Heart full of Soul

In the 80s “Alternative” music, grounded in the simplicity and DIY ethic of punk, but lyrically and sonically more expansive, struggled to be heard amongst the explosive clamor of schlock rockers with more passion for their hair then their music. Here’s a video of hair metal avatar Dee Snyder explaining why hair metal sucks.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case

            Alt. heavy hitters like R.E.M. and The Smiths, with the underground support of bands like The Replacements, Husker Du and The Pixies, bounced around the college airwaves sing-mumbling songs about alienation, politics and girls not talking to the funny looking kid at school, until 1991, when Nirvana’s breakout album Nevermind bludgeoned its way onto commercial radio with a fist full of teen angst and war cry of nihilism, rendering big hair and codpieces obsolete practically overnight.   

            I love grunge and alternative music, especially from those early days. I’m a sucker for an underdog story, and the triumph of the counter culture in the late 80s to mid 90s stands as one of my favorite moments in rock n’ roll history, even if I was to young and sheltered to know it was going on at the time.

I could write all day about why I love it, but thousands of people already have. I could also write about how, as the years have dragged on Alt musicians have, on the whole, become a sad, mocking shadow of their former selves, just as over-produced and predictable as the leather clad “Rock Gods” they toppled. Again, you’ve probably heard it before.

Instead I want to write about what alternative music has been missing, something I didn’t even know was gone until I began to hear it again.

If you read the title of this entry, you can probably figure it out.

I’m talking about soul.

You know, this stuff.

Here’s some more.

I’m not saying that alt. acts didn’t respect the part blues and soul music played in the genesis of rock n’ roll, (Nirvana covered Lead Belly for God’s sake.) but perhaps in a bid to set themselves apart from their rivals in the 80s, the blues got lost in the background.

For the past 20 years or so the only artists allowed to be influenced by the blues and soul music were pop acts.

Fortunately that is changing.

It probably it started with Jack White paying homage to Motor City’s heritage by sneaking blues covers into White Stripes albums all the way back in the late 90s, but more noticeably over the past few years soul has crept back into rock n’ roll.

The Black Keys introduction to the mainstream in the past couple of years may also have something to do with it, but I honestly didn’t make the connection myself until Brittney Howard and the Alabama Shakes practically slapped me in the face with it on their debut, Boys and Girls last year.

If you haven’t heard these guys yet, you’ve probably been living under a rock. Their first single, Hold On, is still getting played freaking everywhere.

They look more like a band you’d see a Jimmy’s Bar then Madison Square Guarden, but with three Grammy nods and a show stealing performance at the ceremony, these guys will probably be selling out stadiums soon enough.

Then there’s The Heavy, you might recognize them from the Boarderlands 2 intro or every commercial ever.

Sure they’re British, but so was Dusty Springfield, and if you don’t think she has soul… um you don’t have one.

A friend of mine introduced me to The Heavy a few months back and they are one of my new favorite bands. They are one of those groups that can balance a healthy respect for the old school while moving forward as artists. The Alabama Shakes fit this bill as well.

It’s artists like this that make positive impact on the direction music is headed, but in my not so humble opinion Gary Clark Jr. should be the one people are still talking about 30 years from now.

Jr. has been kicking around the Austin music scene, creating a pretty big buzz for himself for the past few years, releasing his debut album, Blak and Blu, in 2012.

In my opinion he wrote the strongest album of the year, but as I've already stated The Grammy’s are stupid. 

He is everything John Mayer wishes he could be, mixing blues, R&B, rock and even rap in ways I don’t think anyone else had even considered. If you haven’t heard this guy yet, I’d seriously encourage you to listen to this.

I love the music of my past, but as I get older I refuse to be one of those guys who writes off everything new that comes out just because it’s different. In the midst of all the crap getting made these days bands like the Heavy and Alabama Shakes, singers like Gary Clark Jr., they proves we still have a good chance for a bright future.