NME's 25 Bands Making America Cool Again
Wait, we stopped being cool? Regardless, NME's press release does a good job explaining the reasoning behind this list from their 8/2 issue, so I'm going to quote at length:
As the USA steals itself for a new president this year, it seems the country is also undergoing something of a musical revolution. In its latest issue "We [Love] USA" iconic British music magazine NME, celebrates the 25 American acts who are whipping up a storm on both sides of the Atlantic -- signalling the re-birth of the US music scene!Alex Miller, New Bands Editor for NME said: "Right now I can barely go a day without coming across a new genius band from the States. While the art scene of Brooklyn or the punks of LA are keeping the underground fascinating, the ceaseless ambitions of Lil Wayne and the Kings Of Leon are making the Chili Pepper and Fiddy Cent clichés of the mainstream redundant. If only it wasn't so bloody hard to get a green card!"
As you can tell by the cover, Vampire Weekend (just back from Cape Cod) are signaling the rebirth of the US music scene, as are the aforementioned Lil Wayne and Kings Of Leon. The rest:
01 Vampire Weekend
02 Lil Wayne
03 Glass Candy
04 Kings Of Leon
05 MGMT
06 Spank Rock
07 TV On The Radio
08 Boy Crisis
09 Black Kids
10 Holy Ghost Revival
11 The Hold Steady
12 Fleet Foxes
13 Amazing Baby
14 Jay Reatard
15 HEALTH
16 The Cool Kids
17 Black Lips
18 Yo Majesty
19 White Denim
20 Telepathe
21 Iglu and Hartly
22 Chester French
23 Girl Talk
24 TheDeathSet
25 Grace Jones
See, pugs or no pugs, Black Kids are still making America cool. And Fleet Foxes are making it happen even if some of our readers think they sound like other folks's folk. With a list of this sort, it's surprising No Age, Yeasayer, High Places, or the Vivian Girls didn't make a showing ... but Grace Jones did? Note: If I need Iglu and Hartly to make the US of A cool again, I'd rather be square. Get more info about the print version of the Americana issue here.
Posted at 4:00 PM by brandon
from number 12 down it's a great list of bands. but last time i checked England wasn't really the pinnacle of cool. north american bands own english bands.
Score = 7
Fuck Up American
Score = -24
actually i'm canadian, buddy.
Score = 18
I guess the key phrase here is 'whipping up a storm on both sides of the atlantic'. It's not necessarily the coolest 25 new bands in America (lil wayne is so not new or a band!) but rather the top 25 that are starting to break it (or could break it) in the UK. Explaining why the taste is so shit.
NME sucks. They gave UNKLE's debut album 6/10 and The Moon & Antarctica 7/10. FAIL! Can't we just ignore it already?
Score = 2
Yeah, that's way too high a rating for "The Moon & Antarctica." Douchebags.
Score = -6
Oh noes! We have a bad magazine... you have... no magazine of note.. oops. you lose (again)
Score = -6
Umm, I'm British.
Score = 2
Oh my....the British are so fucking annoying! We've had to put up with their awful brit po for years.....fuck them.
Score = -16
fuck you
Score = -4
haha HA!! Dont you know... Amerikkans are hated the world over?? if you think we're annoying you need to get out more.. your basis for comparison is obviously screwed
Score = 1
well, we our friendly people and dentists certainly make up for all our shitt bands. Anyways, with he tons of people in this country...not all our bands can be genius.
The British can be so smug sometimes
Score = -2
what the fuck did you say?
Score = -7
Craig Finn > Pete Doherty
Score = 7
Morrissey > Craig Finn
Score = 11
Wait...Pete Doherty's a musician?
Score = 0
Where's the Jonas Brothers?
Seriously though: no Grizzly Bear? They're Radiohead approved after all.
Score = 22
The British totally sniff their own farts!
Score = -9
Wow...if this magazine represents english people im glad to be american.
Score = 7
telepathe (no. 20) stunk up the free no age show at the seaport.
Score = 1
The British music scene has been stale for years. I think its humorous that Brits think that they are superior to Americans when it comes to music, particurly in regards to independent music. America has had way more of a positive influence on rock music this decade (disregarding American mainstream rock). Plus, the fact that they placed Vampire Weekend at the top with such obvious omissions proves that NME no longer has any idea what its talking about.
Score = 15
If the American version of NME issued a "Top 25 Bands Making England Cool Again" I couldn't even think of 10. Radiohead, Futureheads, Art Brut, uhh...
Score = 4
I'm proudly English and I would not have put many of those bands in my top 20 American bands. However theres just as many good English bands as there are American bands just no-one knows about them because no-one here seems to listen to anything that isn't in the charts. The Leeds music scene is absolutely fantastic at the moment. NME is crap as well the magazines need to take much more notice of the smaller bands.
Score = 10
fuck the lot of you - the nme is a bible and rocks in comparison to pitchfork a.k.a Black kids killers- as an English person living in America - you should be happy someone is giving your country a compliment.... oh and in the light of the recent economic nightmare that the usa are having right now....you yanks probably could not even afford to buy the NME..so sod off.
Score = -73
NME is the US magazine of music. if you want to see what pete doherty was doing over the weekend, then yeah its good. but if you care about real music journalism, then its a joke.
U.S. bands will always be better than the British. There's no way your country could produce individuals like Dylan.
Score = 0
no but we did have the Beatles and the rolling stones- heard of them?
Score = 4
Yeah, well where did they get their influences......ahhh ever heard of American blues and rock n roll???
Anyways, if you're trying to compare mick jagger and keith richards to Dylan your a fucking cunt. See, I used your language so you'd understand.
