Best Rock Band formed after 1985

[BoomMF 1401]

Novoselic was probably Kurt's sedative before Kurt could afford the good stuff.  His importance will probably always be underrated because of his perceived musical input and the fact that his bass catching skills weren't on point.

 

EDIT: My memory was back when Ebaum's World had like 20 or so videos, this was one of them:

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by BoomMF

[Al_4_ISU 12612]

I think just being along side Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl under values/under rates his contribution.

[Apep 645]

17 hours ago, Thermos H. Christ said:

The argument about whether Nirvana is the best is all well and good. I’m still amazed at someone’s hot take that Nirvana isn’t rock.

Also: it’s wild that I’m maybe the only one that even mentioned more than one contender from the early aughts indie/garage rock resurgence. I think that’s the latest stuff that has had a chance to stand the test of time, but there’s still great rock music being made.

Rock is quietly having a moment right now. Women are getting in on it to a greater extent than before and it’s largely based around a DIY scene/ethos rather than being a commercial juggernaut, but young people are listening to rock music and making rock music for each other, getting inspired by each other just as much as by rockers of yore. Rock is not the defining sound of American culture like it once was, but it’s very much alive and healthier than it’s been in like a decade or more.

Totally agree with you about women and rock. But I'll stand by my comment that Nirvana is too punk if we consider genres like metal and punk separate and distinct from rock. We could probably talk about them as a crossover rock act, like we do with country and Latin groups. That's fair and I'd totally concede their placement atop rock bands formed since '85.

[Thermos H. Christ 478]

Of course Nirvana was punk, especially live Nirvana which is their best output imo. But punk is rock. Most punk probably has more in common with Chuck Berry than bands like Yes or Pink Floyd did. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Thermos H. Christ

[tokamak 6685]

Sleater-Kinney

 

one to keep an eye on: Tame Impala (may not qualify as a "band" if we're going to use the strictest definition)

[tokamak 6685]

For the anti-Foo Fighters people, name me a better rock song than "Everlong" from the last 30 years. One song doesn't make a band, of course, but when they're at their best they absolutely belong in this conversation.

 

It's an interesting thought experiment to consider what Dave Grohl would have done had Cobain lived. I don't know anything about what the relationship between them was like. If Grohl could have grown into his artistry within the framework of Nirvana and had a productive symbiotic relationship with Cobain, you're looking at a no-doubt all-time great rock band (even moreso than Nirvana already is considered that way).

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

For the anti-Foo Fighters people, name me a better rock song than "Everlong" from the last 30 years. One song doesn't make a band, of course, but when they're at their best they absolutely belong in this conversation.

I don’t hate them, just think most of their music is bland and mediocre. And what you are asking is so completely subjective that it is pretty much pointless to discuss. However, I will list a few I like way, way more than that song (some will be from bands that formed prior to 85).

Fugazi “Suggestion”
Fugazi “Waiting Room”
Social Distortion “Cold Feelings”
The Brought Low “Motherless Sons”
Fu Manchu “Cyclone Launch”
Fu Manchu “King of the Road”
Helms Alee “Worth your Wild”
Jane’s Addiction “Stop”
Down “Pillars of Eternity”
Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock”
Whores “I Have Prepared a Statement”
Weezer “Say it ain’t so”
Unsane “Stuck”
Starfish “Run Around”
Queens of the Stone Age “mexicola”
Pearl Jam “Deep”

I could probably go on.

[jimmyjazz 46976]

I think "Everlong" is in that conversation.  Off the top of my head I'd put it up there with Beck's "Where It's At", Wilco's "Impossible Germany", Spoon's "Inside Out", Nirvana's "Lithium", and Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend".

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I think "Everlong" is in that conversation.  Off the top of my head I'd put it up there with Beck's "Where It's At", Wilco's "Impossible Germany", Spoon's "Inside Out", Nirvana's "Lithium", and Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend".

Girlfriend is an excellent rock song. But now people are picking and choosing solely on one or a few songs? I thing “greatest” would mean the majority of their catalog is celebrated. Kind of like how we all celebrate Michael Bolton’s entire catalog.

[jimmyjazz 46976]

7 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Girlfriend is an excellent rock song. But now people are picking and choosing solely on one or a few songs? I thing “greatest” would mean the majority of their catalog is celebrated. Kind of like how we all celebrate Michael Bolton’s entire catalog.

