Who are the coolest bands in the last decade?

[IndieHead]

in the generation of ipods, social mdeia, the music industry has been challenged throughout. records and cds no longer contribute much to revenue. live performances are the key these days.

who do you think are the "coolest bands" that have emerged in the last decade?

I am not taking away their musical talent but in the world of new marketing, bands need more than talent.

To me, bands like 30 Secs From Mars, The Strokes seems to be really playing the right cards.

Please share your opinions!

[tnvol]

QOTSA

[sears]

spoon
mgmt

[cvansickle]

I'm waiting for the second coming of The Donnas.

Besides that, Black Stone Cherry and Airbourne have made me happy.

[Rockledge]

I can't think of any.....

[dmb70]

I'm waiting for the second coming of The Donnas.
As am I!!!!
Besides them, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, The Darkness.

[IndieHead]

Cant argue with any of those bands.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd120/hipsterrunoff/photographs/hro/6b9f95d1.jpg

but it's an unfair advantage when you have a good-looking actor and a huge marketing budget!

[GFR4LYF]

I guess I'm showing my age here, but I'm not really familiar with any of these new bands from this past decade.

[guitonit]

Muse, Carney.

[IndieHead]

and not forgetting New York's finest....

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/37020019/Yeah+Yeah+Yeahs+yeahyeahyeahs.jpg

[tnvol]

Them Crooked Vultures

[FNDRHODES]

Mars Volta, anything Omar Rodriguez touches is the tits

[whaiyun]

Blink 182? :D

I really like JET from Australia. Awesome band.

[KidArchitect]

The Dear Hunter
Mew
M83
St. Vincent
Thrice
Dredg
Friendly Fires

[KidArchitect]

Oh and I forgot Mute Math - their live performances just kill

[roverdog]

I can only think of three, Them Crooked Vultures, Black Country Communion and Chickenfoot.

[GregoryL]

Radiohead for sure ... releasing "In Rainbows" directly as pay-what-you-want was an interesting move.

Wilco too - lots of special releases, LP versions, download freebies for those who bought CD's, etc. They're covering a lot of angles.

[smallbutmighty]

Chickenfoot
The White Stripes
Green Day
Alter Bridge

[hk45acp]

MUSE

[mapleneck72]

+1 on MUTEMATH

[Neer]

The Roots
Menahan Street Band
Dap-Kings
Lambchop

[ErikR]

Porcupine Tree (though they've been around longer than a decade)
Muse
Puscifer

[rwe333]

Roots, Wilco, Radiohead (all aforementioned) came to mind for me.

I dug Torn's prezens band, Holdsworth touring w/ Husband or Pasqua, Richard Thompson contuining to be badass, Prince back touring w/ a hot band... All established, but still very relavent...

[SW33THAND5]

i don't know about being "cool" ... but my favorites of 2000-2010 have been wilco, ryan adams, aimee mann, and elliott smith

[Eskimo_Joe]

The White Stripes

[Dumo]

OFF!
The Darkness
Best Coast
Kurt Vile

[mrmjp]

By "decade" you must mean the last TWO decades?

[axavm]

I'm gonna go with Sevendust.

[Tommy Biggs]

Strokes, Silversun pickups, Phoenix, MGMT all show a lot of promise.
There's a lot of great music out there being made by new artists.

I will admit that I heard the list of grammy nominees this AM - and it made me glad I don't pay much attention to pop and pop culture. If that is anyone's gauge (no offense) I can see why they'd think there's nothing good going on.

[roknfnrol]

J Roddy Walston and the Business
Low Cut Connie
The Steepwater Band

[cruisemates]

If you've never heard of most of these bands look them up (and if you are like me, you will understand why you have never heard of them).

I heard Steve Lukather touting Phoenix - so I looked them up...

Burt Bacharach meets Vanilla Ice.

It's like AOR soft rock sound is back, with Rap vocal styllings. I'm listening "if I feel better" now, It's got a disco chuck-a-chuck guitar over Maj7 chords, with a Donnie Osmond voice singer trying to rap a basic 4-note melody. In fact, I just listened to four songs - they all have mostly Maj7 chords with the disco chuck-a-chuck guitar over it, and synth strings - I expect to hear Donna Summer singing "Last Dance" any second now.

