Angles: The Strokes' early '80s Frankenstein's Monster

Remember rock music in 2001?

Alternative rock had been nearly strangled into oblivion by jock rock and rap rock. Bands like Creed and Nickelback and Linkin Park were the staples of rock radio. It was a bad, bad scene.

Then the Strokes debuted a simple, gritty record called Is This It, was a light, easy antidote to all the garbage on the radio. The Strokes recalled the 1977 art rock scene -- from Blondie to Television, the Cars to Talking Heads.  But it also sounded new. It sounded like Manhattan in 2001. It sounded like what was going on. It may have been derivative, but the simplicity of that sound was a welcome change from what was going on in rock at the time

It's been a long time since The Strokes and The White Stripes led a garage rock revival that brought early blues and post punk sounds to a wider, mainstream rock audience. The Strokes have been on hiatus since about 2005 and their third album First Impressions of Earth. They are back now with a new record, Angles. do they have another revival ready? Unfortunatley, no. Instead of a breath of fresh air, Angles sounds like a band that hasn't learned anything new at all.

TV On The Radio: Caffeinated Consciousness

Want a cool free song? Go to TV On The Radio's website here.

Give 'em your birthdate and e-mail and you'll get a link to download an mp3 of "Caffeinated Consciousness," a very cool song from the upcoming album Nine Types of Light set for release on April 12.  It's the perfect song for a warm spring day like today.

The eclectic Brooklyn band has been making very cool music now for the last decade (and then some). Based on this sample, I'm expecting some pretty great things.

Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments. I'm eager to your hear reactions.

R.E.M., Monster or Dinosaur? Talking about 'Collapse Into Now' and the greatest rock of my generation

R.E.M. was a blast of fresh air for rock in the '80s.
They were full of great melodies and energy.

I've been thinking lately about a grand musical question: What is the greatest American rock band of my generation? By my generation, I'm thinking of music made after the punk revolution of the late '70s successfully dislodged blues as the necessary foundation of rock music and opened up the musical palate of  rock music since at least 1980.

When I consider the question, I have something in mind like a great big March Madness bracket. There would be middle seed bands like Modest Mouse, The Minute Men, Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr., scrappy upstarts with higher seed looking for a their Cinderella turn like The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Interpol and The Strokes. And, of course, lets not forget the sole Ivy League contender: The National. Top seeds favorites would be those bands that were successful and influential: The Pixies, Pavement, Wilco, Flaming Lips and Nirvana. All worthy of discussion -- all capable of making the Final Four, but not capable of winning the title

The King of Limbs and why Radiohead can do no wrong

OK. It's been a while since I've posted. I've been busy. And I've been taking my time to digest the latest Radiohead record, The King of Limbs.

Before I say anything about why The King of Limbs is a terrific record, one deserving the heaps of accolades it's already getting from the music press, let's talk about why Radiohead really is the best rock band in the world.

Music nerds like me love to heap platitudes on our favorite bands -- high praise that's impossible to prove and often meant more as provocation than anything else. When you say something's the best, or the worst, you're setting yourself up for vigorous debate.  I think Radiohead, though, is as close to an honest-to-god perfect rock band as any in the history of rock and pop music.