I was just responding to the notion you disputed regarding "Everlong".  I wasn't insinuating that those bands/artists were among the "greatest" as per the thread topic (although I definitely feel that way about Wilco and Nirvana).

[irishtexan 11692]

as if "best band" wasn't difficult enough, now we gotta debate "best song"? Whooo boy!

[BoomMF 1401]

What could go wrong?

[jimmyjazz 46976]

Best guitar solo:  GO

[BoomMF 1401]

Other than Comfortably Numb?  (I know, "Side 1, Track 1 of the 5th Symphony" but that doesn't make it wrong.)

[Carl Spackler 3612]

Most of the post-1985 bands I dig have already been mentioned (e.g., Nirvana, Pixies, Spoon, Morphine, the Foos, etc.).  One glaring omission:  Supersuckers.    

[Deej 77671]

Well, maybe.  Except I was 28 years old when "Nevermind" broke, and was always a voracious consumer of music.
You seem triggered.  It's gonna be OK.  And the Grateful Dead sucks.

You have obviously not done enough whippets while on acid to truly appreciate The Dead.

[BoomMF 1401]

Offered without comment.

 

 

[PRONG HORN 3219]

 

The TRUTH   Why modern music is awful ?

 

 

[tbone_ 14411]

I'll offer a comment: That was well said.

[Celery Man 21076]

The dearth of post 1980s bands that made fresh guitar driven music with an edge that sounded just like 1960s and 1970s rock is surprising.

Wait, I meant “the only possible thing”.

[Tom 2960]

Nirvana is a great band, but after I listened to their box set full of live stuff and demos I felt like there was a really fine line between them being fantastic and fantastically shitty.

[Footballpants 138]

My top 5 in order: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Pixies, and Kings of Leon,

 

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

Thrown this around, with fellow olds, and our take was that the modern focus on the individual over a group/team/band is the root cause and collaborative art is near extinct.  Outside of 'coffee house' indie are there even any duos anymore? Did learning to harmonize have its roots in church choirs as only black groups/bands seem to do it anymore?

Edited June 18, 2018 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[jimmyjazz 46976]

17 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Thrown this around, with fellow olds, and our take was that the modern focus on the individual over a group/team/band is the root cause and collaborative art is near extinct.  Outside of 'coffee house' indie are there even any duos anymore? Did learning to harmonize have its roots in church choirs as only black groups/bands seem to do it anymore?

I don't completely agree, but I think that's a subset of the problem.  I think it's largely artists not putting the same time and effort into their craft as players and writers that they do into being "a star", and that's exacerbated by a complete disintegration of the industry which previously would root out talented (if raw) artists and grow them over a period of years.  Now, it's "we need a hit this summer" and so the new artist has little choice but to be spoonfed highly crafted corporate authored material, which breeds homogeneity, which breeds suck.

Edited June 18, 2018 by jimmyjazz

[PRONG HORN 3219]

9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

 Now, it's "we need a hit this summer" and so the new artist has little choice but to be spoonfed highly crafted corporate authored material, which breeds homogeneity, which breeds suck.

 

These days this goes for movies, music, and celebrity artists in general.   

[Deej 77671]

I think the advent and growth of rap as the prominent black music made it harder for white folks to effectively co-opt the music, and left to their own devices, we end up with a modern equivalent of The Captain and Tennille.

[tbone_ 14411]

I think entertainment distractions have a lot to do with it as well. No one sits around for hours and hours honing their craft anymore because they don’t have anything better to do.

[Celery Man 21076]

The payoff to effort ratio probably way higher for EDM, at least in terms of pussy. If you’re playing in a small indie rock band your best case scenario is an April Ludgate type.

[jimmyjazz 46976]

Hey, Zooey.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3873]

20 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

I don't completely agree, but I think that's a subset of the problem.  I think it's largely artists not putting the same time and effort into their craft as players and writers that they do into being "a star", and that's exacerbated by a complete disintegration of the industry which previously would root out talented (if raw) artists and grow them over a period of years.  Now, it's "we need a hit this summer" and so the new artist has little choice but to be spoonfed highly crafted corporate authored material, which breeds homogeneity, which breeds suck.

Corporate manufactured formulaic artists was also something we tossed around.

Edited June 19, 2018 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[tbone_ 14411]

The payoff to effort ratio probably way higher for EDM, at least in terms of pussy. If you’re playing in a small indie rock band your best case scenario is an April Ludgate type.

That’s really why I took up guitar in the first place.