In other songs they specialize in using chords that don't go together I, bVI-major, II-major, IV-minor. Good stuff.

Oh, and they use coil guitar cords, how cool! But there are no guitar solos.

It's like - things I don't want to think about.

[wundergussy]

Animal Collective
TV on the Radio
Grizzly Bear
LCD Soundsystem
Sufjan Stevens
Birghtblack Morning Light
The Hold Steady
Bon Iver
Fiery Furnaces (pretty album-dependent)
New Pornographers

I mean I could go on. Guess what: good music isn't on the radio. You are rewarded for seeking it out, reading reviews, paying attention to bands thanked in liner notes. Probably the same way good music has always been discovered.

[mudster]

I like Air (the French duo, not the old jazzish band)
St. Vincent
PJ Harvey
Ani Difranco (the last 2 have been around longer, but still very relevant and influential)

I may edit later when my memory is working

[Dave Wakely]

White Denim
Friendly Fires
Battles
The Foals

[shane88]

white stripes
arctic monkeys
yeah yeah yeahs
the strokes

[Hot Rats]

White Denim
Man Man
The Sword
Mastodon
Okkervil River
Drive By Truckers

[dysorexia]

Of Montreal

[vapor]

Sigur Ros
Band of Horses
Black Dub
Radio head
Incubus
Drive By Truckers
Dawes
Muse

[stevorc321]

The Bamboos
The Dap Kings

[Jesus freak]

A Perfect Circle!!

[Lanopy]

My Chemical Romance
The Airborn Toxic Event
Civil Twilight
Deer Tick / Middle Brothers

[más_fuerte]

Muse
Sigur Ros
Sufjan Stevens

[JubileeMan 2555]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2hNE1EL3dC4/SVZkO2Iik1I/AAAAAAAAABg/Yf7yDuxZwN0/s320/Muse..png

[Teleking]

This place really surprises me. So many people are just stuck in their 10 years of music and never seem to venture out.

Best two bands of the past 10 years are The National and Magnolia Electric Co in my humble opinion, and many others could challenge that crown.

But there are MANY, MANY more that so many people don't know about.

Those that hold their Beatles, Stones, Zep, Bad Company, Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, the Cars, REM, Replacements, the Police, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc....

It seems there are disciples of every generation of music. And they're ALL good.

But it seems so many people are just immersed in their 10 years of music and don't spend any time living outside their world. It's such a shame as there is so much great music out there right now. Just as good as all those listed above. They'll never get the recognition of those mentioned, because modern day media don't see it as a priority to push music as it was in the 60s, 70s and even the 80s, but they're just as talented, as willing to move the bar if the world would just let them. Unfortunately, nobody listens and that's why many don't know about the great bands of the past 10 years. Too many stuck in their 10 years of music and unwilling to look outside the box. It's a shame, and they're really missing out.

[tsar nicholas]

Salome

THOU

Dark Castle

Clipse

[mcdonaldkd]

The Hold Steady
Lucero
Hayes Carll
The Felice Brothers

[whitecadillac]

My Morning Jacket.

[trickness]

Four pages in and no one's mentioned The Kills?

Certifiably cooler than any band previously mentioned.

[dysorexia]

Four pages in and no one's mentioned The Kills?

Certifiably cooler than any band previously mentioned.
Don't care for them.

[mesamark5]

I can only think of three, Them Crooked Vultures, Black Country Communion and Chickenfoot.

chickenfoot is NOT cool.when the fan base is 35 and over,that makes it not cool

[mesamark5]

muse
band of horses
wilco
mgmt
my morning jacket
black keys
kings of leon
mars volta
white denim

[dysorexia]

chickenfoot is NOT cool.when the fan base is 35 and over,that makes it not cool
Also terribly stupid bandname. :munch

[83stratman]

Steel Panther

[pete100ca]

Porcupine Tree

[Serious Poo]

Porcupine Tree

+1 (shocked it took this long to come up, they're a really great band)

Also:

Ladytron
She Wants Revenge
Silversun Pickups
Cage The Elephant

[Rockledge]

I guess I'm showing my age here, but I'm not really familiar with any of these new bands from this past decade.


