Top 10 Bands of the New Century

The passing into the new century was a landmark event for the popular arts. Critical reviews of their past forms became common place in their information mediums. Pop music specifically saw itself in need of a transformation into minimalized modes of execution. This insistence combined with the diminution of the major label as that which defined quality, led to more open ideas of what quality was. The two-edged sword of this phenomena created some great bands in the new century, along with bands who equated this new found freedom for an “anything-goes” attitude. This lack for a formal understanding of quality could lead bands into new sonic frontiers while at the same time leading these bands into below-average songwriting. As expression for the sake of itself became the only grounds for quality, anything and everything was fair game in being recognized as good. There were bands though who superseded this flexibility of quality by recognizing the power of songwriting, purely in itself. These bands who were able to combine the sonic territories of the new century with the invariable aspects of good songwriting are given a rank in this list. These next bands have the signature of the new century written all over them, although still imbued with the sense of traditional songwriting that leads to memorable melodies. With these next bands in mind, we will see that the sonic flow of history need not forget it’s invariable characteristics from the past.

10. A Sunny Day in Glasgow

A Sunny Day in Glasgow formed in 2006 in Philadelphia. Their first album Scribal Mural Comic Journal was a wash of MBV guitar lines and an absolutely classic song called “Things Only I can See” which had a groove straight from Big Country, but sonically sounded like something from the Cocteau Twins. It’s with their 2009 album though they became one of the greatest bands in the world. Ashes Grammar was the most aesthetically pleasing album of the year with shiny guitars and angelic motifs enveloping the whole album. It just wasn’t about the sonics though. This band could create mad melodies, the kind of stuff you could not stop listening to. “Close Chorus” is the song of the album and probably the song of 2009. This song was just a torrent of hooks from start to finish riding a wave of a subtle house groove. A Sunny Day in Glasgow is the sound of the future.

9. Sam Roberts

The year 2000 saw rock’s first great single in Sam Roberts “Brother Down” that was a penetrating foray into the bohemian despair that only the musician knew. His debut album “We Were Born in a Flame” continued the deluge of heartfelt songwriting that only Sam Roberts could execute so perfectly. “Hard Road” was the type of song perfectly reserved for long road trips through the country. It was Chemical City though in 2006 which saw the power of Sam Roberts at his apex. The first song and single from the album “The Gate” is quite possibly the best rock song of the new century. The unabashed power in the delivery was something that was on the way towards being forgotten by bands who were more interested in wearing their self-modesty on their sleeve. “Bridge to Nowhere” exemplified the best of traditional songwriting cashing in a chorus as strong as any rock song before it. The handclap rhythm was smooth and solid creating an irresistible groove that took the listener out of his seat. Chemical City was not limited to these two songs though. The third track “Bullets” showed the passion of Sam Roberts’s delivery. “The Resistance” was yet another vigorous song that delivered on an enviable chorus. The energy and afflatus that went into this album was staggering. If there was ever a band would hadn’t forgotten what firstly makes a song great in the new century, it was The Sam Roberts Band. Beyond their records, their live show has been known for the type of intensity only reserved for the most loved of bands. Sam Roberts has shown that no matter where art and music may go in its perennially moving time, it will hold up first and foremost because of it’s passionate delivery.

8. Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura was first called an average version of Belle and Sebastian. Little did anyone know that this band would shake the chains of their Scottish counterparts and create some of the sweetest sounding psychedelic music of the new decade, specifically with their “Lets Get Out of This Country” album. The beauty of Tracyanne Campbell’s vocal delivery was unmatched by any other vocalist. “Lloyd I’m Ready to be Heartbroken” sounded like something from the past, but one was never exactly sure what. It had the classiness of a 50′s ballad but the mammoth sonic production of an Owen Morris produced record. “If Looks Could Kill” was The Beach Boys on overdrive epitomizing the best quality’s of summer sounding songs. One could mention every song off this record as the best. Their sense of what makes a great single was fully realized in this album. Their 2004 outing “Underachievers Please Try Harder” was more in the mode of early Belle and Sebastian which was never a bad thing. “Keep it Clean” was a fine example of where pop music had come since it’s antiquity. Camera Obscura is a perfect example of a band who had been influenced by the past, but never submissively guided by it. When one listens to Camera Obscura, one feels a sense of having heard these songs before, but no matter how hard they look back in their record collection, they can’t find what they think they were hearing. This quality that Camera Obscura embodies shows their love for song that they found from their 50′s and 60′s influences, but only unconsciously. Their ears guided the creation of their songs. What they loved is what they loved to make, but it was never a conscious process of mimicking the music they loved most.

