Who in the hell is Hoobastank?
Robin
I’m 38 and I listen to mostly punk…old punk, new punk it’s all the same to me…just keep the mallpunk and the alt/metal away from me and I’m happy.
Most of the 20 something punkers I know feel pretty much the same way as me because the music we listen to has stayed pretty much the same for the past three decades. And most of them still buy vinyl (yes, they still make records).
I don’t think the younger generation thinks the same way about 70s and 80s punk/new wave (the more underground new wave, not the radio stuff) in the same way that we thought about 50s and 60s music in the 80s because music hasn’t really changed AT ALL. Especially in the punk scene.
All I can say is a college-age intern at work brought some of that shite into the lab…I asked him what it was. He said “Hoobastank”. I asked him to spell it, because I my reaction was “WTF?” as well. This kid really annoys the living shit out of me, and his music just adds to my distaste. Anyhow, I told him, and this is no joke, “You will listen to your music with headphones while I am here, or I will throw that laptop out of the window. If you think I’m joking, just do it.”
I’m 26, and while it’s not all I listen to, I like a lot of New Wave music. I really like ska, especially some of the Jamaican stuff from the 1960s. I also like jazz from the 1940s, rock and roll from the 1950s and classical music from the 1700s.
It’s really hard for me to pin-point the music of “my generation.” I don’t know that we have a defining musical style, but that’s okay. It seems ridiculous to expect a hugely diverse group of individuals who all happen to be the same age to like the same music.
It’s hard to say if the kids today thing of 70’s-80’s music the same way you thought of 50’s-60’s because every artist and song ages differently. Take Dion’s Run Around Sue and Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue as an example. Even today Peggy Sue is still a pretty exciting song even though its a bit aged after almost 50 years, but Run-Around Sue became too dated decades ago. For an late 70’s-80’s example take the Clash and Duran Duran. I guarantee for every 20 year old with “Girls on Film” blaring out of their car there are 100 kids jamming to “Clash City Rockers”. Duran Duran is now just hopelessly 80’s and silly now that it can only be appreciated as retro or ironic, but the Clash remains almost as relevant as it did 25 years ago. Speaking of the Clash, even they idolized and listened to many 50’s artists like Eddie Cochran (who still sounds pretty relevant for being dead 43 years). They even arranged to tour with Bo Diddly and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
I’m only in my early 20’s myself and most of the bands I listen to broke up before I was in Kindergarten. Good music is timeless. Why listen to snotty copies of copies of copies of the Ramones (who themselves are basically just messed up copies of 60’s bubble gum rock) when you can listen to the Ramones themselves. It’s only been two or three years since decent bands have re-entered mainstream rock again. Let’s hope they stay, get better, and more original so that this generation can have our own good music that has much longer shelf lives then the crap people were listening to in the late ninety’s.
I’m 22 and I can’t stand today’s music; at least the stuff they have on the Teeny-Bopper stations. My car radio is either on some retro station or the classical music station.
What’s odd is that even though I hate teeny-bopper stuff of today, I love Duran Duran.
That was well said. Good music is timeless. 50 years from now, the kids won’t give a shit about “Hey Ya”, but I bet bands like The Stooges will still have a huge cult following among the 20 something crowd.
Not especially relevant, but with all of us old fogeys here, just had to share this:
Went to buy some beer at the grocery store today. Gave the cashier my ID. She looks at the 1974 birthdate and says, “That’s the same year my dad was born.”
Eep. Feeling old. Time to go put on some Thomas Dolby, Bauhaus, and ELO.
I’m not so sure. Outkast is talented and innovative enough to have long-term staying power, even after a lot of the bland, formulaic hip-hop is forgotten. You said you’re 38 and into punk, so I get the impression you don’t listen to hip-hop much. While most of it is terrible–just like most of ANYTHING–Outkast really is a cut above the rest. Outkast’s Andre 3000, who wrote and performed “Hey Ya,” is often compared to Prince, his biggest musical influence. He plays live instruments, which is rarely done in hip-hop, and experiments in plenty of other genres. “Hey Ya” is a good pop song that has already demonstrated its crossover appeal, and I’m sure it–and the group–will be around for a while.