I have, and constantly check out new stuff. And man, you know, I just don't hear anything interesting. Most of what I hear is just rehashing old ideas.
Seems like since rock fell off the map nothing has really taken its place.
Arcade Fire isn't too bad, and I think it is spelled Kulu Shakur... they both have a hint of rock in their sound and are kind of creative in a psychedelic era kind of way.
But most of what I hear tends to be kind of... skilled craftwork without much artistic creativity. And sometimes not even skilled craftwork
Sadly, far too much of it is recorded on computers rather than real studios and is compressed so much that it has no sonic pleasantness to it.

As some others have said, try some Porcupine Tree even though that is not a band from the past ten years.
Porcupine Tree is the only thing I have heard that hit the scene within the past 30 years that really has a rock era approach to it.

[jesserides2005]

Decemberadio

[wundergussy]

John Zorn

Last decade?!?!

[cugel]

high on fire, qotsa

[IndieHead]

By "decade" you must mean the last TWO decades?

i was trying to capture new music made after decline of physical cds, records and the birth of digital music. the ipod was invented in 2001/2 and hence we have a good 10 years of a new wave of the musical revolution.

but hey, shoot them out from the last 2 decades if they are cool!

[Tommy Biggs]

IMO sometimes you have to give things more than a quick listen or two for them to really grow on you. Especially if you have any lingering bias towards "new is crap".

But I ain't interested in trying to change anyone's mind, and know enough that it will be worth my while to look more closely at some of the suggestions.

Thanks for all the tips.

[FeloniousBishop]

Here is some stuff I like from the last 10 years, maybe pushing the boundary of the word "band."

I love this CD so much:
VJLI48mjhWg
Hideway and Say I Am You are both great

Another track from Hideaway:
SqePMiTAoNE

This is a great CD:
_WXHoh63lTI

QD7qIthSdkA

GA5Q8u5f0Ks

This CD is superb
YIxq02uUSj8

[mixwiz]

Flight of the conchords, death cab for cutie, wilco

[Seahawk2982]

Thrice
Dredg
Glassjaw
Alexisonfire
City and Colour (Dallas Green is the best singer/songwriter on the planet)
Circa Survive
Chevelle
30 Seconds to Mars

Some are a little heavier than you old farts on TGP would like :p but they all show their rock roots.

[Brooks]

mastodon
the aristocrats

[ak935d]

Radiohead for sure ... releasing "In Rainbows" directly as pay-what-you-want was an interesting move.

Wilco too - lots of special releases, LP versions, download freebies for those who bought CD's, etc. They're covering a lot of angles.

Neither Radiohead or Wilco emerged in the last decade...

I don't remember when The Black Keys did exactly, but I definitely didn't hear about them until the last decade, so I'd go with them. I also like "Hollywood Forever..." or whatever it is by Father John Misty, but I haven't heard any of his other songs, so it's a bit early for me to judge. other than that i've been pretty bored the last decade... i can't handle the dull indie pop/rock stuff...

[ak935d]

The Dead Weather
The Mars Volta
Tomahawk
Radiohead
QOTSA
Muse
Tool
Foo
.
.

Alison Krauss & Union Station
Gillian Welch
Ryan Adams
Fiona Apple
St Vincent
John Zorn
Feist
.
.

Um.. again... Radiohead? Tool? Fiona Apple? by "Foo" do you mean the Foo Fighters? All not even anywhere close to the last decade. this forum is making me feel old if this what senior members of the board think constitutes music of the last decade or "new." Good choices... I prefer 90s music myself because everything the last decade has been so dull, but still... decade = 10 years, people.

