Nu-metal - sorry but it was rubbish. And the indie scene at the time wasn't much better.

So I've been meaning to catch up on this thing for quite a while, it's just been a question of finding the time to do it. And luckily, I'm currently in the middle of an extended weekend with some free time on my hands. Which gives me an opportunity to catch up with some stuff that's been on my mind in recent weeks.

Such as this entry which should really have gone up a month or two ago. It all started off when I ended up reading this here NME article following the recent nu-metal revival this summer which was quickly followed by this rejoinder in the excellent "Louder Than War" webzine.

Now personally, I'm afraid that much as it pains me to do it, I have to side with the NME on this one. Trust me, I was there at the time and nu-metal (and the pop-punk explosion that ran parallel with it) was rubbish. Numbskull jock morons bleating out cringeworthy sexist lyrics and cribbing from the equally misogynistic gangsta rap movement. Think Limp Bizkit, the Bloodhound Gang, Linkin Park, Alien Ant Farm, Wheatus...it's a bit like bringing up a long-suppressed childhood abuse memory. Granted there were a couple of decent bands in there like One Minute Silence, Grand Theft Audio and System of a Down but they were small lights of respectability in a ocean of shite frankly.

However, where the NME then proceeds to completely ruin their own argument is by claiming that groups like the Strokes were the ones who saved us from nu-metal. Erm, nope. If anything, the indie scene of 2001 was just as wretched as the metal scene. Anodyne shit like the Strokes, the Libertines, and their zillion-odd imitators was just as hard to stomach in my opinion. Just in a different way.

I was just cutting my teeth as a music fanzine journalist at this time and the way bands like the Strokes got such an easy ride to the top really made me realise the truth in the old Hunter S Thompson adage about the how "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Or, as the excellent Sleazegrinder webzine put it at the time, yes, a band like that may look like a million dollars but THAT IS WHAT HAVING A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE DAD BANKROLLING YOU WILL BUY YOU. And really, let's be honest, the Strokes have only ever been a bad third division photocopy of '80s Iggy anyway.

I guess if serving my apprenticeship as both a music writer and a musician in 2001 taught me anything it's that if you want to do things your own way in the music business then you should be prepared to accept that you aren't gonna make any money out of it. But then, maybe that's not such a bad thing - after all, if the only reason you're in a band or making music is because you see it as a career option or a way to make money rather than any sort of love of what you do, it really makes you no better than an X Factor contestant in my opinion.

Anyway, I can hear you saying "Okay smartarse, so what were YOU listening to in 2001?" Well, there was some good music around then, it just kind of flew under most people's radar. Stuff like this...

Y'see, there was some damn good rock 'n' roll around in 2001. But because none of these bands wore designer thrift store clothes that they'd bought on their parents' credit cards or wore backwards baseball caps and sang about how much they hated their parents, they mostly went under the radar which was absolutely criminal. Still, at least their music's held up over the years and really it's got much more merit to it than the blank-eyed career men of Fred Durst Inc/Julian Casablancas Inc.

I guess if there's a motto to this ramble it's this - good music will always be out there kids but don't let the NME or Kerrap! tell you where to find it - go and look for yourself. End of message.