7. Richard Hawley

Richard Hawley first found some success in the 3^rd rate Britpop band “The Longpigs” who were known for their modern rock staple “On and On”. After a stint with Pulp, Richard Hawley went on to create some of the most classic pop music of the new century. His major success came from his 2005 solo album “Coles Corner” which opened up with the palpable euphony of “Coles Corner”. One was reminded of Sinatra’s best days but beleaguered with the cleanest of modern production. “Born Under a Bad Sign” further showed the quality of Richard Hawley by highlighting the relaxed sit-by-the-fire feeling ones has in the snowiest of winters. Hawley embodied this feeling better than anyone in the 00′s. His 2007 album “Lady’s Bridge” was as good as Coles Corner taking the same type of themes of the later and making them larger. “Tonight The Streets Are Ours” reflected the best moments of Suede without the sometimes overwrought gloss of the later. “Roll Over River” was as comfy sounding as an isolated night by the ocean. Much like Coles Corner, Lady’s Bridge showed the classiness of 50′s music in a modern time where that value had been forgotten for unadulterated expression. Hawley’s deep bellow strikes at all listeners and reminds them of how fine music can sound when not focused on cacophonous execution. The clean shining production helped take these more older sounding songs into new realms of sophistication. The musicianship was tight and the lyrics were even tighter as Hawley reflected on the most honest of love affairs. Richard Hawley is one of the best examples of an artist who need not focus on pure “uniqueness” in order to sound bucolic.

6. The Caesars

The Caesars came out in the lat 90′s but there best work came in the 00′s with the magnificent pop album in the name of Paper Tigers. This album was one massive single. Every song swung, hit the choruses with impact and utilized the throwback 60′s Hammond organ with a new age sensibility. To put it simply, The Caesars are a perfect pop band. They not only have all the songwriting elements to make them one of the greatest bands of the new century, but they know exactly what they’re doing int he studio to supplement their songwriting into pop perfection. One can only hope that they will stick to the sleak production and classic songwriting.

5. Kasabian

Kasabian’s debut album released in 2001 was a firestorm with the most noticeable grooves of the new century on it. This self-titled debut album was inundated with hip hop gestures and club anthems only known to bands like The Happy Mondays before them. “Club Foot” was a rawkus thump on a good stereo system growling with the type of ambition only seen from British bands a decade ago. Ambition which had become unfashionable in it’s confidence saw it’s sun rise again with Kasabian’s debut album. Everywhere was their strong hooks combined with surreptitious backing music like the best James Bond soundtrack you had ever heard. Tom Meighan had a once-in-a-lifetime type of vocal delivery that embodied the best of Liam Gallagher and Shaun Ryder’s snarls. Sergio Pizzorno was writing classic songs with absolute ease that was never short on dance gestures such as beat-stops right before smashing into a chorus. One need only experience “LSF” in concert to understand the power of this band. One need only hear “Processed Beats” at a club to understand how focused of a groove Kasabian were creating. Their second album was almost as strong as their first album, employing more glam rock production techniques in songs like “Shoot the Runner” that obviously had no fear in their being politically incorrect. Undoubtedly their next work will be as highly anticipated as their second as the cult following that has surrounded Kasabian has grown vast. One can only hope that they continue to writing great songs in the new century that are appealing to listen in the most live of situations.

4. The New Pornographers

While Canadian bands in the 00′s had a tendency to sound tacky with their overt clamor in quixotic sociality, The New Pornographers aimed for a much more transcendent sound. Their first album “Mass Romantica” released in 2000 was a pop album imbued with nuance that didn’t take away from the songwriting. “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism” popped like the best of Blur’s discography while achieving an ineluctable chorus often not won by bands this side of the Atlantic. It was their 2005 album “Twin Cinema” which sent the band into legacy status with some of the most inspiring pop music of the decade. It’s hard to think of a more definitive rock song in the 00′s than “Jackie Dressed in Cobras”. This song dominated in it’s restless sound and the euphony of A.C. Newman and Neko Case’s vocal delivery. Elsewhere on this album, one could gain a glimpse into the power of A.C. Newman’s prose on “Use It” which saw some of his best lines, such as “Two sips from the cup of human kindness and I’m shit faced”. “The Bones of an Idol” was surreptitious in it’s semantics hinting at the most well crafted of Nietzschian themes. In 2007, The New Pornographers released “Challengers” which continued their streak of consistent songwriting combined with their autochthonous vocal delivery of their many members. While not as strong as “Twin Cinema”, there were more than enough strong songs on the record to make it one of the albums of the year. At the heart of the new Pornographers is the main songwriter A.C. Newman who embodies the best qualities of the Kinks, Blur, and even The Guess Who. Always influenced by great bands, but never obsequious to them, A.C. Newman proved that one could love bands while still maintaining ones own sound. It’s always a pleasing event when the New Pornographers release an album. There is no reason they can’t keep creating the quality of music they have created into the new decade.

