No--this new music really does suck, at least from what I am hearing on Carson Daly's "Last Call", where new bands are featured live at "The Troubadour" and other hip venues. No one can play their guitars, there are no real keyboards, everyone is shaking a tambourine or banging on something to appear as if they are musical--they are not. It's all rhythm and electronica. The guitar parts are painfully bad--a few notes repeated over and over. There is no melody, no range of notes--the whole song is carried by the singer, and the kids in the audience are transfixed by the talent. It's all supposed to add up to a song, but when you listen and watch each person, they just aren't musical. Some of the lyrics are good and are sung with a lot of emotional investment--I do admire that they are getting up there to perform with something to say. A lot of what we liked in the 60's and 70's was from very self-indulgent artists searching for identity, lamenting lost love, about being on tour, etc., and we were supposed to find that meaning--but at least they could play and the tunes were likable--still are if you aren't sick of hearing them after 45 years.
I know there are great, young players in other genres--blues, country, bluegrass--really great talent, but the masses appear to like a lot of electronic, head banging noise that I cannot stand.
