ROCK AND ROLL

emphasizing the second and fourth beats since 1954

inquiring elephants want to know:

is rock-n-roll dead or is rock-n-roll sleeping?

As I drove home from a weekend in Vegas last night I pulled out a CD I hadn't heard in months: Mr. Oysterhead.  Strangely enough, the pounding beat of rock-n-roll seemed very mildly nostalgic to me, like seeing a friend who moved away six months ago, or finding under the couch the shirt you misplaced less than a year ago.  I realised that I haven't been listening to rock lately, and it got me to wondering why.

It seems my attention of late has been drawn to what I imagine we'll associate with the turn of this century... the moody, introverted, sexy aura of trip hop and all its sisters.  Finally the digital and analog worlds have made peace and are working together in something that has certainly surpassed the "gathering attention" phase.  And I love it.  The subdued vocals and ethereal electronics allow us to relax, breathe, brood and recover from the turbulent nineties when angry grunge and ultra-pop (and the equivalents in our emotional spectrum) struggled for market share.

But all my obsession with "urban introspective" lately has apparently put rock-n-roll on the back burner of my attention span, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  It's as if I've betrayed my mentor or stopped calling mom.  I realised last night that, as wonderful and all-encompassing as the modern sound is, it WILL get boring.  I'm sure of it.  A few more years and our complacent youth will want that edge back, will want something that means DEFIANCE.

It must be tough to be a three-piece rock band these days.  Everyone pays attention to the bands with DJs techy gear.  In fact, if you AREN'T spinning vinyl, you are rather passé.  Face the facts, Slash, rock has become simply UNHIP.

UNHIP?  Who could have imagined that rock would become UNHIP?!?

I'm hoping the demise of rock-n-roll is all in my head.  This is quite likely since, as I have admitted, my attention has been diverted, and I'm not up-to-date on what Clear Channel has been feeding the masses these days.  So I'm hoping someone will stand up and knock some reality into me, will say "Are you deaf?  Listen to THIS!" and hand me some cutting-edge rock-n-roll released in the last twelve months.  Please do this, and tell me that I'm wrong. 

I am aware of some fantastic music that is distributed in the rock "genre", such as Pinback and Modest Mouse.  You know the brooding organic sound I'm talking about.  You can't deny these technically are rock-n-roll bands.  But I'm looking for heavy, deliberate drum beats, male falsetto, and soaring, long-haired, masturbatory guitar solos.  Who are this year's Black Crowes?  This, my friends is your mission.  Prove me wrong, or tell me I'm old-fashioned.

By the way, I put on Abbey Road after Mr. Oysterhead and it was ALL GOOD.