3. The Strokes

The Strokes were one of the more memorable breaths of fresh air in rock music. While their fame seemed like it was gained by their underdeveloped retro sound, it was their sanguine songwriting which put them in their place as the powerhouse of modern rock. Add to this their consistency over their first three albums and you get a band that will last in the memory of the listener past the 00′s. The Strokes are enveloped with talent starting with the lead singer Julian Casablanca who took the classic vibrato of Sinatra and meshed it more push. Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. created some of the most inspired guitar interplay since the Richards/Wood symbiosis in the 70′s . The rhythm section which consisted of Fabrizio Moretii and Nikolai Fraiture was beyond solid locking in rhythms to the most hypnotic of grooves. When one first heard “The Modern Age”, one was overcome by how amazing primitive sounding music could sound. “Someday” was as classic a love song than any popular love song before it. “Last Night” secured fame for these New Yorkers with it’s Motown backbeat and it’s restive nightclub attitude. “Room on Fire” would continue the quality that “Is this It” procured with the same laconic vocal phrasing and locked down rhythms. “Under Control” was another unabashedly suave foray into the prospect of Sinatra becoming influenced by rock music. “12:51″ was as catchy as any song on the radio in the mid 00′s. The Strokes are fun to dance to, fun to listen to when under the influence, fun to listen to when your having the most commonplace of conversations, and basically enjoyable in all environments. This character in their songs gives them a timeless quality that will hold their name up against the best for times to come.

2. Beach House

We first learned of Beach House in 2006 when their self-titled album was released. The first song heard off this from this album immediately reminded the listener of the most wistful moments of Slowdive and Mazy Star, the entire dream pop genre of the 90′s for that matter. Beach House though delivered on melodies better than any of those bands from that genre with perfect subtlety. What they embodied in songs such as “Saltwater” were songs that you understood after five or six times listening to it, not eleven or twelve, nor one or two. Finding this perfect median in the listening experience created songs that were not annoyingly accessible, nor songs that took too much effort to understand. This inherent quality rarely accomplished by bands was consistent throughout their first album with other standouts like “Tokyo Witch” and “Master of None”. It was an exciting event when the listener realized they were able to translate this quality even more on their second album called “Devotion”. When one first heard the song “Wedding Bell”, one knew that after five times listening to it, they would be hooked forever. This gentle shuffle sounded like a mystical wedding in the forest with everyone draped in ghost like attire. “Gila” may have been the first time that Dream Pop had ever realized it’s possibility with a Hip Hop rhythm backing. This irresistible song was even stronger when heard live. The slow burning groove on record translated to a thicker larger rhythm live. “D.A.R.L.I.N.G” continued the excellence in pure melody taking a graceful start and turning it into an incessant chorus that would be in your head for months to come, and never without a hint of annoyingness like much of music that was able to be this contagious. Between their first two albums released to this date, Beach House proved their mastery in the art of the melody better than any band in this new century. Their swing is always so relaxed but so addicting to be a part of. Beach House in some sense is an answer to the British dominance of melodic modes over the prior decade.

1. The Thrills

The Thrills were first heard with their 2003 debut album “So Much for The City” which was arguably the most listenable album of the new century. At times it sounded like candy-coated folk, at other times like pop country not heard since the days of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. At the heart of this album though was undeniable hooks and sharp lyrics on par with the best of Morrissey. “Big Sur” may be the catchiest song in the turn of the century soaking in the deep sun with the most relaxed of ocean breeze melodies. “Don’t Steal Our Sun” continued this quality of sun soaked melodies backed by even more iridescent instrumentation. “Deckchairs and Cigarettes” floated above listeners’ heads reminding them of the most indolent of summer nights. With “So Much For the City”, The Thrills arguably created the best debut album of the new century. Their second album though would continue the pure quality of the first. “Let’s Bottle Bohemia” released a mere year later was as consistent as “So Much For the City”. First single “Whatever Happened to Corey Haim” was one of the most mellifluous sounding backup vocal performances in a chorus for some time. Immediately when one heard this song, they rolled down their window and enjoyed the breeze, physically, spiritually, and musically. “Saturday Night” perfectly exemplified Connor O’Deaseys gift for lyric with his subtle criticism towards weekend night culture that has become so unconsciously privileged in popular modernity. The last song on the album, “The Irish Keep Gate Crashing” proved the strong musicianship of a band clearly influenced by only the most rhythmic music of the early Motown era. Their third album “Teenager” saw The Thrills growing up into more sophisticated modes while still retaining their palpable knack for hooks and incandescent back up vocals. “The Midnight Choir” and “Nothing Changes Around Here” saw The Thrills reflecting in forlornness on their Teenage youth lost in thin air to time. The Thrills have made three albums in the new century each as consistent as the one before. It’s hard to think of a band more listenable than The Thrills in this new century. The voice and music of this band combine perfectly to create a sweet candy-coated feeling in the listener while ubiquitously creating a sense of sophistication with the lyrical output of Connor O’Deasey.