Score = 12
and where would “rock n roll” be without the influences of africa.. or ireland..or france..or italy etc. “rock n roll” is an arbitrary term used to describe a conglomeration of sound that was created through the cross pollination of many different cultures meeting in the same place - the USA. we’re all indebted to each other. quit being so divisive. borders only exist in your mind. BTW to make an argument that no other country could create a dylan or someone like dylan is just absurd. he is an original that could never be duplicated
Score = 24
"God gave rock n roll to you, gave rock n roll to you
Put it in the soul of everyone
God gave rock n roll to you, gave rock n roll to you
Save rock n roll for everyone"
*Close the thread, Jerry. We're done here.
Score = 3
you are seriously retarded!!!! rock n roll came from france and italy???!!! this whole thread is sad.
Score = -4
my point is that the immigrants that founded this country brought with them their own musical instruments and traditions. rock n roll came out of deep roots that sometimes get ignored. (hence the title rock and roll and not rhythm and blues). gospel, folk, country, jazz, and numerous other regional musical traditions that existed at the time contributed to what we know as rock and roll. all of those genres, in one way or another, borrow from the influences of their ancestors (yeah italy and france included). rock and roll came from a unique situation and i think the genre exemplifies what's beautiful about this country.
Score = 1
Hey! this is between the US and the UK... leave Africa, Ireland, and Italy out of this!
Score = 5
yeah but who did your 'American' blues and Rock n Roll come from? See this argument can go on forever. I dont agree with all this American/English bashing but you can basically assume anything the NME puts on its 'cool list' is to be avoided as its usually Style over substance B.S. Both countries contribute some good bands but most of the ones with any talent never get noticed. FUCK THE NME
Score = 0
the UK sucks. you have writers op-edding in the NY times saying how we should all be afraid of terrorists coming to attack us in UFOs. go listen to oasis and sod off, buggeroo.
Score = -5
03 Glass Candy
08 Boy Crisis
10 Holy Ghost Revival
13 Amazing Baby
20 Telepathe
21 Iglu and Hartly
22 Chester French
25 Grace Jones
am i square for not knowing who any of the above are?
Score = 45
not necessarily square... just not very well informed
Score = -47
no. I just spent the last hour or so flipping around everyone of these bands sounds online, and the only thing worth checking out at all may be chester. maybe. MAYBE. Everything else is vastly overrated.
Score = 7
You spent a whole hour checking out all these bands? Thanks for your opinion, asshole.
Score = -19
Actually, the hour was just a general number, but it doesn't take 20 smells to tell you your shit stinks, and it doesn't take 20 in depth listens to fluffly indie "electro" bs to realize how shallow and vain it is.
Score = 8
Wow, negative six? Really? Harsh.
I guess if the hour you took to judge eight different artists was more approximate than exact, you don't deserve to be called an asshole. Your methods of criticism are totally appropriate and rational. If the music stinks, it doesn't take long to be able to tell. I apologize.
Of course, I judged you to be an asshole just about as quickly as you judged these bands to be shitty.
Score = 5
no. I just spent the last hour or so flipping around everyone of these bands sounds online, and the only thing worth checking out at all may be chester. maybe. MAYBE. Everything else is vastly overrated.
Score = 0
not telepathe, please
Score = 0
25 bands i dont care to listen to. and im american.
Score = 7
Black Keys? My Morning Jacket? The National? Pearl Jam? Oh, and the Killers of course.
Score = 7
Why isn't this article listed under "Shit List"…
Well, most of them are good, I guess.
Score = -1
weezy is not my president!
and grace jones? the black chick?
where the "F" is hercules & love affair?
Score = -4
i saw telepathe at the fader fort at sxsw this year. they are simply godawful. they just stand up there and sway their skinny bodies around and try to make singing o's over and over again sound like music. well, it's not.
Score = 3
"steals" itself?
Score = 5
The Hold Steady should be #1 on any list...........well, you know the english cant possibly understand why they are so good. they just couldn't get it.
Score = 0
that's because they suck.
Score = 1
uh where the fuck is my morning jacket
Score = 7
As usual, mention Baltimore bands, ignore Baltimore scene.
Score = 0
grace jones isn't american
Score = 3
english bands all sound the same. arctic monkeys, kaiser chiefs, wombats, fratellis, mystery jets, libertines, oasis. all mediocre all interchangable. i can´t think of a truly great english album since closer. england always seems to take great american music and make it worse. thank god we have had the stooges, ny dolls, ramones, pixies, the strokes, and no age to remind the world what rock really is and rescue us from coldplay. and the national are definetly one of the best american bands around. oh and if it wasn´t for us they´d be speaking german.
Score = -3
the fratellis are scottish ya twat
Score = -3
please never again mention the strokes and no age with the stooges or the new york dolls, you idiot
Score = 2
instead of arguing, why dont we reccommend music to each other? i reccommend the stone roses for folk over the continant. late eighties band long since split, but some fantastic tunes and the guitarist and drummer are quality. playing stuff few have bettered to this day.
Score = 0
left out brand new and thrice, 2 best bands in america by far. oh but i guess theyr'e not "indie" enough for the NME.
Score = -29
actually it's because they suck
Score = 17
SERIOUSLY?
Score = 2
o my, i really hope you're joking...if not, you fail
Score = 7
Actually Brand New really is probably in the top 10 best bands in the States. If you actually listened to them you might know that. Then again you probably still wouldn't.
Score = 1
why the fuck is grace jones on the list?
Score = 4
Black Kids might be one of the worst bands I've ever heard, and may be worse for America than Bush.
