I wouldn’t even try to help this kid right now. All of the rules of his family are completely against everything that rock and roll stands for. Just let him be repressed by his lame parents, that way he’ll rebel even harder and that’s the true spirit of rock.
I think about 5 off of Vampire Weekend’s debut are unfit for radio due to inappropriate (fuck/shit) cursing. And I suppose Modest Mouse doesn’t curse too much, only about 4 or 5 out of 15 on Lonesome Crowded West, but I think this is offset by…
“Jesus Christ was an only child
He went down to the river
And he drank and smiled
And his dad was oh-so-mad
Should have killed that little fucker
Before he even had”
Husker Du’s a bit rough for the wee one. Zen Arcade has only one shit/fuck song IIRC, but I don’t remember being able to recognize it. And Television is completely clean, the Stooges (well, The Stooges [album]) is completely clean, and the Damned were the first punk band that tried to get radio play, so I’m fairly sure they are completely clean as well.
However, I just remembered: Cap’n Jazz. I think he needs to be older to really get into it, but man, that one is classic. Totally clean, too.
Canadian rap/hip hop artist k-os is pretty clean - I think it would meet the house criteria. His music is a blend of rap, hip hop and rock that is really, really fun.
Yeah, I am thinking content of Stooges and The Damned songs, not the language. But hey it ain’t my kid so…
I will grant you that the Modest Mouse might be a judgment call though. (I don’t want to give this one up without a fight) Lonesome Crowded West isn’t what I would start the kid on anyway.
I’d go with Anal Cunt or something of that order. The most vile shit imaginable. Put a Hustler in there too, with the cover of a car magazine or something else inoffensive glued over it.
[QUOTE=Krokodil]
I just saw Duffy on Conan O"Brien a few nights ago, and she’s awesome! British soul singer (QUOTE]
I know I’m a twat who is contributing nothing to this thread…
but Duffy is Welsh. I know that Welsh/Scottish/English/NIrish = british, but when KT Tunstall is always referred to as Scottish…and Kate Nash/Winehouse etc is ‘English’ it gets my goat.
So in an effort to contribute something - how about The Stereophonics? Performance and Cocktails is a belting album.
MiM
Just released this week: Mudcrutch
Along the same lines as Jimmy Eat World, there’s also The Anniversary . Clean, twee, nothing I could note in their albums that would be deemed unfit for young Christian ears.
Continuing down the indie pop path, you could also go with Death Cab for Cutie and/or Ben Gibbard’s side project The Postal Service (which includes some backing vocals by Jenny Lewis of** Rilo Kiley**, who also has some pretty good solo albums under her belt).
Lastly, this one’s a bit of a reach, but you could try introducing him to The Go! Team. The lyrics are safe as far as I can tell (though it’s often hard to figure out the lyrics in the first place, so I may have missed something), and I see a lot of younger kids at their shows. It’s wonderfully silly music, though, so I’m not sure how well that would appeal to a kid who’s more into Serious Rock Music. 
I also second the motion for K-OS . His style is a blend of hip hop, funk and pop. My suggestion would be Joyful Rebellion, which has several insanely catchy tracks including my personal fave, Crabbuckit.
Let me second (or, I think third by now) Muse, “Black Holes and Revelations.” Modern, clean and totally kicks… butt (I’m trying to stay clean here too).
Really just a fantastic album.
Anything ever made by Weird Al.
'Nuff said.
The new Coconut Records single was playing on the radio on my way into work today. And that made me think that, while Coconut Records, Jason Schwartzman’s band, might not be the taste of a 14 year old, his old band Phantom Planet has a new album out that might be appropriate. I think they are fairly clean and their new single is good stuff. They have been around forever, but have only recently started to become popular, so it still sort of cutting edge.
Raise the Dead is the new album. (Link to allmusic.com which I should have thought of earlier.)
Wow, that’s tough. I would almost suggest “The New Pornographers,” but I suspect their name may raise eyebrows. It’s upbeat, brilliant power pop, and something I wouldn’t be surprised if the parents liked themselves.
Don’t forget a pistol so he can shoot his parents. And a business card from Debra LeFave.
I would reccomend:
The Lumpen, Julie Andrews, Gravity Moose, Phillip Glass, Fist of Fur, In the Tyrol, Steve Reich, Little Mister, Armin Van Buren, Poonbeat.
My 17 year old is a big fan of Saving Litchfield. The link goes to a myspace page that gives you a chance to hear their songs. I’ve seen them classified as a sort of powerpop/punk pop/Christian band; having heard their CD, I don’t know what I’d call them but I do kinda like their music.
When rock has the approval of tight-assed parents, it’s no longer rock.
PUNK ROCK!
Don’t trust anyone over 30.
I actually second this. As a kid under the similar conditions back in the Day- Weird Al was a breath of Fresh air and totally cool.
Come on, who doesn’t love the bloodthirsty violence of “The Night Santa Went Crazy”.
Get him that, and the Ramones Debut CD and let him out into the world!
Why not pick up popular Rap CDs, but get the edited version? (As much as I would loath the idea of receiving something like that).
If he likes hip-hop, he might like trip-hop. Massive Attack’s great album Mezzanine would be a good start. I don’t believe there is any profanity on that album. (You might recognize “Teardrop” as the theme song to the show “House”.)
You could give him a cd and burn another copy that doesn’t have any of the songs with swearing for him to listen to when his parents aren’t around. That’ll open up a lot of options with albums that only have swearing in one or two songs.