Seems like 90% of indie bands are just bunch of emasculated boys singing girly choruses in high-pitched, feminine tones. Where's the rock? Where's the testosterone, where's the edge, the aggression, the BALLS? Getting tired of these little heroin chic, girl men wailing in falsetto.

I guess the music is a by-product of the overly-feminized society we live in.

Does anybody else feel this way?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chaos,

My senior thesis is on this very subject.

It's all Coldplay's fault.

I blame Radiohead. *ducks for cover*

.....or Death Cab for Cutie. A good dose of Future of the Left will make you right.

quote:

Originally posted by glugger:
I blame Radiohead. *ducks for cover*

This is probably actually very true.

I blame the Hold Steady. What a bunch of sissies.

Check out your top 20 list for the year. How many of those bands consist of skinny white boys singing in the most un-offending way possible so as not to scare off their skinny white boy listeners or their girlfriends. There's no emotion I tell ya! It's like the lead singer for every indie band is the same guy, maybe with a different hairdo. And the guy is like Ryan Seacrest. So nice.

quote:

Originally posted by chaos:
Check out your top 20 list for the year. How many of those bands consist of skinny white boys singing in the most un-offending way possible so as not to scare off their skinny white boy listeners or their girlfriends. There's no emotion I tell ya! It's like the lead singer for every indie band is the same guy, maybe with a different hairdo. And the guy is like Ryan Seacrest. So nice.

Dude, that is possibly the most inane post I've read on Metacritic.
Tell me you're trolling.

What the hell? Why don't you just put on a Kings of Leon album, or, if you're tired of skinny white guys and would rather some fiery latinas, CSS.

You're welcome.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: j-pop,

quote:

Originally posted by j-pop:
What the hell? Why don't you just put on a Kings of Leon album, or, if you're tired of skinny white guys and would rather some fiery latinas, CSS.

You're welcome.

Yup! If this guy wants "testosterone," Kings of Leon is some grade-a cock rock.

If I have to hear another song about the different things this guy can do with his penis I'm going to hurt someone.

Remember grunge? At least those skinny white boys weren't afraid to get in yer face and let you have it. It seems now, the same generation of white boys have lost their balls. Guys like Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley at least burned bright while they were here. They weren't afraid to show their anger and angst in their music. Whereas these singers now...just seem passified, is that a word?

Not to say that bands like Sunset Rubdown, Grizzly Bear, The Antlers, Dirty Projectors, etc aren't great, but it seems like they're all on the same anti-depressants. Is it too much to ask to get a larger range of emotion from these bands? I guess so.

Men singing in safe, mass appeal ways has been around for years and in all genres.

That aside, funnily enough, I have always associated "real" men with those able to control and harness their balls/testosterone and boys/teenagers with being ruled by their balls making a lot of angsty look-at-me noise.

Rarely does this angst make for something truly masculine and I am not sure grunge counts - heroine chic is just as applicable to the likes of Cobain after all and adolescent androgyny was a big part of his image.

I am far more concerned with the infantilisation of consumer society than the laughable idea that it has been somehow been overly feminized. Have you looked at the news nowadays - plenty of mindless posturing and destruction still about! The dangerous force of disempowering infantilisation aside, which applies to men and women alike, the patriarchal elements of our society in general and classic masulinity in particular have a loooong way to go before they are (s)mothered in some paranoid feminisation apocalypse.

BTW - there is plenty of diverse emotion in Thom Yorke's singing over the years.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: melvolume,

quote:

Originally posted by melvolume:
That aside, funnily enough, I have always associated "real" men with those able to control and harness their balls/testosterone and boys/teenagers with being ruled by their balls making a lot of angsty look-at-me noise.

Well, if you're a crooner, croon away, if you're a folk singer, that's cool too. But if you're going to call yourself a rock band, indie or otherwise, then rock.

Btw, in days gone past, guys didn't learn to harness their testosterone until well into their twenties. Nowadays though, any sort of aggression or masculine behavior is quickly snubbed out in the classrooms and homes in our western culture as feminism asserts itself on young males and impresses itself on young females. So I think this new generation of "rockers" has been conditioned to be more passive and feminine.

It's funny, you have to listen to a female band to hear any real emotion these days. The chicks have the balls now.

quote:

Originally posted by thecosmos:
I blame the Hold Steady. What a bunch of sissies.

WHAT THE FU

quote:

Originally posted by HeyThatsMyShoe:

quote:

Originally posted by chaos:
Check out your top 20 list for the year. How many of those bands consist of skinny white boys singing in the most un-offending way possible so as not to scare off their skinny white boy listeners or their girlfriends. There's no emotion I tell ya! It's like the lead singer for every indie band is the same guy, maybe with a different hairdo. And the guy is like Ryan Seacrest. So nice.

Dude, that is possibly the most inane post I've read on Metacritic.
Tell me you're trolling.

PROTIP: If it was posted by Chaos, he's trolling.

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:

quote:

Originally posted by thecosmos:
I blame the Hold Steady. What a bunch of sissies.

WHAT THE FU

i'm pretty sure cosmos was being facetious...

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:
PROTIP: If it was posted by Chaos, he's trolling.

Can't muster up an intelligent response I see.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Squeezy:

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:

quote:

Originally posted by thecosmos:
I blame the Hold Steady. What a bunch of sissies.

WHAT THE FU

i'm pretty sure cosmos was being facetious...

Wow, I can't believe I missed that. Haha.

Apologies, cosmos.

quote:

Originally posted by chaos:

quote:

Originally posted by crob3888:
PROTIP: If it was posted by Chaos, he's trolling.

Can't muster up an intelligent response I see.

Response to what? Did you ask me a question?

I agreed with your attempt to troll guys who are concerned with their music representing their masculinity on these boards. Unfortunately, I don't think there are many people on this board that actually care about that, considering that the hegemonic masculinity has basically been completely deconstructed in music criticism in the last 30 years.

So, you're attempt to troll is actually pretty much an epic fail.

oh man, you're not finding the good bands then.
there are TONS of great indie bands around putting music online for free, all genres.

I do agree that that there is a glut of sissies recording by the numbers crap and putting it out there as well.

Your best bet to find good indie talent is to search for indie music sites, home recording forums - there will be links to pages where you can find what you like.

Searching myspace or soundclick is going to be a hard process, there's so much fluff to sort through and the top listed acts are usually generic bubblegum middle of the road safe stuff. the good bands are on those sites, but they're buried.