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Rock/blues music leads

EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
edited March 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Hey guys, I've been slowly accepting some more rock music into my life lately, but due to essentially pursuing nothing that was 3-4 guys and a guitar + drums for years has left my knowledge of the area pretty lacking. More importantly, the only friends I have who give a shit about music are into this indie/folk twee crap.

So, here's what I'm looking for. The short of it is that it's essentially stripped down, blues-oriented, "rocking out" rock music. I was clued in via my wife listening to some White Stripes, and discovering that a lot of their older stuff hit this note exactly -- notably about a third of the De Stijl album ("Little Bird," "A Boy's Best Friend"). Furthermore, a large chunk of Tom Wait's output from Real Gone fits it as well ("Baby Gonna Leave Me"). I know there's more of this kind of music out there, but exploring similar artists is futile -- White Stripesian bands are just vanilla rock bands to my ears thanks to the hard rock/metal rock/butt rock aspects, and the only bands compared to Waits are plain weird.

I'm not looking for epic prog noodling, nor metal, nor ballads. The lyrics don't have to be amazing (but hopefully it's not just singing with a backing band, a la poorly compressed music). I appreciate the looseness and energy in the above mentioned tracks/albums more than any music theory elements. It can be tracks under 3:30 but can't be punk. And it can't be something that people outgrow once they get to college :D

Any leads? Am I hopelessly stuck with 12-18 tracks?

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    Ninja BotNinja Bot Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    AC/DC is all you need.

    Ninja Bot on
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    Spoom182Spoom182 Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I was kinda in that situation for a while, I'd been listening to The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and that kind of classic rock for years. Eventually I just started to get bored with it, not because it isn't great music but I'd just heard each song like 60 times. Anyway, I see that you wrote that you didn't really want "epic prog noodling" or something, and while I'm not really sure what that means, I do think that The Mars Volta is a pretty sweet progressive rock band, and its pretty interesting stuff most of the time, but yeah, some of it just gets downright wierd.

    Spoom182 on
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    Ninja BotNinja Bot Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Spoom182 wrote: »
    I was kinda in that situation for a while, I'd been listening to The Who, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and that kind of classic rock for years. Eventually I just started to get bored with it, not because it isn't great music but I'd just heard each song like 60 times. Anyway, I see that you wrote that you didn't really want "epic prog noodling" or something, and while I'm not really sure what that means, I do think that The Mars Volta is a pretty sweet progressive rock band, and its pretty interesting stuff most of the time, but yeah, some of it just gets downright wierd.

    The Mars Volta is definitely not what he needs seeing as how he wants to keep it simple. Anyway, also check out the Strokes since you mentioned the White Stripes. Also a lot of "classic rock" (although I hate that generic label) will suit you well, and it'll all be fresh. Early Zeppelin and Who (before either got too experimental and progressive), Cream, The Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Guns N' Roses and like I said before AC/DC will all be right up your ally.

    Ninja Bot on
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    MephistophelesMephistopheles Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Check out William Elliott Whitmore (clip of my favorite song). A lot of southern rock and classic rock has heavy influences from blues. I'd say check out Wilco if you're looking for more current stuff.

    Mephistopheles on
    "Friends are just enemies in reverse."
    - Gary Busey
    A Glass, Darkly
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    EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    AC/DC is too "butt rock" and college radio for me. My dad grew me up on a lot of the classic hard rock stuff, namely Led Zeppelin I and II. The "epic prog noodling" means no 3 minute synth solos and no Rush or Yes or King Crimson.

    I've heard lots of Cream, Rolling Stones, Guns & Roses, etc. I grew up in the 80s and my dad was into early 70s rock, and I generally have heard "everything" that's been around up to around 2000. I lived through grunge and 90's alternative. Led Zeppelin is indeed classic, and I and II has a lot of the elements I mention, but I've heard it all and it just makes me think I'm listening to my dad's music.

    I also can't really get into a lot of the 80s harder rock because it's a dude screaming. I couldn't listen to Axl Rose without thinking I was trying to be ironic, and I feel the same about AC/DC. It's one of the reasons I can't get into metal or anything that's too hard -- guys growling and screaming just sounds fake.

    William Elliott Whitmore sounds like good stuff, but is a little mellow/folky. I've got Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and it's similarly mellowish. My wife owns a The Killers album, which is modern & close in sound (although obviously still a "rock band"). I guess the catch is that the stripped down element means it's usually just a guy, his guitar, & drums -- hence the appreciation of The White Stripes (but even then, a lot of the fuzzy stuff on the later albums just doesn't interest me).

