It's tough, isn't it?? Music today is so throw away, marketed and generally crappy, that respectable, creative and forward thinking groups are pretty rare. Who does it for you?? Mine has to be Primal Scream.
I was going to say Spiritualized, but (as much as I like them) one could argue that they're looking back to the past as much as they're looking forward. This is a tough one, I'll have to get back to you...
Millionaire, The White Stripes, ... Damn, that's about all I can think of, if I only include recent bands. Just shows what a sorry state music is in...
No doubt, those guys are great. It took me a couple of listenings, but I'm fully into it now. There's also a bunch of good hip-hop acts around like MF Doom and MF Grimm and what not that are doing some cool stuff. Not to mention DJ Spooky, who I have nothing but respect for.
Fighting Gravity ??! They're your local band; not too bad, but I wouldn't rank them as a "bands that matter" category, no offense intended.
Easy there, chief. Read my original post when I started this thread. Now even a Darkness fan can admit they are not a "creative, forward thinking" rock band, am I right?? Oh, yea...if you're going to draw the line in the sand over UK and US music, do try to have a better example than the Darkness, eh??
Wow. I think it's official. I am OLD. I haven't heard of half these bands you guys are bringing up. Oh well, a few of the groups that I think matter are Coldplay, Radiohead, The Roots, Cherrywine and Audioslave.
The Mars Volta,the Shins,BRMC,Incredible Moses Leroy,Lambchop,Shadows Fall, Libertines ,Warlocks,Beatnuts,De La Soul,Gangstar,MOP,the Coup to name a few. Regarding Coldplay, they are nothing but this century's Christopher Cross. Witness how their song clocks is always used on t.v. when canned emotion is required- too damn obvious. And as a preemptive strike against anyone who mentions King of Leon, that prefabricated derivitive crap aint nothing but a southern fried O-Town crossed with a Confederate Monkees.
Wasn't the Clash the only band that mattered? I don't know if bands look to make that much of a "real" impact nowadays - either by design or by accident. Bands like The Beatles commanded world-wide attention when they did something. Now we get such silly tidbits about Britney & JLo that it's almost inane info. overload. I'm not a huge U2 fan but Bono is one of the few people who can get attention around the world. And I believe he genuinely likes to help people. Can you imagine a Band Aid or USA for Africa being done today? I can't.