With Youthful Abandon

What will be the next trend in rock music? I had mentioned in an earlier post that there were some older bands who were still rocking out with 'youthful abandon.' Sonic Youth has been doing their thing for nearly 30 years, I suppose, and the results are always satisfying, to say the least, given the fact that most bands start barreling down the steep, steep slope of mediocrity if left up to their own devices for too long.

That is why Dinosaur Jr. surprises me with, just, so much... surprise! They were around in the late 80's and into the 90's making fuzzy alternative rock that, interestingly enough, slipped under the majority of the public's radar. They inspired numerous bands who would go on to make 'alternative' rock a completely mainstream thing. However, in the 90's they went on hiatus-- only to return in 2007 with the original members of the band back in place, making music that... pretty much sounded the same as what they had always done. BUT IT WAS GOOD. I have been listening to their new album, Farm, this week and it just brings so much nostalgia with it. Even usually-bitter Pitchfork gave it a great review.

I grew up listening to 90's rock-- granted, a lot of it was by poser bands like Bush and Collective Soul (not to say they didn't write solid songs, but, c'mon, they were just riding the popular-sound train. It's happening with the Autotuner right now; it will happen again)-- and now I hear it again; from one of the founders, no less. I remember, when I was in Jr. High/High School, none of the kids would have even TOUCHED a synthesizer. It was all about guitars-- especially when The White Stripes and The Strokes revitalized the garage-rock sound. Since then, though, I feel like every indie rock band wants to add some kind of 'non-rock' instrument to their line-up ('Yeah, man. We've totally got a harpischord player now') and write songs that are like, so deep. And, of course, any unabashed rocking-out or guitar solo-ing must be eliminated-- we grew up in the 90's when every band did that so, surely, it must be played out.

Then, I have to ask myself, how does Dinosaur Jr. still sound so fresh? Then I realize how startlingly simple the answer is: they just write good songs! These tunes aren't over-analyzed or super-produced-- the recent albums are even better than Dinosaur Jr.'s albums from the 90's. At that time, their sound was hindered by radio-friendly studio polish, but now they've come back swinging with 2000's-style "imperfect" production. On each song on Farm, J Mascis's guitar is essentially the center-piece, pushing Barlow's bass, Murph's drums, and even Mascis's own singing farther back into the mix. It's loud-- it sounds like the band has returned with some unfinished business.

I realize that they probably find themselves in much the same musical environment that spawned them in the first place. 'Indie' music has gotten pretentious and snobby, and Dinosaur Jr. originally stood as an afront to that sort of thing-- with their fuzzed-out, guitar-solo indulging, slacker-voiced sound. They are older now, obviously; J's trademark long hair is grey and they've all put on a few pounds, but they don't care-- they've probably never cared about any of that. It's the songs that count, and their recent releases should be seen as a rallying cry for any group of musicians that calls itself a "rock band." It's time to pick up those guitars again, young people! Put down the synthesizers and stop being so snooty-- just play!

The music industry is still adapting to the internet age: even when MTV doesn't play music videos until Michael Jackson dies, we are bombarded with music through the internet-- everyone finds the power to track down new sounds at their fingertips and they forget that actually making music can be a relatively simple process. I don't exclude myself-- I put so much thought into carving out a musical identity that I've almost forgotten that, at one time, the only step I ever wanted to take was putting together a simple rock band. I wouldn't be suprised if that mentality finally makes a comeback within the next decade. Guitar-based music will live again, and that will be the next rock trend (that might rhyme when you read it-- not intentional, I assure you).