…and why?
(Inspired by the Greatest Rock Bands Ever thread)
I’d say the White Stripes.
Yeah - I’d agree with that. Jack White has found a way to be derivative and fresh, primitive and primitivist, old-timey and artiste - and the songs totally rock. De Stijl, their second album, is just end to end hummable and interesting, Elephant just about as good and the others not too far behind.
I would add **Jet **- the Aussie band that sounds like a cross between AC/DC, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Exile-era Stones with some Beatles voicings thrown in. Their rockers (Cold Hard Bitch, Are You Gonna Be My Girl) fit right in with the classics from the '70’s, and their 2nd CD, Shine On, branched out a bit but retained its essentially listenability - the songs are solid, the performances great (and the tone of the guitars is just wonderfully old-school).
…and I have much respect for Foo Fighters…Kings of Leon’s latest…Vampire Weekend…
I opened this just to say the White Stripes so uh, me too, I guess. Jack White can make something super catchy out of a really simple riff (7 Nation Army) but he can also tear into the guitar with a kickass solo (Ball and Biscuit) or do a really neat take on some old school blues (Death Letter). And he does it all with a really unique style.
They make such a rich sound off of just a drummer and a guitarist, I know a lot of people think they’re over hyped but I think just the opposite, they deserve even more love than they get.
I just saw Vampire Weekend in concert this weekend. They were pretty good.
I would say my favorite bands of the past 10 years would include:
Coldplay
The Fray
Franz Ferdinand
The Killers
Linkin Park
Modest Mouse
The National
O.A.R.
The Shins
The Strokes
Note that this excludes a lot of music like Green Day, Weezer, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters and others than span multiple decades with lots of hits.
Are we limiting this to bands formed since 1999, or active in the past ten years? If the former, it would probably be Grand Ole Party, White Stripes, A Perfect Circle, or Kings of Leon, and I would probably give the nod to the first mentioned, which is a three piece band from San Diego whose lead singer, Kristin Gundred, is also the drummer. They’ve only released one album (Humanimals), and I think they might have already broken up, but I have gotten a hell of a lot of play out of that one album.
They sound like a cross between the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Kristin sounds a bit like Karen O to me), and I’d probably classify them as bluesy rock with a punk aesthetic. Their most popular song is probably Look Out Young Son (official video), but my favorite song is Gypsy March (not official).
The Shins
Razorlight
Travis
Franz Ferdinand
Guster
Kaiser Chiefs
Don’t forget Wilco. Ya never know what you’re gonna get with a new album, but they usually take you to a cool place.
A Perfect Circle, I’d say Tool but they were formed before the time period in question, though a lot of the bands being mentioned were also such as Modest Mouse. A lot of the indy-pop stuff people are mentioning such as Franz Ferdinand I find to be atrocious.
Mars Volta
Godspeed You Black Emperor (I have a softspot for the shoegaze)
System of a Down
Psyclon 9
Gogol Bordello
To be honest rock hasn’t thrilled me much since the 90s. I guess I’m growing old and my musical tastes have become set in their ways.
Give me Ministry, old Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM and Skinny Puppy any day of the week. 
Another vote for the White Stripes. There are other bands that have been as entertaining in the last ten years but nobody else has been as interesting.
Chevelle, who formed in 1995 but didn’t release their breakout ‘‘Wonder What’s Next’’ until 2002, so I think it counts. They are most popularly known for ‘‘The Red’’ (YouTube Linky) and ‘‘Send The Pain Below,’’ but IMHO those aren’t their best songs.
They are my favorite because they have a moody, angsty, angry sound driven beautifully by the vocals of Pete Loefller. One of my biggest pet peeves with rock bands is ugly vocals–this guy is really smooth, and nothing’s sexier than angry rock with smooth vocals. I just love the sort of desperate energy they have, how they will transition so easily from
<soft, earnest, introspective>
Now without meaning,
No response, no revealing…
(two second pause)
Just grow uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!!
AARHGHGHGGH!!!
followed by crazy hardcore guitar shit
Not only do I love their sound, I find a lot of myself in their songs… I am extremely moved by ‘‘Family System,’’ (YouTube Linky) ‘‘Forfeit’’ and ‘‘Closure’’ because I feel that way all the time. Can’t tell you how many bad days this band has gotten me through.
And everything I’ve ever heard by The White Stripes has knocked me flat on my ass, but as I’ve never gotten around to listening to one of their records straight through I didn’t feel I could nominate them fairly. I will just say FTR that ‘‘Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground’’ is one of my favorite songs ever.
If we’re talking of the past 10 years… Queens of the Stone Age.
If we’re talking formed within the past 10 years… and this would be cutting it close… Mastodon.
Can we count bands that reformed thirty years after their original breakup? Because if we can, the answer is the Stooges.
If not, it’s either the Dirtbombs or the Ponys.
By the way, I first saw the White Stripes at a speakeasy in Cincinnati while they were on tour for their first record in late 99 / early 00. Their live act bored the everliving crap outta me. I spent half of the show listening to an acquaintance bitch about kicking heroin; that’s how boring they were.
I next saw them about a year later at the Southgate House in Newport while they were pushing De Stijl. Same deal - I spent the whole show at the bar with my girlfriend.
Jack’s an excellent songwriter, and they make some great records, but I don’t understand why people get all worked up about their live act.
If I absolutely had to pick just one, hands down for me, it’s Metric. Clever lyrics - which I do really find essential to my long term enjoyment of a band - and a rocking sound. They’ve produced a few good albums, and songs off each of the albums are among my favorites to listen to a lot.
I’m not claiming that they’re the best, but they’re certainly my favorite.
The Hives
The Strokes
Rise Against
Panic At The Disco
Franz Ferdinand (Another vote)
Taking Back Sunday
Why? Sometimes I get tired of Classic Rock.
Liquid Tension Experiment,
I was never really a heavy-metal kinda guy as the “cookie Monster” vocals, giant hair and silly Spandex always make me laugh (the fact that it’s supposed to be “tough” just makes it funnier!) but LTE is metal by actual Musicians and the “Cookie Monster” vocals and the “manufactured cool” just ain’t there!
Unclviny
I just spent a lot of time checking out Mastodon. People told me that if I liked Tool I’d like them, but it is just derivative of late 80s hair metal to me. Nothing special.
I may have to go with The Killers. A lot of quality product in the past ten years.
Death Cab for Cutie would be high on my list as well.
I guess I’d go with Avenged Sevenfold. Their last couple of albums have been really good.