theres nothing wrong with bands taking inspiration from groups of the past as long as they elaborate upon this and progress to a different sound. an example of this is BRMC. they owe a lot to the velvet underground (whoever said the strokes were offcasts of VU must be on mind altering drugs) but they have incorporated psychedelics and brooding bass lines to make themselves different.
now on the other hand bands like interpol and the strokes are very unoriginal in terms of sound. its al lok being original image wise- but what people really want is to hear something different.
the mars volta (though they do borrow from 60s/70s santana), arcade fire, white stripes, lemon jelly and other bands all atain a level of originality becuase of their experimental tendencies. but today too many bands are scared to take the risk of experimentation due to the fear of either alienating their audience or simply not attracting an audience all together- they want to be available to the masses.
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