Score = 14
Oh oh I see. 25 Coolest bands besides Deerhunter and Dan Deacon, right? NME is starved for readers, but for a published periodical, can you blame them?
Score = 5
Martha's about to roll me a spliff and then we'll roll out and beat some Redcoat ass over this. Who's with me?
Score = 20
a haha thanks for the laugh, George. I get the feeling this list is half bands the author has discovered in the past 4 months or so, and half bands that they have a friend in and want to give them publicity, they can write stuff like that since no one in the UK will know the dif.
Score = 4
As a Brit (well Scottish) I can safely say NME's taste is awful. The soundalike indie bands they support are just awful. Pretty much all the music I listen to is not British. I'm sick of the lack of good British music these days, however, bands like Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad and Neon Neon are amazing. American bands seem to draw on numerous influences, yet every band the NME likes are Libertines knockoff, and considering the Libertines where nothing special, this is pretty sad. The best country for music? Canada..... the Canadian music scene is brilliant and knocks lumps out of both countries.
Score = 21
ugghh *reaches for chair
Having painfully read a few posts (more like 3 yr old cries for scene supremacy), it's obvious Americans are grossly unaware of lesser known British acts and profess that the entire country comprises of generic Arctic Monkeys imitations. Maybe on the surface level (charts anyone?), but at least British listeners are much more open-minded than their American counterparts.
As far as influences go, it's a give and take relationship between American and British music. Each side of the Atlantic listens and shoots back an interpretation of what's put out at the time. Resorting to this mudslinging only suggests we should all walk barefoot again, climb a tree and start flinging feces at each other.
Score = 4
"...we should all walk barefoot again, climb a tree and start flinging feces at each other."
you say that like we're not (ostensibly) already doing that now...
Score = 6
ok too many comments of people actually caring.. it's NME! Not even real musicians from the UK care about them!
Score = 13
Wow, no MY MORNING JACKET? wtf?
Or The National? Bon Iver?
The Brits are so repressed and clueless.....
Thank god for Radiohead though.
Score = 5
I like this NME cover, it reminds me of the poster for License to Drive with the Coreys.
Score = 3
Oh, I get it. At first I was confused, but then I realized that in the UK, "cool" is a derogatory term. In fact, in the UK they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people!
Score = 5
There is SOME good stuff on there though. It's weird that the mainstream is only just now getting hip to Jay Reatard projects. Where the fuck were you guys five years ago?
Score = 2
New bands. That's why there isn't any Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket or even The National but it's still missing Grizzly Bear who should be up there instead of Fleet Foxes in my opinion.
Score = 2
it's not just "new" bands.
i.e: the hold steady, tv on the radio, lil wayne, kings of leon...
Score = 2
and.. uh... grace jones.
Score = 0
Hey guys, I know you're having fun arguing and all that, but I just wanted to remind you:
Generalizations are fucking stupid.
Score = 3
WE. CREATED. ROCK. AND. ROLL.
/DISCUSSION
Score = 3
Thanks, UK. I feel better.
Score = 3
26. Golden Animals
http://www.myspace.com/goldenanimals
Score = 0
also, what about spoon?
Score = 5
"I'm afraid of Amerikkans"
Score = 3
nowhere in the list or magazine cover or anywhere does it say "New Artists" or else people like Lil Wayne wouldn't be on the list...so there is a few major flaws in this list
Score = 1
I honestly hadn't bothered to listen to much of this previously, and no wonder, most of these bands are goddamn terrible and overrated like xiu xiu. what is it about this, for lack of a better way to describe it, "kitschy" 80's inspired bs being so popular now? If you like these bands, fine, but don't pretend they are like the fucking beatles when it comes to uniqueness or being original. Whether it's "electro" pop, "electro" indie like the black kids, it's all over rated as hell.
Score = 2
I'm not convinced anyone REALLY likes these bands...it's the same old " it's cool because it's obscure and not mainstream" shtick. Once everyone is listening...which i'm sure no one will with most of these bands....they are no longer "cool" People feel better about themselves when they know who these crappy bands are when others don't....until they "sell out"
Score = 1
I'm surprised Santogold isn't on this list...
Score = -1
no grizzly bear???
they must have a grudge b/c grizzly bear is way better than 75% of those bands
fucking stupid ass UK
Score = 1
ok, so health is actually at least a musically interesting band. and I wonder how long it will take before some troll gets mad that I dissed on their "groundbreaking" amazing favorite band.
Score = 0
Arguing about which nation produces the better music is futile and pointless. Good music is good music, regardless of its origins, end of story. That being said, I completely agree with the above poster ian's comment about Canada. So much good stuff coming out of the great white north over the last few years.
Score = 1
You realize they're just trying to sell their magazine right?
Score = 4
For such a small country, Iceland might have the best ratio of population to good music..
Score = 7
"Indie rock" is the new mainstream. It's kind of a drag, because the genre's entire MO has changed so drastically in the last decade. The genre hasn't progressed as much as it has mutated. It's like indie rock went through a full chemical castration and then went on Paxil.
Here's the formula, just in case anyone's paying attention. Indie rock - punk influence = FAKE INDIE ROCK. If you take the punk rock out of indie rock, you're left with something like Hootie and the Blowfish. Are those assholes revered as a hip 90s "retro indie band" yet?
This indie rock trend is probably going to only get bigger from here. This is it guys... the 90s revival is about to be in full swing. This should be fun but irritating.
Score = -8
I saw Hootie and the Blowfish this summer with my radio station. Didn't know more than two songs but great night of music. Felt very American.
Score = 1
Uhh... are you actually saying that Hootie and the Blowfish were a 90s "indie rock" band? I was just joking in my original post. I noticed that other shitty corporate 90s alt-rock bands like the Gin Blossoms have huge followings now among "indie" kids who are dumb enough to think that they're a retro indie rock band.
Score = -8
i'm in shock telepathe is on this list
I like them but
WHAT?!?!
really??!?!
what about animal collective and grizzly bear?
further evidence that NME is a fucking piece of shit publication
Score = 7
This is all so stupid. My god. It's like standing in a circle and spitting on each other. Every one of these comments is moronic, as is the article itself. Could you try more desperately to align yourselves more "correctly?" Well, no, you couldn't. Here we are. Vampire Weekend #1. How absurd is that.
Score = 2
listen kids, they are making decent music pop, so soon the frat boys (who are already slipping good old date rape drugs to cheerleaders while girltalk plays in the backround) will be thugging it out to fleet foxes, jay reatard, or even fucking HEALTH. so what is there to do as we wait for mass media for to profit from yet another genre as the fucking vampire weekends of the world suckle from the fucking teet. so enjoy the downfall of your "indie" music. they will be endorsing cars or cola soon. fuck off
Score = 5
5 Bands Making America Cool...
1 Blank Digs
2 Animal Collective
3 Jay Reatard
4 Eat Skull
5 No Age
Score = 2
"Blank Dogs"
mmmmmmm, beer.
Score = 1
You know, when I was younger I always thought Dylan was Irish. He sure wanted to be, in any case.
Oh yeah, and blah blah, our music's better than your music and all that. Anyone in Britian with any iota of sense knows that the NME is a pile of wank that serves to make generic bands with regional accents cool for about a year. And the differences between the US and UK music scenes are vast - not least because of the distance between the countries and the difference in size. Christ, with a country as big as yours, you'd think that some genuinely good musical talent would spring up somewhere, wouldn't you?
Score = -5
people, don't argue... NME said 'cool', not 'good' !
(even if i like VW...)
Score = 1
Oh fuck off NME. I'm British but I can say with great confidence that British music has never been cooler than American music. The 60s is the only possible exception, although some would argue that 60s era Dylan out-cools both the Beatles and the Stones combined.
In the past 20 years there's been no competition from this side of the Atlantic. Oh no wait....Kaiser Chiefs. Yeah, THEY were good. Ha.
Score = 10
Agreed. I'd take Dylan and the Velvet Underground over the Stones and the Beatles in a 60s-out-cool-contest. Actually, I'd take Dylan and the Velvet Underground over any other combination of bands or performers.
Score = 6
wow, glass candy is not like those other bands! seeing as they're way into lame, banal shit like vampire weekend, i'm surprised they even know of them. i saw them live in brooklyn like 4 years ago. the lead singer chick is blazingly hot. they're more of a live thing, recirdings don't translate it so well. good to hear them getting some recognition tho.
Score = 1
theirs still a decent list of upcoming solo project from the uklike, get cape wear cape, fly, kate nash, jamie liddel, jamie t, bat for lashes, ellen allien, and there's still the teeanagers, klaxons, the horrors and like midnight juggernauts, but thats france
Score = -1
Anybody else think that the two Corey's or JTT are missing from that cover? Maybe Mark Paul Gossleaar and Joey Lawrence. Whoa!
Score = 4
Also, there is a glaring lack of hip hop on the list. I know it's a 'Bands' list, but if you are going to put Lil Wayne at number 2 and Spank Rock in the top 10, then you need to represent it throughout the list. I think hip hop is a more American genre of music than most indie acts anyway.
Score = 3
Midnight Juggernauts are Australian.
Score = 0
burial
portishead
m.i.a.
the long blondes
dizzee rascal
arctic monkeys (look past the hype, and if you don't like fluorescent adolescent and/or a certain romance you're trying too hard)
^ the british music scene isn't dead.
it's just on life support.
and the nme isn't fit to wipe my arse with. all credit lies at their feet for suffocating the british music scene to an inch of its life. sigh.
Score = 2
Agreed to all of those. It isn't dead, you just have to sift through the shit to find the gold. Just like the american music scene.
And VW at no 1? I mean, I like their record, but I saw them live and they were awful. I'll still listen to the record but will never pay money to see them again.
Score = 0
Dylan didn't want to be Irish......that dude was American through and through! He was always annoyed with European fans
Score = 4
The comment made by the author of this pointless article is telling: the NME announces a "new musical revolution" with every election cycle. I mean Jesus, did "Nu-Rave" not teach everyone to stop paying attention to this shitty publication? Good thing we have *Kings of Leon* to save our music scene.
Score = 2
o my, i really hope you're joking
Score = 0
Notice how every British person on this thread has slated NME. Yes it is utter trash. We here in UK have learnt to ignore it completely and this post here on Stereogum has ruined our abstention, in addition to making us realise once again why we detest it so... I implore Stereogum then, to never reference this magazine ever again...
Score = 10
I guess all you neo-indie kids are too young to remember that around ten years ago, TV started telling people to like punk rock and everyone went along with it. Now the same thing is being done with indie rock, and as usual everyone is more than happy to obey rich bald guys in suits behind the scenes who decided to make this the next trend everyone follows. Lame.
Score = 0
yes, because behind all my favourite bands there's a balding man.
Score = 5
thank you very much!
Score = 3
White Denim ......nice.
Score = 0
glass candy seems a little out of place amongst the shit-fest that is the top five.
Score = 0
I'm in the UK and read NME, can't say I've seen this issue or heard of anyone on that list! This maybe a sarcastic joke? I agree with the comments about the UK music scene, it is pretty shite. Looking on my last.fm profile my top two bands are Crystal Method and Radiohead so I guess its 1-1
Score = -5
this all being said i think we can all agree that grizzly bear is the best band on earth
Score = -2
great lakes myth society
Score = 0
so why oh why did they give fleet foxes 7/10... the same score they gave to the new fucking fratellis album..
Score = 4
Firstly, good music really is just that. Good music. It comes from Britain and America AND the rest of the UK. Like, Frightened Rabbit are amazing and they're Scottish. Oh yeah, and it DEFINITELY comes from Canada. Stars? The Guest Bedroom? Pony Up? Yes please! Oh yeah, and the Leeds music scene is killing it right now. It deserves something of a recognition since it somehow manages to create a barrier against the shitty typical shetpile of the normal music scene. Oh yeah, and Los Campesinos! Yes please! But keep in mind that NME is the equivalent of a fifteen year old's self published zine. It's whatever music they like...uh,and whoever's show they have a press badge for. I met the dude in TheDeathSet...that band is like Australian. And why are Black Kids and VW so high on that list...because they sound British? Glass Candy pwns and so does Jay Reatard and the Black Lips. But NME did acknowledge that there is a significant underground scene in NY and LA (although those of Philly, Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle are equally noteworthy), they just choose to ignore it. Whatev. Americans may have had their fill of these bands (Chester French...sigh, whatev), but they're like still hitting the other side of the pond, no? Like Pokemon! But not with Japan, with the UK...okay, so not like Pokemon.
Score = 2
are you seriously tellin me LIL WAYNE deserves this list? FAIL
Score = 2
DAN DEACON FTW
Score = 0
lets get this clear: nme does not represent the views of any british person. they totally follow trends (see above list)
Score = 0
Firstly, generalising a whole nation and its occupants is idiotic and childish. How dare anyone decree a whole countries musical output as awful?!
I am British and do not think you should decree our music talent and tastes by NME, a once great magazine tarnished by the simplistic, inane, unintelligent media world thats sapping away at society in the past 10 years.
The US have made vast contributions to music....the UK has made vast contributions to music...so has every other country on Earth..so can people stop uttering what can be easily summed up as foolish..
Anyone who ever states that Britain has never been musically talented; I will say one word: Bowie....
Score = 4
interesting list of fantastic bands. but maybe not enough to save us.
Score = -1
BEatles and stones?
Dylan gave weed to the beatles for the first time and the rolling stones had their name thanks to Muddy Waters...
England will always be second!
Score = 0
This list is pure bullshit. Vampire Weekend? Fuck that. Too bad England hasn't been cool since the Beatles. What do you have to show? Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party? The Wombats!? Get over yourselves. America has been cooler than you and always will be. Don't be confused by a few Harry Potter love stricken girls either. Oh, and Canada has been cooler than both of us for a long time so you can shove this list up your asshole NME.
A real list:
My Morning Jacket
Bon Iver
Grizzly Bear
Band of Horses
Fleet Foxes
Devendra Banhart
No Age
Hercules and Love Affair
Tapes 'n Tapes
Spoon!!
Modest Mouse
MGMT
Dr. Dog
Death Cab For Cutie
The National!!
The Black Keys
Beach House
Abe Vigoda
Mates of State
Girl Talk
Black Lips
She & Him
Animal Collective!!
Be Your Own Pet (before the break up)
Dan Deacon
Score = 4
First of i'm British. In recent years i think the US has provided some of the most interesting bands and music around (look at the size of you, we expect noting less)
Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, LCD Soundsystem, Bright Eyes,
but whats with the ill feeling, it shouldn't be about borders,
in my opinion the UK still produces some of the most groundbreaking stuff out there
Radiohead, M.I.A, Hot Chip, Elbow, Four tet,
its pretty pathetic, the nme doesn't speak for the British people they just use these cheap headlines to sell their rag and in fairness we all produce our fair amount of trash... Kid Rock anybody?
Time to put your claws away children and try paying one another a compliment once in a while.
alson take a bow:
Canada Arcade Fire, the War on Drugs, Broken Social Scene, Born Ruffians
Sweden The Radio Dept, The Concretes
Iceland Sigur ros
France Justice
Bob Dylan by the way whoever said it ... fucking untouchable
Score = 4
The War on Drugs is from Philly
Score = 1
Jeez ,you yanks are competitive little twats aren't you? Are there still people in the US who think every Englishman has Austin Powers teeth and listens solely to The Beatles? The current 'scene' in the UK is total shite, and any new band worth listening to is from America, but, I mean, who actually cares?
Score = 0
The cover is utter shit and totally cringe worthy.
I can't look at it without laughing whilst feeling hopelessly awkward.
both countries make shit music, how about that?
Score = 0
look, brits kicked america's ass in the 50,60,70 (the who, beatles, stones) i guess now its our turn... still ireland and canada make good music too... flogging molly?
Score = 0
The Brits in the 50s...what are you smoking?
The 60s and the 70s are both debatable too.
Flogging Molly is from Los Angeles and they're not good.
Score = 6
look, brits kicked america's ass in the 50,60,70 (the who, beatles, stones) i guess now its our turn... still ireland and canada make good music too... flogging molly, arcade fire, the pogues, born ruffians??? come on get over it... brits have had the edge for a while, america has it now... but don't count out all the the other countries...
also... locksley isn't bad
Score = -3
Alll you Brits that are saying borders are not real and that we should all embrace each other.......fuck off. First of all your jealous, always have been. Secondly, when I go to London (and i do quite freqently) you are the ones always making smart ass remarks about George Bush or we are ignorant or loud. We are friendly people that know how to have a good time. Most of you are smug bastards who don't even understand most of what American music is all about.
and its been said before....we have Dylan. We win.
Score = 0
No Hercules and Love affair, no A Place to bury strangers, no Animal Collective
Score = 0
The 2 greatest English bands are not the Stones and the Beatles.
They're the Clash and the Fall.
Check out these Americans:
http://www.myspace.com/clerics
Score = 2
Seeing Vampire Weekend and cool in the same list is hilarious....
Score = 0
sorry but from a completely unbiased perspective the us has sooooo many better bands than the uk. t's kind of baffling that the whole angular guitar/electro/thick british accent is still plaguing even the most "credible" british bands ie foals, johnny foreigner, los campesinos etc.
also telepathe are good you dicks
Score = 0
The problem with the British media is that unlike that of America, it's unified. The country's smaller, so the tastemakers have long had a national rather than local or state-wide audience, pirate radio in the 60's, the John Peel show, the NME and others of its ilk, I seem to remember Mark Arm recently stating that he wished America had a similar model in the US, but this would have arguably lead to a lack of the regional scenes which have supposedly given America its depth. Crucial also is the fact that it's much easier and cheaper for bands to play nationwide tours. This means that actually over the years it's been much quicker for trends to build and dissipate. Coupled with the acceleration of this process through the rise of the internet, particularly in the transfer of zine culture to blogs, the NME has had to take a much more sensationalist stance to stay afloat now that new media has expanded so much.
Also, its target audience has greatly expanded, with the success of the Libertines, Strokes, etc, so it's arguably had to cater to this new marketplace, therefore for the past 10 years it's become the natural successor to something like Smash Hits magazine for the unthinking adolescent. As a filter its power has waned since the glory days of the 'New Rock Revolution', not counting the Nu Rave last gasp, so it resorts to riding the crests of the waves of others, in this case primarily Pitchfork and American blog culture. The fact that it's been taken apart and 'analysed' to this extent is as ignorant, stupid and irritating as the comments themselves. "the British are so fucking annoying! We've had to put up with their awful brit po for years." Indeed.
Anyway, here are 11 bands you may not have heard of that should be making Britain cool again or at the very least stand partially to refute you:
Kotki Dwa (http://www.myspace.com/kotkidwa)
Cats in Paris (http://www.myspace.com/catsinparis)
Rolo Tomassi (http://www.myspace.com/rolotomassi)
Munch Munch (http://www.myspace.com/munchmunchband)
Buttonhead (http://www.myspace.com/buttonhead)
Johnny Foreigner (http://www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner)
Gentle Friendly (http://www.myspace.com/gentlefriendly)
Lovvers (http://www.myspace.com/letscommunicate)
These Monsters Are Ruining Our Childrens Lives (http://www.myspace.com/thesemonsters)
Dananananakroyd (http://www.myspace.com/dananananaykroyd)
Gay Against You (http://www.myspace.com/gayagainstyou)
Wait, weren't all those comments just thinly veiled racism?
Score = 4
Okay, wait, you've probably heard of some of those bands.
Score = -4
This NME issue is a prime example of the British smugness and bullshit Americans have been putting up with for years. We're cool again, fuck you. We didn't asked to be judged by you limey bastards. Yes, we do have our problems but I'd be jealous of American culture too.
Score = 1
See? Thinly veiled racism.
Score = -1
Thinl veiled racism? You're such a British faggot. And I say that as a gay American.
Score = 3
its O.K. because the U.K. was culturally imperialised by the US years and years ago. not much of what they've done since hasn't been derived from the US including, uh, the word "cool". as in "25 bands making the US COOL again." P.S.- for the stones fans out there- black face cover band, check your history. . they're ok but "don't think twice."
Score = 2
If this thread has proven anything, it's that, at the very least, we know that both our countries don't lack ignorant, callow douche bags privy to generalizing about the entire history of rock music and other cultures in one fell sweep. See? We're not so different....
Score = 4
Fuck everyone else, Brand New is the best band on the planet. Easily the most underrated band in history. Not even joking.
Score = -1
The swedish are the new cool. ;)
Score = 1
So I've heard!
Score = -1
glass candy has been saving me daily for about two years.
but i mean fergie is american and im pretty sure she is slowly going to consume the whole world in a thin veil of meth, pee, and wigger speak. we must stay vigilant.
Score = 1
glass candy has been saving me daily for about two years.
but i mean fergie is american and im pretty sure she is slowly going to consume the whole world in a thin veil of meth, pee, and wigger speak. we must stay vigilant and make it up to the rest of the world somehow.
Score = 1
We're cool again, fuck you. And I say that as a gay American. haha
Score = 1
For all the haters, the 90's are over , ok? stop listen to your corporated "alternative" radio, yeah, Kurt Cobain rules! This is 2008!
Cool list!
Score = -1
Okay I love Grace Jones and all, but I seriously don't get her being on this list. She was born in Jamaica and now lives in France. What's American about that? She may have been the toast of New York in the 70s, but if that's the case then she's been making American music cool for the last 30 years...
Score = 1
Honestly, America is cool, England is cool. Fuck NME & fuck this list. End of story.
Score = 2
Along the lines of what Cyrus said, if these comments are representative of the prevailing mindsets of their respective countrymen, I'm amazed that either country is capable of creating any sort of music at all, since it seems that residents of both the U.S. and the U.K. would be too busy typing xenophobic slurs and spouting out ill-informed nationalistic nonsense to actually accomplish anything worthwhile.
Score = 2
Along the lines of what Cyrus said, if these comments are representative of the prevailing mindsets of their respective countrymen, I'm amazed that either country is capable of creating any sort of music at all, since it seems that residents of both the U.S. and the U.K. would be too busy typing xenophobic slurs and spouting out ill-informed nationalistic nonsense to actually accomplish anything worthwhile
Score = 0
I ate an apple today
Score = 3
an apple sounds just about nice right now
Score = 2
Seriously. England. Hey.
America has always given you "Cool".
You guys have given us (North America) alot of stuff. An insane unbelievable legacy in the last 50-odd years that makes up for your lack of contributions throughout the last 400 years. The Germans and Italians really cleaned up those last few centuries.. The French too. But the last 50 years really do make up. We owe you big. Thank you.
But, England, except for The Clash, The Specials, Portishead, Tricky, and one or two others, you guys owe "cool" to the Americans. Right? Even Miles Davis, who invented it:) fucked off to Paris, not London, to be smoky and jazzed and heroin and beat philosophy and shit.
UK bands' drawbacks are that you guys are all a little wanky and lack that swagger, that legend, that pixie dust that makes a band like KOL mythical. And the point is, NOT the Spinal Tap kind. Stop caring so much:)
The UK is such a small island that it's hard for you guys not to care so much about all your rock n' roll heritage. It's such a small island that it's hard for all the bands not to care so much about all the little things they do.
Fuck it. Stop giving a shit so much. Let go. Stop being so watchful and uptight about it. Help let the UK let go!
It could be revolutionary again if you do.
Score = -2
you all fucking suck.
Score = -1
I second that! America this, Britain that.......this whole debate is hilarious! My advice: Get over yourselves
Score = 0
I second that! America this, Britain that...I find this whole debate hilarious!
Score = 0
don't we all have something better to do?
Score = 2
Despite the fact that TheDeathSet rose to fame in Baltimore (REPRESENT!), isn't one of them Australian? Does that count?
Either way they still rule.
Score = 0
Hey guys, I just can't understand how the debate on this ended up being so lame after just 2 comments :
"the U.S. is better, hey you, brit mother fucker"
"no the UK is way better, you, bloody yank"
Wow, that's low. Now I'm glad you mention Dylan, because he actually liked a lot England, he borrowed the melody for Bob Dylan's Dream to Martin Carthy, one of the many actors of the British Folk scene which Dylan visited in the early 60s. That's also from him that Paul Simon "stole" the melody for his version of Scarborough fair (http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003029/Martin-Carthy.html). And I won't event mention Davy Graham, the inventor of DADGAd tuning or Bert Jansch of whom Neil Young said he was the Jimi Hendrix of acoustic guitar.
NME sucks bad, but all of you guys arguing on whose the coolest just have an IQ lower than you shoe size, as Kevin Smith would put it.
Score = -1
and today lemons!
Score = -2
i just bought every album on that list. i never heard of any of them but now i'm cool as hell. so eat it liberal-hipster jerk offs.
now i'm off not to listen to any of it and instead put on master of puppets.
Score = 3
What a joke! Who cares what country your favourite music comes from? We all come from the same planet don't we? and to be honest, earth music sucks, it's all about the Neptune scene at the moment.
Score = 5
you can hear every single one of the bands in the article at http://www.nme.com/blogs
vampire weekend rule. where's grizzly bear though?
nme tipped me off to amazing baby who are great
Score = -3
Nobody in UK likes Grizzly Bear. It's weird but true.
The only bad thing about UK music is the NME. They're talking about US music as if they never put Panic At The Disco on the cover.
Score = 1
I bet Thom, Jonny, Phil, Colin and Ed would disagree.
Score = 2
Lists are lame sauce. People that need lists or magazines or previews/reviews to get new music are moldy sauce. We live in an era where you can find ur own music easily. DO IT!
Score = 0
Cool? Americans? Ha Ha Ha!!!
Score = -4
where's big business?
Score = 0
Dear Stereogum,
Thanks for posting this entry about NME.. You have once again reminded me why I hate NME.
Sincerely,
Mur
Score = 4
Lil Wayne? Seriously?
Score = 2
What's with all the British Bashing?
They're giving Americans a compliment after all?
I don't know.
Music isn't about who's better, because everyone has different thoughts and so no one would ever come to a conclusion on who's better.
I like some American Indie, in fact, some of my favorite bands are there.
There are also some pretty great British Indie bands.
However, my heart lies in the Canadian Indie scene.
I may just be bias because I'm Canadian, but seriously, check out ANYTHING from the arts&crafts label.
Score = 1
BUY MORE! BUY MORE! BUY MORE!
Score = 0
Things that are most likely true:
-There's lots of good music made all over the place; America, Europe, Scandinavia (especially), Australia.
-There's a huuuuuge about of shitty music made everywhere, NO ONE is off the hook on that one.
-The more popular a band is (chart-wise) does usually correlate with how bad they are (cuz mainstream, at least in America, is usually derivative boring pop/rap/watered down rock shit.)
-HOWEVER, bands do not get worse when they gain recognition and press, but perhaps their fan-base does.
-Arguing over any bands in a blog comments section is pointless and arbitrary, cuz no one cares about your taste in music but you. Do you really need it justified?!?!
-Most comments on a blog are made by people who can't form logical thoughts, arguments, or opinions, so why even entertain them?
Things that may or may not be true, but I think they are:
-The uk music scene is, has been, and will most likely continue to be cooler than the US, simply because its smaller, and seems less controlled by boring derivative middle of the road corporate bullshit pop record companies.
-ALSO, I would also go as far as to say that the overall taste level of brits and Europeans is faaaar more progressive and open than the overall taste level of the american audience.
-That's not to say there aren't cool people in the US who like cool music.
-However, an unfortunately high percentage of those people also happen to be whiny douchebags who make inane comments on brooklyn vegan.
-Brooklyn really needs to get the fuck over itself. my god, w-burg is such a shithole.
Score = 3
how bout this to continue the thread..
Hey England, go fuck yourselves!
Score = -2
hah!
Score = 1
"This isn't English music, this is American music"-Bob Dylan
Score = 0
English music talks about life. American music celebrates it.
Score = 1
this list is pretty biased, theres plenty of bands that belong there that i dont see and i only dig less than half of these artists. and Vampire Weekend, no. 1? jeez..
Score = 1
Stereogum - It may be time to turn off the comments. We're rotting our brains.
Score = 0
yeah why is Health on the poll and not No Age? I love health but really?
Score = 0
white denim!!!!!!
Score = 0
Commenting on this was SO 10 days ago.
Score = 2
but seriously, can we get back to how telepathe ruins every otherwise-good show they are part of? i saw them with panther in austin back in march -- panther killed it, and telepathe sucked every ounce of energy out of the room with their total bulls**t act. hate to say it -- but i really think they are talentless
*sorry if this posted twice*
Score = 0
Bowl Chet.
Score = 0
god, am I the only person on earth who thinks Vampire Weekend is horrible?
Score = -2
this list is missing 3 things....
JONAS BROTHERS!
wait... no
Score = 0
heres what the article should have read like,
http://junkmedia.org/index.php?b=1
Score = 0
i hate it how Britain is represented by Oasis, i am british and i definatley prefer american "indie" music, there is so much shit being played on british radio stations.
and you're a cock if you read NME
Score = 0
hahaha this article isn't about britain Vs the U.S, why are you geebags even arguing over it? hardcore with the keyboard much?
i'm irish and neutral and i do believe both countries both make such good music (and bollox music too) with so many different genres and styles to be taken into consideration. it's impossible express an unbiased opinion on a nation if it's just on the basis of a recommendation on a band that someone else is telling you to listen to.
and plus, canadian music is totally where it's at, at the mo
Score = 1
go listen to U2 or the cranberries you ginger twat.
Score = 0
Why are you spending so much time talking about a dead magazine's point of view? Surely the fact that your commenting on this dead blog is proof that you have all no idea. Cut out the crap and go download stuff from nodata and bolchas gratis... wise up and shut up... listen to music not journalists.
Score = 0
There's always good and bad bands in both countries all the time of course. But these lists are good to kick up some debate. Still, it's an odd list isn't it? #1 and #2 seem especially out of place when considering the lower half of the list.
I wrote about this article too if anyone cares to check it out: http://www.zoom-in.com/blogs/music-audio/is-american-music-reigning-supreme-again/
Score = -1
Fuck you, UK. What have you done in the past year?
Score = 0
I don't think the NME writers actually listen to music.
Has Telepathe really put out a record? or Amazing Baby? or Boy Crisis? Whoever wrote this is tracking Top8 placement, not music. If the NME had gone as far as to get their passports stamped, they would see how weak these bands are live.
Where are Beach House? Ponytail? Yeasayer? Where are White Magic, Chairlift, The Fiery Furnaces, Atlas Sound? Animal Collective and Black Dice? Grizzly Bear, Ariel Pink, YACHT, Hercules & Love Affair?
NME must stand for 'No-Music Extravaganza'. (No wonder the music business is going down, when bands who have NO PRODUCT are the ones getting written up. Betcha they have more press photos than songs.)
-America
Score = 0
there is nothing new here... these are just bands with annoying singers, copying bands who are copying bands with annoying singers.... ermmm rappers too evidently, can we have some new music that IS actually 100% original?
Edwyn Collins save us....
Score = 0
I'm amused by how everyone is missing the point - the bands they mentioned just sound like a lot of the stuff Britain had in the late 80's early 90's. America is just catching up -(as seems to be their fate of late, while the rest of the world develops decent gadgets, mobiles, games consoles, fashion, music etc they are stuck in a time warp) and people from Britain who were too young to remember it like the American sound cos they think it's 'new'. In about ten years they will be releasing stuff that vaguely sounds like the Arctic Monkeys thinking it's new and cool. Oh dear. As for our the usual responses from the Americans above let me enlighten you - dentists - I've yet to meet a non-celebrity American with decent teeth (you Americans need to travel more, that cliche is incredibly dated - and as far as British people speaking German if it weren't for your *ahem* help in WW II - I put it to you that there might have been a distinct possibility you'd have been speaking German yourselves had Britain not won out against other European countries in the battle for gaining more land for it's ne'er do wells and heathens to bung over the pond way back when proper Americans wore headdresses and lived in wigwams. There's an irony there but I won't confuse y'all.These appear to be the arguments Americans always come up with followed by a jolly round of 'USA, USA, USA' The only decent thing about America is that it's so cheap to buy stuff there for overseas visitors. Due to the embarrassingly weak dollar. Wake up America, your hey day in being the envy of everyone else was in the 50's and 60's - this is now well and truly dead. Along with your music..........
Score = 1
Come on.. The killers is like the worst sounding band of all time.. They play like shit live.. Give me KOL!!!!!
Score = 1
lol at telepathe. stop.
also glass candy at three? WTF. that is the kind of music that would make it big in the UK. i like glass candy but c'mon now. A keyboard and spandex. i could be in that band i don't play an instrument.
Score = 0
so funny how everybody made this into a US vs UK comparison in rock music. Even going as far back as the Beatles & The Rolling Stones. And just like the british to name drop Beatles & Stones and not mention the two only brititsh bands that mattered, fuckin Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Same thing with the americans and Dylan.
Score = 0
Brazilian Girls!!!!!
Score = 0