[AParrotLooksAt4O]

CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD
Jonathan Wilson
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
The Band Of Heathens
Justin Townes Earle
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Norah Jones
Gary Clarke Jr
The Sheepdogs
Ray Lamontagne/& The Pariah Dogs
Amos Lee
The Moondoggies
etc

[AParrotLooksAt4O]

i was trying to capture new music made after decline of physical cds, records and the birth of digital music. the ipod was invented in 2001/2 and hence we have a good 10 years of a new wave of the musical revolution.

but hey, shoot them out from the last 2 decades if they are cool!
You're welcome, if you're not already down with The Crowes!

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/black_crowes_2010.jpg

[Chas]

muse
band of horses
wilco
mgmt
my morning jacket
black keys
kings of leon
mars volta
white denim

Good list. I dig BOH, Wilco, MMJ for sure, Black Keys. Kings of Leon I dig the older stuff from them. Before somebody told them they look good or something.

[fishleehooker]

Um.. again... Radiohead? Tool? Fiona Apple? by "Foo" do you mean the Foo Fighters? All not even anywhere close to the last decade. this forum is making me feel old if this what senior members of the board think constitutes music of the last decade or "new." Good choices... I prefer 90s music myself because everything the last decade has been so dull, but still... decade = 10 years, people.

All those bands are recording new music as we speak. Do you mean you only have to be young for this. After a few years you discredit bands? Yeah all those bands recorded in the 90s, but still do, and that is the TOOL I personally groove most to. You have a point, but made it in a weird way. They didn't mention Nirvana or Kyuss or defunct bands.

[vanguard]

yeah yeah yeahs
the walkmen
spoon
metz
naomi punk
deerhunter
grizzly bear (getting better and better)
bonnie prince billie

[chrismellotron]

The Black Keys
Earthless
Them Crooked Vultures
Muse
The Sword
Wolfmother (I never liked that band name)
Blind Dog

[ggwwbb]

Not many......but here's a few that I can think of:

Rival Sons
Red Fang
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Whispering Pines
The Donnas

[9 is 6]

Dead Rider

[aaronblues]

Spoon deserves more mentions. Consistently great over the last 5 albums. Add in a perfect ep with Conor from Bright eyes. And the new Divine Fits (britt from spoon with John from Handsome Furs/Wolf Parade) is great also.

cheers

[TubeStack]

Black Keys
Wolfmother
The Sword
Tame Impala
Grady

[Empros]

There are lots of great bands in the last decade. QOTSA is the first one that comes to mind. Them Crooked Vultures is probably the living definition of "cool".

The Black Keys WERE cool, but now their last album was a bit on the weak side. They're not very consistent, I find. I love Rubber Factory and Brothers, though. They just need more solid albums.

[yucatown]

i don't know about being "cool" ... but my favorites of 2000-2010 have been wilco, ryan adams, aimee mann, and elliott smith

Aimee Mann has been around since the 80s...

[katuna]

The Young (anyone who likes Neil Young and Crazy Horse would like this band)

http://theyoungblog.tumblr.com/post/34147296994/shockingblue

Brown Sugar
Video
Dan Melchior

[PaganBeef]

Whelp. Since 'I Can Swing My Sword' by Toby Turner is way better than any song from practically all these bands, what does this say about the last 10 years?

[timmytVA]

For me, it's The Hold Steady. I know Craig Finn's voice and speak-singing style isn't for everyone but they rock and have incredible story-telling songs. Great live act too.

I also really liked "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" by Girls but that's all I've heard from them.

Tim

[BedroomRockStar01]

spoon
mgmt

Spoon. This guy nailed it right out of the gate. I'd add My Morning Jacket, although they started in '99 I believe.

I'll throw Minus the Bear out there as well. There music just sounds like a drugged out sex party in the best way possible.

[BedroomRockStar01]

Aimee Mann has been around since the 80s...

And of the others he named have been here in some incarnation since the 90's. The years start blurring together sometimes. :D

[fwguitar]

My favorite recent band is The Stanfields. They're a band from Nova Scotia. Kind of folk-rock-celtic-punkish kind of band. Good drinking music!!

