State of the state of music (MOG repost)

I just got word that the old MOG.com site is being mothballed. I have some music posts there that I’d like to save, so, lucky reader – here’s new old content for you! This was originally posted 12/23/06.

Okay, so I’m probably in the minority, but I couldn’t stand the Testosterone Rock of the mid-late 90’s-early 00’s – your Limp Bizkits (sans Wes Borland – he’s a pretty good player), your Creeds, Nickelbacks, Stainds – that growly vocal thing. 3 Doors Down, Fuel, that sort of thing. I couldn’t listen to rock radio for years. Not even Live 105 in the Bay Area, which went from “alternative” to all testosterone rock, all the time.

So, now we’re in punky emo land, which, you know, is more my speed. The screamo stuff is a little (okay, a LOT) over the top for me, but hey, I’m almost an old man. I’m allowed to have my “kids these days” moments. There’s a lot of the emo-y, punky bands around, plenty of them on the radio, too. In fact, there’s enough of them to make Daughtry sound sorta novel (you know, that band featuring the guy from AmIdol last year?).

So, there’s one thing in particular that I’ve especially never loved about Cock Rock, and that’s the “hoodley”. The “hoodley” is what the singer for a band I was in called the solos that you find from, say, Steve Vai, Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen. They’re okay. I don’t mind a little tappy guitar solo now and again. I like my share of metal, really. I do. I tend more toward Industrial, though. Skinny Puppy, Ministry, that sort of stuff. The grindy, not the flashy. Or the indie. Futureheads, Bloc Party. Or to reference some good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, Superdrag, Dillon Fence, Replacements. Bendy, not flashy.

So…imagine my surprise, I’m watching Taking Back Sunday on the David Letterman show: the singer’s prancing around, doing his yelling vocals thing, they’re rockin’ allright, and about 2:40 in, the guitar player busts out a hoodley:

Ok. Someone got their chocolate in my peanut butter and we are NOT amused.