Ah, there once was a time, back in the 40's, when uber cool black R N B guys with voices like liquid gravel, such as John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf, played the Blues. Chuck Berry followed and so did a few white kids, one Elvis Aaron Presley in particular. Rock and Roll was born. These guys influenced the Beatles and the Stones and the other very English bands of the 60s, mod bands The Who and The Small Faces and the most english of english bands, the Kinks.

"Heavy Blues" was mastered by four hell raisers (well three) who as Led Zeppelin created a new genre of heavy metal and rocked and created chaos in equal measure throughout the 70s. Whilst elsewhere, Marc Bolan and David Bowie added a touch of glam before a load of three chord wonders and a bit of attitude led to punk rock, the Pistols, the Clash and most notably, The Jam.

Post Punk, New Wave and New Romantic all followed but all with a splash of guitar before the Smiths shook the 80's back to indie jingly jangly delight, in turn influencing the Stone Roses and every Britpop band worth a mention. Mid noughties and Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and The Libertines kept guitar music in the charts but now...........nothing (well hardly)

The charts are full of dire R n B (not the proper R n B), rap or insipid Cowell inspired dross. Worst theyve been since Stock Aitken Waterman (the sh1t factory) of the late 80s. I blame the DJs. They've always played dross and continue to do so. Morrissey was right in Panic.

I'm not to say there shouldn't be variation and I like my splashes of motown, swing, soul, classical and even disco but there does seem to be a real dearth of guitar talent. Just look at the V festivals last year - Eminem, Plan B, Tinnie Tempah, Rihanna and Dizee Rascal

So, someone recommend me something to listen to, please

Ta

Radio 6 is a good place to start.

I think Liverpool and Scotland from the early 80's were worth a mention, in your post.

The Vaccines.

What people with rose tinted memories think The Ramones were.

They were good live, even in the mid-80's

I'd imagine he already listens to them if he's questioning the lack if guitar bands. That's like their motto at the moment!

The Vaccines, You Me At Six, Paramore, Feeder

They're out there but none approaching popular sadly.

Popularity that outweighs talent I would say.

An interesting comment in a Steve Lamacq interview that I thought was pertinent to this discussion:



It's an interesting interview, the bloke certainly knows the music business and indie scene inside and out, and while he doesn't have the breadth of musical taste, he's probably the closest thing we've got to John Peel right now.

He's certainly got an abundance of sensible things to say*. Interesting article.

(*although I'm always wary of being happy about not liking popular music as it's pretentious. I'm sure he liked, for example, Coldplay when he first heard of them but feels he can't like them now as he's got to stand out and move on)

It's not that they are not around, it's just that they are less popular than say Jessie J or Justin Beiber.
Biffy Clyro are an outstanding rock band, they were even better with Mike Vennart adding depth to the sound, they were recently supported by Twin Atlantic, another good band with a new album out.
Garbage will be back with a new album very soon.
If the vast majority of music consumers are not paying attention to groups like those three or Band of Skulls, Lostprophets, or The Subways, that is their problem.

I never thought I'd be typing this but the latest Coldplay album, Mylo Xyloto, isn't too bad. It's the best thing they've done since Parachutes, anyway.

I don't listen to guitar bands much because mostly they're not playing anything that I haven't heard before, a hundred times. But if you want a recommendation you should listen to Yuck's debut, released last year (and called Yuck). Also from last year, the Chilis' I'm with You and Radiohead's The King of Limbs are worth listening to.

Great guitar groups eh

or even



Not a group but hey

Or even



Foo fighters the greatest group ever!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... 0QL_zt5QGQ

i LIKE THIS NEW YOUNG GUITAR BAND. Oh sorry Caplock on!