I'm a rock musician and 23, so I feel like I should be more into "new" bands (i.e. bands that started in the past 2-3 years), but I cannot for the life of me stand most of the stuff I hear floating around YouTube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Facebook.

Maybe some of you can turn me on to some decent stuff.

My go-to artists and influences: Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Smashing Pumpkins, The Misfits, Black Flag, Nirvana, The Cure, Foo Fighters (Self-titled, Colour and Shape, Wasting Light), White Stripes/Jack White/Dead Weather, MC5, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Ramones, Refused, Thursday, The Police, Underoath, XTC, The Clash, The Pixies, The Kinks, Beatles, Ghost, Jackson Browne, AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars (first album), and the occasional guilty pleasure metal band.

I'm not a fan of whatever the whole "indie" scene that's been popular the past few years. Hate that whoa **** too and ****ty four on the floor folk stuff. To each their own, just not my cup of tea. Basically I connect with most stuff that has really solid and emotional songwriting. If it's real, has a great melody and structure, and is arranged beautifully, I dig it. Haven't really been hearing that with many bands that I've heard the last few years, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Early Underoath?

More into the second one, to be honest. But the song doesn't really go anywhere...

I dig some of their earlier stuff. Instrumentally it's interesting, but I think they hit their stride in terms of songwriting with Aaron.

If by that you mean when he started singing clean vocals, then no, that's just when they went from being awesome to boring. I'd take them over plenty other melodic metalcore bands, but that's not saying much.

If by that, you mean they got someone who could scream and not sound like a dying cat and the drummer started singing and writing melodies, which in turn informed songs that were composed more intelligently, then yes.

Define the Great Line and Lost in the Sound of Separation are great records that defy boring "melodic metalcore" as you described.

And they lost a lot of what made them special to write music that was merely better than 90% of the hundreds of ****ty bands that sounded just like them. But so long as they've got melodies (and I think you might be mistaking "melody" with "catchy") then who cares if they've become indistinguishable from Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, right?

Hey.

Killswitch rocks.


I AM into that Indie/Folk scene (for the most part, love the simplicity and songwriting) but check out Wolfmother (if you haven't already) and Beware of Darkness. Royal Blood is good too, but they might not be your cup of tea.

I'm guessing The Strokes, The Kooks and The Arctic Monkeys are too "indie" for you?

Also Dead Poetic. Though they're not "new" and they broke up years ago, they're a great band with every album having a completely different sound, yet all are amazing in their own way. First album sounds like Nirvana meets Underoath, second album is like early 30 Seconds to Mars and their last album is their most experimental but it works.

I like Killswitch, too (and As I Lay Dying to a lesser extent). But I am annoyed with them for giving birth to the abortion that is/was the melodic metalcore scene.

Not their fault others took their idea and turned it into a massive **** show.