Good grief. I thought my brother (also born in 74) was a bit young to have an 11-year old daughter.
Well, I like Public Enemy a lot, but yeah, I don’t listen to much hip hop. I can’t say what the rest of Outkast’s output sound like, but “Hey Ya” (in my cynical opinion) is just another novelty pop disco song in the tradition of all those cheesey annoying new wave pop hits in the late 70’s/early 80s.
It’s not like I’m only into punk. I like a lot of stuff…wacked out 50s music, 60s garage …a little Stones here, a little Devo there. I’m just an old die hard who looks at these Good Charlotte kids the same way some grouchy old man looks at kids walking on his lawn. Haha…I see those mallpunk kids with their 200 dollar sneakers wearing Dead Kennedys shirts from Hot Topic, I just want to grab hold of 'em and yell “GET OFF MY LAWN YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!!!”
nitroglycerine wrote
Dream on, brother.
It sounds silly now, but I remember in the 80s some comedian making a joke that someday disco would be retro, and everybody would love it again. Everybody roared because it was so obvious that disco was just a huge mistake that would be dead forever.
Time moves on. As the philosopher Pert said, “Changes aren’t permanent, but change is”.
First, I am 16. All things are told from my perspective of the microcosm of the modern teenager that I live in. I will also describe clothing because it sort of helps with the picture.
I, myself, used to be a huge fan of '60s music. Absolutely loved it, tried my best to hear whatever I can. Never was into the hippie clothes, though. No one I know likes '60s counter culture like I do. My mother likes Motown, my dad the BeeGees. So, I have no idea where I picked it up from. Going back further, I listen to Woodie/Arlo Gutherie and Pete Seeger a BUNCH. That was awhile back but now I am more modern. I am now a fan of modern indie-rock/folk (The new stuff. Yea, yea, ripped from the younger guys, but it still is enjoyable for modern music). Yet again, I am the only one that I have talked to IRL that likes this music. I hate the radio. I, for the most part, hate the '80s. Incidently, my two favorite bands are Camper Van Beethoven and They Might Be Giants. Once again, the only one of my peers that I know of that enjoys them. I wear solid color golf polos most of the time, short hair, shorts, and brown loafers?. No one else does, so yet again, do not look at me and think of the whole picture as such.
That is one teenagers personal account, but, enough about me. Let us talk about the other teenagers…
'80s is fasionable now just like flare pants and paisley shirts were a couple of years back for this generation (peusdo hippie clothes like mass produced peasant shirts and leather belts. Please.). I think right now there is a scramble for defining this generation. Some good friends of mine sport Led Zeppelin shirts, yet another Metallica Gear, and another The Cure. Roos are back in all the shoe stores and on some of my friends feet. Some of my friends think they know “punk” and so they wear the Casuality shirts and have foot-long multi-colored spikes on their heads. There are tons of “skaters” at my school as well. It really is whatever right now. The main thing, though, is there is now a heavy intrest in what some kids consider punk. It is a devide between '80s/'60s and then the kids who just do not care (like myself).
Well, I’m a 20-something and New Wave is all I listen to, and I’m very vocal about how much I like it. Searching the posts should reveal some of my rants.
My ticket stubs from concerts consisting of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and The Cure should be fairly indicative; I also just picked up DM’s two DVD “Exciter” tour concert video.
However, your question didn’t ask about me, it asked about 20-somethings. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people my age have never heard of this type of music. When I tell people I like “new wave” they give me a confused look. When I start naming bands they give me an even more confused look. When I actually play some music for them, they say “uuuggh…you like that cheesy 80s stuff?” 
