Alternative Rock as a category
written by matt
Apropos nothing, is ‘Alternative Rock’ far too watered down and worn out to be an effective way of describing any particular music style? I mean, if you’re talking about something like ‘Speed Metal,’ images of long hair, tight costumes, and lengthy guitar solos brimming with unearthly arpeggio and glissando fill your head.
Maybe it’s just that I haven’t been paying attention, but alt rock just doesn’t resonate with me the same way. It’s not as easy to visualize. Is it Beck? Chumbawamba? The New Pornographers? And what, exactly, is it an alternative to? Somehow it seems to get itself tangled in ‘college,’ but I don’t get that association either. Anyway, I don’t feel that any of those three examples wouldn’t be better described (both by intentional double-negative use and) by something like ‘Electro Rock.’ And when it comes down to it, I suspect my brother and I skew things far more towards being an electro rock blog than an alternative rock blog.