[speedemon]

Is Matt Schofield the past 10 years?

does somebody's new band count? (Jeff Loomis solo)

If little kids like it, does it qualify automatically (Justin Bieber?:rotflmao)?

[AParrotLooksAt4O]

There are lots of great bands in the last decade. QOTSA is the first one that comes to mind. Them Crooked Vultures is probably the living definition of "cool".

The Black Keys WERE cool, but now their last album was a bit on the weak side. They're not very consistent, I find. I love Rubber Factory and Brothers, though. They just need more solid albums.

I thought everything through Attack & Release was solid, especially Rubber Factory, Magic Potion and Chulahoma. Brothers was a let-down in terms of the Black Keys, but not a bad album in its own right.

[OllieDox]

For me, a 'cool' band is one that has a look, attitude (this can be humor or wit or arrogance), and most importantly good music.

At the turn of the century it seemed that there were all these new bands with a distinct vibe and most of them put out some good music initially. The problem is that they either broke up, are on 'hiatus', or stopped putting out good music (Most have been mentioned already):

Strokes
White Stripes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Interpol
DFA bands - Rapture, LCD Soundsystem
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

I also think a lot of determining what's 'cool' about a band has to do with your age and where you're at in your life. I was about the same age as all of these bands when they came out, so for me it was a great time to see all of these new 'cool' bands that I could relate to. But now these bands are well past their initial prime/potential and like them, I'm old and I can't relate to the new music right now. I think that's why a lot of posters here (presumably 30+ years old) are suggesting 'supergroups' like Chickenfoot & BCC. They can relate to those guys.

[JonnyQ]

The White Stripes
The Black Keys
Sigur Ros
Muse
Fleet Foxes
Arcade Fire
Band Of Horses
Grizzly Bear
Bon Iver
Mumford & Sons
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Decemberists

and

Wolfmother (that debut album)

[keithrockshaka]

QOTSA started not long after the break-up of Kyuss in the mid-90s. Still, I'm surprised by their holding power. Never would've guessed making Josh Homme the frontman would work out for them.

[thedroid]

Limiting it to bands that put out their first album in 2002 or later:

Dawes
The Hold Steady
Japandroids
Real Estate
Black Lips
Surfer Blood
Wavves
The Love Language
Jeff the Brotherhood
Girls
The Thermals
Poison Control Center
Band of Horses
Vampire Weekend
The Arctic Monkeys
Telekinesis
Blitzen Trapper
Deer Tick
Wild Flag
Apex Manor
The Broken West
The Avett Brothers
Captain of Industry
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Fleet Foxes
Free Energy
Titus Andronicus
Bombadil
Future Islands
Locksley
The Morning Benders
Okkervil River
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Franz Ferdinand
Silversun Pickups
The Soft Pack
The Weepies
The Civil Wars
The White Rabbits
The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs




If you take it out to 15 years, I'd add

The National
My Morning Jacket
Spoon
The New Pornographers
The Strokes
Interpol
Crooked Fingers
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
The Hives
The White Stripes
The Black Keys
The Walkmen
The Sadies
The Decemberists
etc.

[más_fuerte]

^^^Awesome list! So many great bands.

[(Something)]

Props to TGP for only mentioning BCC once in this thread. I'm impressed.

Not a whole lot to add, but I'll throw these out there:
The Avett Brothers
She & Him
Mumford and Sons
Middle Brother
Monsters of Folk

[arem]

Graveyard
St Vincent
Wild Flag
The Joy Formidable
London Souls
The Invisible
Trash Talk
Kings Go Forth
Submotion Orchestra

[jo2012]

Switchfoot, Relient K

[Brian Zadow]

Define "Cool"?

[Lukeling]

Jim Jones Revue
Grinderman
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Clairy Browne and The Bangin' Rackettes

[saneff]

Kings of Leon

[tele118]

Two Door Cinema Club
Phoenix
Vampire Weekend
Japandroids
Arcade Fire
Bloc Party
Arctic Monkeys

and some others which I'm forgetting at the moment

[vikingrat]

High On Fire.