Who will be seen as the defining rock artist of the 00's?
 

I'm going to go with The White Stripes for a couple reasons:

-They spearheaded the garage rock revival scene, possibly the most discernible musical scene of the 00's. They're also the most recognizable of the bunch
-Their 'back-to-basics' approach was a lot more authentic then groups like The Strokes, Jack had a more unique vocal delivery, the lack of bass was an interesting addition (or subtraction, amirite?)
-They released three nearly flawless albums in quick succession
-They had an image:
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/300x300/50892057.png

and variety in sound

It's a toss up between The White Stripes and Arcade Fire. The whole garage rock revival was a big deal for mainstream rock that was dealing with the whole post-grunge/ rap-rock thing, but there was something about the success of Funeral was also a big deal.

Would you put Neon Bible up there with De Stijl, White Blood Cells or Elephant though? I certainly wouldn't, it was somewhat of a sophomore slump (still really good though!)

And I think The Suburbs was after 2009 if we're getting technical with the decade definition :pimp:

Kill Me Tomorrow, but only in my own personal world.

I've never heard of them, what album should I check out?

You should check out their only bona fide LP, The Garbageman and the Prostitute.

I'd definitely put White Stripes over Arcade Fire, but I think it can be argued that the success of Funeral and the anticipation for Neon Bible reawoke some feelings that just don't exist anymore, or at least not to the same degree as past decades. However that said, we need to think of what defined the past decade and I think the sole defining aspect of the '00's was the change in the distribution of music, so maybe Yankee Hotel Foxtrot deserves the nod.

How about Modest Mouse?

from Allmusic:
Holy **** I need to check these guys out


True and hell if Summerteeth had been released a year later, I would be crowning Wilco as one of the best of the 2000s

Then again I'm on the fence as to if this new form of distribution is a good thing or not

I don't really agree with the comparisons (though I do love both of those bands). To me they're much more like a noisy, fuzzed-out, dystopian future version of Iggy Pop. "Noir wave" is a good name for their style though.