BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I find myself becoming older as I’m becoming older. I’d want to roll my eyes at the lame older people who’d talk about music from their generation being the best. It was those out of touch old guys who’d you be embarrassed to hear talk about music. In my case, I graduated high school in 2001. It was a good half decade after grunge and a good half decade before the hipster indie take over. The “Grunge era” was romanticized as something of meaning and depth. I’ve not seen anything like that since. Did I miss something? Before “grunge”, were the hair metal and the punk and even before that the “Woodstock era”. Was the “The” band trend really a “movement”? How about emo, power pop, or dub step? I’m not seeing it. There is just nothing on the map these days. There are a few great artists out there, but nothing is defining the era. Is Rock and Roll dead? The quality of expression is always subjective, but passion is evidently what’s missing. There is plenty to rally against and shared experiences. Social media and the internet has been said to be part of the problem. It’s said there is a lot of niche success, but that’s bullshit. We’re sharing experiences, stories, and our lives with each other more now than ever. You’d think there’d be a voice that would cross the boundaries. Is Rock and Roll dead or has our culture become too jaded? Is that the end or is that void going to spark the next step forward in evolution? Is there an “era” out there worth caring about or am I just becoming older?
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