums, preferably with liner notes in hand. We made mix tapes for friends and took it very seriously. We argued endlessly about whether a band could be rock or heavy metal if they used keyboards (correct answer: No )

There are still a few new-generation hippie types who are totally into music, but I would say the average teen or 20-something is not.

 

Oh, I know. Neil is one of my favorites.

I too went to the Greendale show, but if I recall, the show was before the album had even been released, so I was completely unfamiliar with the songs. He played the whole album, with "actors" acting out various scenes. After a break, he came back and played a short "greatest hits" set.

I eventually came to like some of the Greendale songs, but it's hard to really get into a show when you don't know any of the songs.

 

But, if you ever look at a facebook profile, or any similar place where young people tell you about themselves, they will almost universally declare how important music is in their lives.

And, it's weird. Music's always been important to people, especially young people. But, I don't think we felt it was necessary to say it. It was sort of understood.

 

Another band from the 2010s that comes to mind: Japandroids, out of Vancouver, B.C.

They had a great 2012 album, "Celebration Rock," that included this song:

Still waiting for some kind of followup from them, though.

 

My 6-year-old daughter can pick out Rage Against the Machine when it comes on the radio. Foo Fighters, Nirvana and Metallica, too.

We have to change the channel two-thirds through "Killing in the Name," though.

 

I mentioned in a FB conversation about this album that Isbell is at a point personally and professionally that he can do whatever he wanted to with it. Sometimes, that results in an artist's defining work, but more often it results in vanity-based disappointment. I had Sirens of the Ditch out recently and it doesn't hold up well. The next two albums were better and Southeastern deserved the critical acclaim. I used to want him to "return to his rock roots," but I'm not sure if that wouldn't lead to another disjointed album. I think his best bet would be to continue mining the singer-songwriter country soul side of himself, but then I don't know how much another Southeastern would hold my interest. Of course, he also is a power pop fan, and I don't want to hear a Jason Isbell does Big Star album.

 

I feel this way all the time now. And I'm not even 40 yet: