Category: Tunes Talk

Success in the music industry is hard enough to come by once; capturing lightning in a bottle twice is a minor miracle. Sometimes it takes a complete reinvention, other times it’s a stroke of luck. Whatever the case is, these artists managed not only to hit the big time in their first go round, but also experience a renaissance further in their career. Some of them even did it in the current industry climate, which deserves a medal because ain’t no one breaking it big around here no more.

These aren’t bands that just continued to steamroll the competition until they slowly petered out, nor are they bands with a couple big chart toppers years apart. These are bands that had an established, definite era- then went away for a little while – then came back for another unprecedented round in the spotlight. They’re true comeback kids.

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Initial Success: 1991- 1995

Downtime: 1995-1998

Comeback: 1999

Comeback Album: Californication

Let’s start off with a band that straddles the line between “comeback” and “continued success”. 1995’s One Hot Minute wasn’t a massive bomb, but it did slow the momentum the funk-rockers had built up over the first half of the 90s. They’d established themselves as the alternative scene’s party boys, and left a series of unimpeachable singles and albums in their wake.

That 1995 record did have few well-received singles but the addition of Dave Navarro didn’t sit well with most fans. It took a 4 year break and the re-addition of John Frusciante to the fold to revive the band’s luck and set off a second streak of hugely popular records. Californication didn’t reinvent the wheel- if anything it was the Chili Peppers standing firmly in the niche they’d dug, to great results in four massive hit singles (“Californication”, “Otherside”, “Scar Tissue”, “Around the World”). Not only did that record sell extremely well, but it gave them another 7-8 years of soundtracking comedy movie trailers and extreme sports montages.

9. Radiohead

Initial Success: 1993- 1999

Downtime: 2000-2006

Comeback: 2007

Comeback Album: In Rainbows

Contrary to what you might think, this entry won’t be about the oft-beatified OK Computer and the band’s descent into weirdness. Although that album did mark a total change in sound and start a new leg of their career, it came on the heels of the wildly successful The Bends. There really wasn’t any lull to come back from.

This entry won’t even be about sales per se, but rather on cultural significance. The bizarre one-two punch of Kid A and Insomniac really did Radiohead in commercially, although it did turn them into hipster gods. 2003 follow-up Hail to the Thief was a return to form (and structure) but it went largely unnoticed in every respect.

It was in 2007 that In Rainbows brought Radiohead back to mainstream discussion. The album itself didn’t really set any charts on fire, but it turned them into “accessible gods” for the average music listener. The “free” online release of that album had them labeled as Innovative™ and now they’re inextricably linked with the experimental tag. The layperson may not know the band’s aesthetic or any songs other than the weepy ballads, but they know that referencing the band is shorthand for high art. When you want to talk about “weird” music to simple people to make yourself seem “educated/out there/quirky”, drop Radiohead’s name. Hey, Katy Perry did it.

8. Maroon 5

Initial Success: 2004

Downtime: 2008-2010

Comeback: 2011

Comeback Song: “Moves Like Jagger”

The sole pop act on this list, only because pop acts tend to have a massive industry working behind them to ensure they DON’T fade away. And true, it’s not like Maroon 5 ever completely burnt out. They continued to make radio filler long after “This Love” impacted 2004’s airwaves. But they were always one notch above being a punch line, a band that only people in dentist waiting rooms listened to. As the decade changed they were on the cusp of becoming a relic of the 2000s, not unlike the Black Eyed Peas. A weak 2010 album didn’t do much to fix the problem.

Then lead singer Adam Levine used the entire season of a television show (The Voice) as a launching platform for a comeback single (“Moves Like Jagger”) and now they’re an A-list dance pop band that’s not going away any time soon. It’s downright strange to think that they were ever in danger of becoming irrelevant.

7. Fall Out Boy

Initial Success: 2005-2007

Downtime: 2009-2012

Comeback: 2014

Comeback Song: “Centuries”

After an initial run as emo poster boys in the late 2000s, Fall Out Boy are now rubbing elbows with starlets and top-tier rappers. They were on the brink of being “Remember Them?” material and turned it all around. Of course it cost them the few shreds of credibility they’d earned from their massive From Under the Cork Tree, but the band managed to hit it big again after a hiatus at the turn of the decade.

The funny thing is that it wasn’t even instantaneous. When they reformed in 2013 and completely threw out the emo sound they’d made their name on, the results were fairly lackluster. 2013’s big-drum anthem-core “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” certainly succeeded in discarding the band’s old trappings, but it (as well as its ironically titled corresponding record Save Rock and Roll) wasn’t really much more than a semi-listenable reunion project.

A year and a few strokes of luck later and the band was a full-fledged established pop act. They’d decided to turn the jock-rock dial beyond comfortable levels and started making songs seemingly meant solely for Superbowl highlight reels, played on Superbowl sized screens. But it worked and the band’s now safely living a second life played alongside any Top 40 act.

6. Weezer

Initial Success: 1994

Downtime: 1996-1999

Comeback: 2000

Comeback Album: The Green Album

It was a slow burn- a long and painful one at that – before Weezer the band became Weezer™ the brand, but Rivers Cuomo stuck it out and turned the one time geek rock icons into an institution worthy of a (never filmed) TV show.

Everyone now knows the story of early Weezer- the massively successful Blue Album followed by the hipster touchstone Pinkerton followed by Weezer disappearing for a few years. They came back, however, much to the dismay of the bluebloods, and after the Green Album proceeded to be relentlessly prolific over the course of the next decade. They dropped all pretense of making emo ballads and rather made music ABOUT making emo ballads (see: “Heart Songs”). They became the ultimate meta-band, selling the mythology of early Weezer as new Weezer songs and albums. It worked tremendously and the band still regularly tours playing only those first two albums with a smattering of hits they racked up throughout the 2000s. They weaponized the nostalgia industry in a surprisingly aggressive fashion for a band of meek geeks.

5. Nine Inch Nails

Initial Success: 1989-1999

Downtime: 2000-2004

Comeback: 2005

Comeback Album: With Teeth

We all know NIN’s successful thanks to one song, and there wasn’t really ever any other competition in that respect. Trent Reznor’s comeback was more subtle, yet just as impressive as any other act on this list. He faded away commercially (and nearly entirely due to personal issues) at the start of the millennium, so the fact that a 2005 album even was released was a shock.

It’s not like With Teeth was some sort of barnburner. Although it did give us the most accessible NIN song ever (“The Hand That Feeds”), it was really only a hit on modern rock charts. But it did kick off Reznor’s transformation from tortured soul to astute brand developer. He went from being synonymous with “edgy 90s goth” to elder statesmen of dark electronic ambience. It was a gradual veer away from shock rock and into moody concept music, but it landed him scoring gigs, an Academy Award, and a lot of respect.

4. Depeche Mode

Initial Success: 1980s

Downtime: Late 1980s

Comeback: 1990

Comeback Album: Violator

It’s not entirely accurate, but calling Depeche Mode “the 80s band that made it big in the 90s” is still a pretty valid descriptor. At the very least it draws attention to the fact that the new wave/goth crew were able to escape the decade of neon hued mullets and reinvent themselves. The band had always played with darker undercurrents, so it wasn’t entirely out of left field, but the fact that it crossed over to alternative radio was a surprise.

The dawn of the 1990s saw the carefree synthpop of the 80s discarded, and even though Nirvana were still about a year away from completely drowning modern rock in edgy darkness, the revolution was brewing. Alternative and industrial rock were starting to make waves and Depeche Mode took note, immersing their sound wholly into that aesthetic. In fact they were essentially borrowing bits of sound from bands that were influenced by their own hints of darkness! (See: Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy).

Violator became a bestseller, and the band earned the strange honour of being a new wave band that felt right at home among the grunge icons in the coming years. “Just Can’t Get Enough” would never fit alongside “Come As You Are” in a playlist, but “Personal Jesus” is a natural companion track.

What’s strange is that after this deft navigation, the band never boomeranged back. Even when the environment around them got more lighthearted, they stuck to their gloom and doom. In fact they just kept going darker and darker and darker, until we got the dirge-filled 2013 album Delta Machine. Will there ever be another upbeat Depeche Mode song?

3. Arctic Monkeys

Initial Success: 2006

Downtime: 2007-2012

Comeback: 2013

Comeback Album: AM

Sometimes game changers arise from the most unlikely places. A scrappy garage/mod band with one moderate radio hit that vanished for over half a decade before revolutionizing the sound of modern music? It happened!

Although they managed to retain some modicum of credibility with the elite crowd, and never “sold out” in a way that many of their peers did, Arctic Monkeys were sort of a one-hit wonder when that term was still relevant. “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” was their one big hit and other than that they had mostly a cult following. Now it’s hard to imagine them playing a venue other than a festival stage or arena.

After the initial success they found in 2006 they released a bunch of pleasant records that didn’t really go anywhere, and radio singles weren’t even considered to be on the table anymore. In 2012 however there came a one-off song called “R U Mine?”, and although it didn’t officially hit airwaves until a few years later, it was the herald of a great new era. The big, obvious riff was something previously unheard in the band’s work, and then suddenly in 2013 AM was released and there were a lot of big obvious riffs and they were really great.

The smoky, neo-noir soul aesthetic had blipped onto the mainstream a few times in the previous few years but it was Arctic Monkeys that really popularized it. The menacing minimalist strut and brash hooks came out of the blue (blues?) and turned the one time indie ragamuffins into sleek, distinguished superstars.

2. Green Day

Initial Success: 1994-2000

Downtime: 2001-2003

Comeback: 2004

Comeback Album: American Idiot

As of the time of this blog post, Green Day are on their third attempt at yet another comeback, and it’s not going very well. A few moderate radio hits (“Bang Bang” and “Still Breathing”) are charting much better than anything from their triple album bomb of 2012, but nothing’s bringing them back to the levels of their incredible 2004 comeback American Idiot.

It’s still somewhat surprising that a bunch of goofball punks from the 90s would end up creating a wildly successful Broadway show, but that’s exactly how it went down. As the decade wound down and the nonstop hit parade ended in 2000, the band got pretty quiet. The material for their follow-up got stolen. They made a fake band called Network. But it seemed like the Green Day of the past were a done deal.

In a way it was true. They rebranded themselves entirely and instead of another disc of slacker anthems we got a genuine punk rock opera. American Idiot introduced to the world the “super serious” iteration of Green Day, but it sold excellently and commoditized political punk. Five hit singles! “Important” album status! The band now had two very distinct but equally successful acts of their career.

The success caused Billie Joe Armstrong to fancy himself as some sort of revolutionary, and so five years later 21^st Century Breakdown tried to repeat that formula. Unfortunately without a villain like the Bush Administration to fire vitriol at, the sentiment rang hollow. There’s plenty of material now with Trump in power, but the songwriting spark’s gone and it doesn’t seem like Revolution Radio, even with the Very Activist Title, will come anywhere close to the impact American Idiot had.

1. U2

Initial Success: 1980s / early 1990s

Downtime: Late 80s / Late 90s

Comeback: 1991 / 2000

Comeback Albums: Achtung Baby / All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Bono and company get the top spot not because they’re basically the biggest band ever, but because they pulled this stunt off TWICE (which in turn made them the biggest band ever). They had three distinct eras of ubiquity and indelibly influenced modern music for better and for worse.

Phase 1 was a pretty standard run of new wave hits- too many to name. There were a lot of them though, and they all had jangly guitar and reverb and were very influential. But that era wound down by the end of the 80s, and in 1991 when grunge was taking over the world it didn’t seem like there was any more space for U2. 1988’s Rattle and Hum had done well enough commercially, but it was critically panned and definitely seemed to indicate a natural decline.

Phase 2 turned that right around with the band going full alternative in 1991. Achtung Baby broke down the door with a whole bunch more massive hits and essentially allowed U2 to rule the music world for a good half decade more. That is until the late 90s when they got a little too “artsy” and it finally seemed like they’d run their course.

Then there was a jaw-dropping Phase 3 right at the turn of the millennium. Whatever your thoughts might be on the quality of this phase, the fact that they were able to turn their “easy listening” era into a boon for them rather than a resignation to soft-rock radio is incredible. Two decades under their belts and they were still able to create an album (All That You Can’t Leave Behind) that essentially influenced every adult contemporary-friendly band to this day. “Soaring melodrama” exists because of the success of this revival.

Is there a Phase 4 in the works? It’ll be tough, especially now. But if anyone can pull it off it’s U2.

It was Summer 2016’s last hurrah; the final music festival in Toronto before the seasons change and the shorts get put away. It was TURF (Toronto Urban Roots Festival) at Toronto’s Historic Fort York, and it did not disappoint. With a roster of acts from all over the spectrum of alternative music, the weekend was one the historians can add to the vast number of significant events that have happened at Fort York.

Friday started off intensely sunny, but local act Modern Space were prepared with the whole band wearing cool shades. The act has had a pretty busy year, gaining buzz and being introduced to rock radio. They’ve still got a fairly slim catalogue, so they supplemented their set with a series of covers. In the mix were Beck‘s “Loser”, Lana Del Rey‘s “High By The Beach”, and Arctic Monkey‘s “Fake Tales of San Francisco”. They also threw a snippet of Arcade Fire‘s “Wake Up” into their own hit single, “Pen to Paper”.

It took about half a song before The Hives‘ frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist ran off the stage and into the crowd, where he would visit many times throughout the band’s intensely energetic set. The Swedish crew were an unstoppable force on the East Stage, blazing through a decade-and-a-half’s worth of explosive garage rock bangers. The biggest hits were all played, from “Hate to Say I Told You So” to “Tick Tick Boom”. All the while Almqvist commanded the crowd’s attention with his playful bravado, peppering the set with declarations of dominance.

“The boys are back”, the Dropkick Murphys sang on the West Stage, and they came back with a roar. The hooligans kicked off their set with a triumphant curtain drop, and launched into a scathing set of their unique blend of hardcore punk, traditional Celtic music, and drunken bar sing-a-longs. Complete with a bagpiper, the crew played a very appropriate collection of songs for a Friday night; high octane chants like “Rose Tattoo” and “Shipping Back to Boston” had everyone swaying imaginary beer mugs in their hands.

Sometime in the past year and a half, folksy troubadour James Bay became an internationally renowned heartthrob, as the crowd of swooning ladies at TURF can attest. With his all-black outfit (and iconic hat), the lanky 26-year old belted out a series of heart wrenching ballads that delighted every admirer of his. Songs like “If You Ever Want to Be in Love” and “Let it Go” benefited greatly from a twinkling starry backdrop and had the audience taking their lighters out again and again. It wasn’t all saccharine love songs though; Bay is also proficient in bluesy licks and extended guitar solos. The British songwriter teased the audience clamouring for his massive hit “Hold Back The River”. Instead of going straight into the song, he played Creedence Clearwater Revivial‘s “Proud Mary” (featuring the lyrics “rollin’ on the river”) before playing the hit single.

Saskatoon’s Sheepdogs are five years into their career in the spotlight but are basically rock heroes at this point. Although the second day of TURF started out with intense rain, the power of rock n roll brought the sun out in the middle of the boys’ set. With a stable of hits under their belts now, the band kept the crowd excited as they dropped singles like “I Don’t Know”, “Feeling Good” and “Bad Lieutenant”. One fun moment was when frontman Ewan Currie took to the keyboard for a track and allowed his brother Seamus to play trombone on the lead mic, with the audience chanting his name like a champion.

Married duo Whitehorse commanded their small stage with their modern twist on folk roots music. The Hamilton couple occupy a very cool niche in indie music, and brought that unique sound to the crowd on Saturday evening. Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland kicked things off with “Devil’s Got a Gun”, a melodic tune that combined twangy guitar with looping effects. Hit single “Downtown” made for an energetic dance party at the Battle of York stage that night!

Barenaked Ladies are a veritable institution of Canadian alternative rock, and with over two decades of experience they know exactly how to put on an entertaining show. The first half of their set was largely newer material, with the odd impromptu rap performance thrown in. The hits came next, with “Pinch Me” and “One Week” overjoying the audience. The band’s hilarious rapport eventually crossed into the music itself, when the band played their theme song for The Big Bang Theory and followed it with a medley of various hits such as Drake‘s “Hotline Bling”, Celine Dion‘s “My Heart Will Go On” and the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Day 2 finished off with a performance from eclectic jam-rockers Ween. Backed with the ever-present image of their mascot Boognish, the band played a set filled with the sort of left turns expected of them. Incorporating elements from nearly every genre known to humanity (that’s only a slight exaggeration), it wasn’t uncommon to hear a pounding post-rocker followed by a Randy Newman-esque cut of ragtime blues. Gene and Dean Ween look and sound reinvigorated after their brief hiatus, and the energy transferred out into the crowd.

Day 3 kicked off with brawny indie crew The New Pornographers. Although frontman A.C. Newman wasn’t a fan of the intense sun, the group powered through their collection of indie pop with aplomb. With their very distinct, muscled-up take on sweetly melodic songs, the west coast band heated up an already sweaty crowd. A lot of material was from the group’s most recent album Brill Bruisers, but the older hits were there too, from “Mass Romantic” to “Use It”.

Fellow countryman Matthew Good didn’t like the sun too much either, and unfortunately had his sunglasses broken just that day. But after a few songs of enduring the intense glare the sun set and the alternative rock icon could play on. There wasn’t any messing around- Good got right to the hits right away. A double shot of “Load Me Up” and “Carmelina” was followed by “Hello Time Bomb”, and a bit later with the sweeping “Apparitions”, which featured an extended outro due to the crowd’s enthusiasm for it. The stark, haunting “Weapon” also made an appearance.

Emo legends Jimmy Eat World closed out the West stage with a blistering set filled with fan favourites. The hits were all there, yes, but the band knows their devoted listeners well, and included plenty of unexpected surprises. The majestic 7-minute “23” was one of these, as was the furious 2007 cut “Let it Happen”. A handful of newer songs from the upcoming Integrity Blues made their way into the set as well- opener “Get Right” with its grungy undertones and the latest single “Sure and Certain”. The band finished off their performance with a double-dose of 2001 hits: “Sweetness” and “The Middle”.

Death Cab for Cutie brought the festival to an end on an appropriately bittersweet note, with songs like “Black Sun” and “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” matching the vibes of the warm summer evening perfectly. The pensive melancholy was balanced with more upbeat offerings like “Crooked Teeth” and “The Ghosts of Beverly Drive”, but the band’s at their best when they’re plaintive. “Soul Meets Body” and “You Are a Tourist”, both played, are great examples of their prime cuts, blending that yearning spirit with buoyant melodies. And so under a clear sky and full moon, TURF 2016 ended with Ben Gibbard‘s wistful voice heralding the start of autumn.

Let’s pour out a cold tall glass of maple syrup for all the Canadian bands that at one point were poised to be superstars, but have since faded from our collective skies. Here’s a pretty thorough list of one-time hitmakers from this great country.

Continue reading “The Definitive Guide to Forgotten Canadian Alternative”

I’ve made no secret of my distaste for most current music; in fact I’ve frequently opined about the end of music itself.

It’s come to a point however, where nearly every single piece of new music that is released is incredibly awful. Because every artist (particularly more visible artists) wants to stay relevant, they continue to ape trends that have run amok through the scene, in turn influencing more artists to follow these trends. The problem is that these trends are kind of terrible and detrimental to music and ruin songs. It’s almost a deliberate self-sabotage. These trends are the following:

– “lo-fi/analog” recording

– unconventional song structure

– late 1980’s influence

– anti-climactic choruses

– folk-pop

You’ll find at least one of these present in most singles in 2015, and it pretty much explains why there are barely any hit songs any more (as of this writing, the only huge hit of the year has been Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk”.)

Let’s go through these trends and see why exactly they’re wrecking music.

Lo-fi/Analog Recording:

Who started it: Daft Punk, 2013, “Get Lucky”

It was supposed to be a revolutionary statement. EDM godfathers Daft Punk rebelling against mainstream and going all-natural for their long-awaited new album. Instead of crisp, clean modern production, sparkling synths and cutting edge beats, the world got…reductive disco-funk. Later that year Arcade Fire pulled the same trick, no thanks to studio help from lackluster producer James Murphy. The towering Springsteen melodrama and massive statements from 2010’s The Suburbs were gone, replaced by lithe funk and earthy rhythms. The idea of “going back to basics” spread and more bands decided to purposely make their recordings sound worse. Muffled guitars, tinny drums, and record hiss popped up all over the place. Mumford & Son’s latest record Wilder Mind employs some of these tricks, most noticeable on the title track. Right from the start the drums sound weak and amateur, making listening in headphones uncomfortable. Nate Ruess of fun.  went old school for his first solo record as well, and one can immediately hear little raw bits come up throughout the album.

The Last Straw:

Diamond Youth are a band that’s party of the much-lauded “emo revival”, which would be a legitimate revival were it not for the insistence of most of these bands to muck up their guitar tone for some misguided aesthetic reason. Most of these bands come from a label called Topshelf, and not one has broken through to the mainstream because of their obsession with garage-style recording. The reason Diamond Youth stick out is because they LITERALLY REGRESSED their sound. Here’s an example of their 2012 material, with polished production:

Pretty good production! But here’s their LATEST single, from 2015.

Why?? Why go backwards? “No Control” isn’t even the worst offender, as some songs on the new record are even muddier.

Unconventional Song Structure:

Hey new bands, let’s not try to re-invent the wheel. Verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus works PRETTY FINE and has for years. Even classical music had defined recurring motifs- you’re telling me you’re going to mess with the formula used by “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”?? Sure, sometimes you get a “Bohemian Rhapsody” that works as an exception, but let’s not kid ourselves, there aren’t any Freddie Mercurys or Brian Mays in today’s crop of artists.

Who started it: This one’s tough. There have been plenty of weirdos writing unstructured messes throughout the ages, but pinpointing the one that started the influx of current disasters is difficult. What I can tell you though, is how you can spot it without even listening to the song.

The waveform of a track is very telling about what’s happening in there. As you can see above, this is an example of the experimental wankery that I’m talking about. Where’s the structure? Why are there two long parts, and then three separate parts at the end? There’s no cohesion at all. You can tell there is no chorus in this song.

This song just went up today, and is another example of obvious indulgence. This one comes from self-proclaimed “pop expert” Owen Pallett, who literally doesn’t know how to write a regular song, let alone a catchy one. Seen above is his contribution to Adult Swim’s annual summer singles collection, which sadly used to be really good. As you can see, there’s about a minute of one section, then suddenly a switch to two minutes of another, and finally another third section at the end. Listening to it you find that only the middle section has lyrics, and the whole thing is just a vague, shapeless electronic fart. These kinds of songs can also be found on the latest albums by Active Child (“Stranger”) and How To Dress Well (“A Power”).

It’s not just one-man electronic projects that follow this trend though- many bands from the aforementioned Topshelf label have bizarrely structured songs as well. Other more known acts to use this are:

– Mumford & Sons, in “Snake Eyes”

– Brandon Flowers, in “Lonely Town”

– Nate Ruess, in “What This World Is Coming To” (indeed!)

– Everything JJ (or are they jj now?) has ever done

The Last Straw:

But the worst perpetrator of this trend is a Montreal native who goes by the name Mas Ysa. This guy, along with having a grating bleat of a voice, simple can’t write ONE normal song. All his songs are giant messes, filled with barely connected parts and long stretches between singing. Just look at this waveform:

Is that even a song?? How does this engage listeners in the least bit? Waste of internet space.

Late 1980’s influence:

We’ve been stuck in an 80’s revival for what seems like forever; in fact we’ve been reliving the 80’s for longer than the 80’s were around.

Who started it: Again, hard to track down the original sinner because the 80’s have been around for so long. Bear in Heaven seem like a good person to blame, as all their work has that rubbery-bass, staccato single-guitar-string-noodling, major key synth stab sound to it.

The sad part of this is that there are so many parts of the 80’s that are better suited for mining. New wave and post-punk ran their course twice, but nobody’s touching epic reverb guitar or colossal drums. The only time I’ve heard that combination used was by The Panic Division. Bands, try this sound on! It’s cool and interesting! No, instead everybody just wants to sound like Mariah Carey’s “Emotions”. (Which is from ’91, I know).

And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. Indie bands like Bear Hands, Delorean, The Wombats, CYMBALS, Painted Palms and Blood Orange are all fans of the sound, but so are mainstream acts like Carly Rae Jepsen, Walk the Moon, Charli XCX and Sky Ferreira.

It’s nauseating. Did anyone want to hear bands like Nickelback or Death Cab for Cutie make “funky” music?? NOPE. But they made the songs “She Keeps Me Up” and “Good Help Is Hard To Find”, respectively. And yeah they are just as embarrassing as you might think.

The Last Straw:

Kate Boy have been releasing dark, mysterious electro for about three years and today announced their debut album, preceded by a single. So far their record has been spotless; every track they’ve released has been nothing short of great. Except this one, which sounds like a Paula Abdul B-side. It throws away their whole brand for the sake of fitting in. RIP in peace, Kate Boy.

Anti-climactic choruses

You’re listening to a song, it’s inching up towards the chorus, ok here it comes, here we go…..nothing. There’s no payoff, no reward for the listener. It’s a complete betrayal by the artist.

Who Started It: As far as I can tell, this trend originated in the bowels of frat-EDM. Some DJ bro decided that a snare build-up shouldn’t end with a release, and instead some disparate bass synth riff. You can hear it most noticeably in Baauer’s “Harlem Shake“. The problem is that most other EDM performers usually hide the monotonous chorus by creating a melodic verse to get your hopes up before the stupid breakdown.

Countless indie bands started using the anti-climactic chorus trick, but some of the more obvious examples are Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor”, Other Lives’ “Reconfiguration”, and AWOLNATION’s “Windows”. It didn’t help that minimalist artists like James Blake and the xx popularized the lack of dynamics and using silence in songs as well. Nobody wants to write BIG choruses anymore.

The Last Straw:

It’s coming from inside!  That’s right, this insidious practice has entered mainstream. This year both Taylor Swift and The Weeknd have resorted to it, which means that now more artists are going to see this as something “to do” in songs and it’ll just keep on happening in a sick cycle.

Taylor Swift uses it in “Bad Blood”. (1:10)

The Weeknd uses it in “Can’t Feel My Face” (0:38), not only killing the dark futuristic vibe he builds up in the first verse but also starting on the wrong chord, destroying all momentum.

Folk-pop

Who Started It: Mumford and Sons. Duh.

At first glance this trend doesn’t seem to be harmful at all. For every Lumineers or Vance Joy that slithers out into the spotlight, there’s a dozen upbeat folksters that are forever relegated to the iTunes up-and-coming section (Hi, Great Lake Swimmers and Lord Huron!)

But there’s a deeper problem with this trend, and that’s because when folk entered the fold, it opened the door for every other genre to come in and be mashed-up with every other genre. It created a monogenre, a melting pot of sound perfectly exemplified by…

The Last Straw:

X Ambassadors. Their latest single “Renegades” has everything off the modern rock checklist: folksy strumming, shuffling hip-hop beat, positive yet rebellious lyrics, and of course, whoa-ohs. It’s not particularly offensive, because it sounds like everything else. Everyone’s using all of the ingredients now, resulting in a soundscape where nobody stands out, and nobody will be remembered for a specific sound in a generation.

So that’s why I don’t listen to music anymore; it just doesn’t matter.

After a 4-year wait electro-indie pioneers AWOLNATION have returned with the new album Run, and familiarized the city of Toronto with it at Sound Academy on June 22nd. Supporting them were Parade of Lights and Family of the Year.

Parade of Lights kicked off the night with their brand of energetic electro-pop, pumping up the crowd with hits like “Golden”, which you’ve probably heard in one commercial or another.

Following them were Family of the Year, which seemed like a strange choice for a supporting act considering their biggest hit to date was the wistful, yearning alternative country hit “Hero”. Used extensively as promotion for last year’s award-winning film “Boyhood”, it’s not exactly the sort of song you’d put on a playlist with AWOLNATION. However the band’s newer material proved to be much more beefed up, bringing to mind a synth-tinged version of Tom Petty. They were still an unconventional choice of opening act, but unconventional is AWOLNATION‘s game.

It’s not at all hyperbolic to say that AWOLNATION are one of the most influential bands of the 2010’s. If you recall the halcyon days of 2010 you’ll realize that modern rock was caught in a loose, directionless void that wouldn’t gel until the spring of 2011 when “Sail” came onto the scene. It wasn’t so much of a direct influence sonically as it was behaviourally. “Sail” redefined what “rock” meant in the new millennium and broke down borders between nearly every genre imaginable. Prior to the song’s release, acts that were primarily synthesizer-based were relegated to the fringe; now they’re the norm. Bands are experimenting with every style of music imaginable, and scoring huge radio hits with these styles.

AWOLNATION‘s latest record switches things up again. Frontman Aaron Bruno showed a penchant for raucous, frenetic arrangements on the first record but things have gotten wild on Run, as seen and heard at the show. For every moment of danceable indie-pop at the concert there were two metal breakdowns, replete with hardcore-style screams and muscular guitar riffs. Adding to the dissonance was the fact that despite all the flashing lights, the band remained cloaked in shadows for the whole set. Aaron Bruno threw in some more genre mash-ups; songs like “Windows” merged prog-rock with nu-metal, while “Dreamers” sounded like a punked-up version of Mindless Self Indulgence. “I Am” was another confidence anthem sure to be a single down the line.

Of course the hits were present. “Not Your Fault”, “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)”, “Kill Your Heroes”, and “Sail” all made an appearance, albeit in much louder forms. “Sail” was the obvious closer, topping off a night that left the crowd sweaty and satisfied. Looks like AWOLNATION‘s bold experimentation paid off yet again.