Reply #12: Rock is sick and living in London

[Fenris]

I don't mean that literally of course. London has become the same cesspool of talentless and inane pop stars and assorted celebriti that New York or L.A. has been for years. Sort of the Americanization of London. Anyway, the subject line refers to an article published in Rolling Stone in 1977 about the Sex Pistols and the early punk movement. The music scene that brought forth nasty English punk isn't too different from the audio wasteland that exists now. Big, bloated dinosaur rock bands, mass produced pop singers, etc. Only this cultural vacuum we're in is inundated with faux anger and pornographic sex and forced angst. Listen to "rock" bands today. Everyone is angry, or sad, or both. Rap rock and whatever daemon "modern" rock has become is the exploitation of two genres that have already been raped of their novelty and value. Rap has been corrupted by money, drugs, alcohol, women, and a general lack of awareness and talent. Rock is a victim of unoriginality, a constant, unchanging mass that has become so irrelevant it cannot figure out what it is or what it wants to be.

So what's the solution? Another punk-type movement is absurd. Punk fed off of the outrage of its critics. Can Americans be outraged anymore? With all of the volume, the tits, the airfucking on MTV? Is there any outrage anymore?

Or is the problem that we have simply lost the ability to produce anything new or relevent?

Rock is sick and on life support.