    Keep 'em coming, though; I'm checking the stuff I haven't heard before out on the iTunes store :D

    EggyToast on
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    mastmanmastman Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Walter Trout Band is one of my favorites. It is more blues than rock, but they still rock the fuck out

    mastman on
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    MephistophelesMephistopheles Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Well, if you like the Killers, it really depends on the album. Hot Fuss is pretty 80s, lots of synth, etc, and their most recent is heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen. If it's the second one, and I'm guessing it is as the other completely lacks anything remotely close to blues, I'd recommend Lucero. Their most recent, Rebels, Rogues and something or other is really great. It's a bit more upbeat, which you might be interested in. Highly recommend "I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight".

    Also, although it's kind of hard to tell from what you're saying, but although it might be more mellow, you might like Beck - Mutations. It's got a lot of influences from tropicalia to country, but also lots of blues.

    Doug Martsch, the lead singer of Built To Spill, has some good stuff too. Lots of slide guitar. Check out "Heart (Things Never Shared)".

    Mephistopheles on
    "Friends are just enemies in reverse."
    - Gary Busey
    A Glass, Darkly
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    RocketScienceRocketScience Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Check out The Drones. Their first album Here Come The Lies is a mix of originals and covers of old blues songs, with a very distinctive garage rock sound. Their two more recent albums are a bit more ambitious.

    Also have a look at the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album. It's a fair bit rockier than their earlier stuff, similar to his side project Grinderman, which is also very good.

    One more to mention are The Dirtbombs, who I'm seeing tonight. Start with Ultraglide in Black.

    RocketScience on
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    TavTav Irish Minister for DefenceRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I think the Foo Fighter's album There is Nothing Left to Lose could suit what you're looking for.

    Also, pushing the genres you specified quite a lot, Say Anything's ...Is a Real Boy is a great album.

    Tav on
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    amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Rolling Stones man, for the love of God Rolling Stones. Their music is a blend of blues and rock, and to me they're twenty times better than anything the Beatles ever put out.

    I recommend starting with Sticky Fingers, then Love you Live, then Tattoo You, or just go with Forty Licks to jump right in.

    amateurhour on
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    EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I can't get no satisfaction from the stones. My dad's got Sticky Fingers on vinyl with a working zipper ;D

    EggyToast on
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    amateurhouramateurhour One day I'll be professionalhour The woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    EggyToast wrote: »
    I can't get no satisfaction from the stones. My dad's got Sticky Fingers on vinyl with a working zipper ;D

    I've got Tattoo you and love you live double press on vinyl, still waiting to find a working sticky fingers for a reasonable price. I also found some good japanese prints (the german and japanese prints had better sound quality and were more sturdy) but I'm thinking of flipping them for profit.

    amateurhour on
    are YOU on the beer list?
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    EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    See that's the problem, there's a lot of older stuff that's similar (after all, a lot of 70s hard rock is stripped down out of necessity or simply lack of fancypants effects), but I've heard all that, and it "sounds old" to me. And stuff like The White Stripes is only what I'm looking for a fraction of the time. I've gone through all their albums thanks to an eMusic subscription and only have 10 songs. Finding more that isn't just "another rock band" isn't as easy as it looks. I mean, take any rock band and they're going to eventually throw in some damn harmonies in a chorus.

    This does extend into the other music I like. The "classical" stuff is minimalistic, usually a quartet at most and not just all strings. The jazz I like is usually a trio and the idea of a solo is usually restricted to a minute, and isn't a trumpet ;D I'm just surprised there isn't more rock music that's essentially 2-3 people and isn't dominated by a fuzzbox and screaming. And that didn't come out in the 70s or 80s.

    EggyToast on
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    matisyahumatisyahu Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    the stooges - looking back, doesn't really fit any of your requirements. they still rule :)

    the black keys - drums, guitar, simple rock http://youtube.com/watch?v=dKXlgISd3iA, also http://youtube.com/watch?v=y-CukK3eYt0 is my favorite by them even though i heard it a bit too much on commercials

    do make say think - http://youtube.com/watch?v=EYRwE9HPgpM does this appeal to you? this is one of my favorite bands, no blues here but you seem to be interested in some good rockish instrumentation without a fuzzbox, so this sort of thing might be up your alley. they have some less mellow songs. not really

    for some more rockish stuff in that vein, try broken social scene. you said you don't like indie, bss is indie but that means a lot of things, it's not twee or anything, it doesn't sound like sufjan. feist was in bss but bss doesn't sound like feist (not all the time at least)

    you have yankee hotel foxtrot, but wilco has a few more rocking songs. see: i got you ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=LuSf2c8fN_g ) and some pop rock as well, see: i'm always in love ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z3tWXQbTpbM )

    matisyahu on
    i dont even like matisyahu and i dont know why i picked this username
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    VathrisVathris Baconist @EndofTimeRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I see some great suggestions here, I don't have an artist for you but I do have a tool for you that I use to find new artists.

    Pandora.com - Just type in an artist or song you know you like and it does all the work for you.

    Vathris on
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