:mad: Unfortunately, new wave is not well-perceived by my peers. And I hate this fact very much…man, I would love to have been around when this stuff was popular.
By the way, Gary Numan is my all-time favourite artist. I even have his autograph.
Oh, and a shout out to Rabid Child. I’m the same way - my radio station is the local 80s retro station - and I’m actually happy to say it’s a good station. Nice to see another Duran Duran fan my age, too.
Can’t wait for their reunion tour to get here!!
Truffaut was a pretentious pillock and Godard should’ve bought a dolly
Have an older brother who was (and is) completly into it and it rubbed off i think. It could be I’m getting older but does seem that the music was more diverse. A lot of the songs are definitely overplayed and not all of it has aged well but I’m still (re)discovering “old” songs.
Coincidentally, I was playing Take the Skinheads Bowling on my guitar two nights ago.
And every time I see a Spider Man thread, I sing a little of the theme song to the tune of Particle Man in my head. (It works! Try it!)
Oh, man! it DOES work! That is so evil…
But, I forgot to answer the last part of your OP. I think I shall attempt that now.
New Wave:
It all depends. If you are old enough to of experienced them first hand I find that rather… er… cool. I am going to listen to the Cure right now, thanks to this thread. I do not know if it is more accesible or not, though. There was such a huge distinction between society and culture from the '60s compared to the '80s and an even greater gap in the general sound of music. Over use of synthesizers and the electronic sound left an unprecedented (duh?) gap between '60s counter culture and '80s new wave. For us youngsters these days, popular music “borrows” from old stuff so much that we do not really have any well used definition of modern music. This leads to a noticable difference in sound of New Wave to “modern”, sure, but not always and never a difference in general. For instance, some bands I listen to today are actually going on tour with Robert Smith sometime soon (Mogwai, Cursive). I want to say that he was even on something MTV recently but I never watch that. Over all I would say that we are definitely more open to New Wave these days, mostly because we do not have a defined sound of our own.
Punk:
Grrrrrrr. Rar. Crackle. I would of loved to been around at Punk’s beginings. It stood for something, it was a movement, an embodiment of ideals that people felt fervently. That was 20 or more years ago. I still put on the Velvet Underground sometimes and wish to have lived back then. Any REAL punks, ones who were around at the very begining (Prior to the second UK invasion, for the most part) and who stood for anti-establishment down to their shoes, I admire them greatly. I do not like most True Punk per se (besides, say, the aforementioned Velvet Underground), but I understand and admire its role in the history of music. I do think it is very accesible to todays youth as well because teenagers still feel a lot that anti-authority as was used in True Punk. Although, I would say, it is way to harsh and rough for today’s youngster. They perfer more of this modern punk nonsense that has no soul. The “I hate authority and trends but I will spend 30 minutes a day to do my hair just like my favorite singer and I will spend 40 dollars for ripped pants so that it looks like I was a survivor of a mosh pit” kids. Oh, yea, every rocker I have asked thinks a mosh pit is about violence and hurting each other. For Christ’s sake! Anyways, I am going to drop off into a rant soon, but you get the idea. True Punkers, in my eyes, are awesome and True Punk is very respectable. Modern Punk and punkers are not.
And for what it is worth: I do not think either are quaint if it was done right.
First, feel grateful you still get carded. Some of us don’t get asked anymore.
Second, I think she might have her math a bit wrong. If where you are is like where I am, cashiers can’t ring up alcohol purchases if they’re under 21. If that’s the case here, her dad would’ve been impregnating her mom when he was nine.
[To the tune of Particle Man]
*Spider-man, Spider-man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves, just like flies
Look out! Here comes the Spider-man! *
Just trying to evilly put it in everyone’s head.
(Where’s the “Evil Smiley” when you need him?)
Thirty years ago, more like!
And here’s something to make some of us feel really old:
Sid Vicious has been dead for over 25 years now. He was not yet 22.