The New Old

I'm not totally sure if this has always been around and I haven't been a party to it until now, but I've recently been listening to a lot of music that I will hereby deem "throwback" music. There are bands I've stumbled upon that are making new music that sounds like old music. And I mean this in the best possible way.

Sometimes it gets tedious listening to all this envelope pushing, avant guarding, forward fashioned music that I enjoy subjecting myself to. My brain literally gets tired trying to untangle the rhythms, chord progressions, and song structures. Its like trying to read Chaucer for fun...it wears a guy OUT! Ya...you know.

So somewhat accidentally I stumbled across the most recent release from a band called The Bronx. They're a rough and tumble powerchord driven rock-and-damn-roll band! And I love it! Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus. Man...the simplicity is beautiful! And the fact that they can get me all goon'n'riled up in under two and a half minutes makes me happy. They're an awesome blend of simple drumming, fast down-picked powerchorded guitars, and spastic front man. They've managed to pick up where the raucous punk movement of the late 80s and early 90s petered out, modernize the sound a bit, and reintroduce good old fashioned punk rock and roll to the young masses...without reinventing the wheel.

Bands like The Bronx are bridging a vital gap between more mainstream rock (I'm thinking Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, etc) and the hardcore/metal scene that isn't quite radio-friendly. They straddle the line of listener friendly and edgy by playing a recognizable sounding style but roughing up the edges enough to make it not only appeal, but acceptable to different musical scenes. I can only hope that this barrier will fall allowing the proper acclaim to be brought to the endless sea of unrealized talent that exists in the hardcore/metal world. And I mean that with the utmost sincerity. It kills me every time little Miss Spears releases a chart topping turd while beautiful minds like Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan, the Buckley brothers of Every Time I Die, and Adam D (to name a few) go all too widely unnoticed. Well, I can only trust in the system and hope that those who deserve it get it...whatever it may be.


As a quick aside, it's eerie how familiar songs by The Bronx are...check their myspace (www.myspace.com/thebronx) and listen to "Knifeman" and "Young Bloods" and tell me that you don't get some strange pang down inside your belly that makes you feel like somewhere...you don't know where...you've heard these songs before...That happened to me and I'm still trying to figure it out.