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9 November 2009
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The 5 Stages Of ROCK
OR: Why the humble whistle is the ultimate factor in deciding what ROCKS and what does NOT ROCK.


1Journey South
Journey SouthThe state of ROCK is achieved by a clever combination of factors. First you need a killer riff. That's the repetitive bit of a ROCK song that is played on an extremely loud guitar. Once your riff is go, you need to tone down any ideas you may have of putting a nice tune on the top that you can whistle. Tunes you can whistle are NOT ROCK. ROCK has to explore inner-pain (sorry, INNER-PAIN), and expose your human frailties to the world, and a whistle is just too damn cheery a sound to really get that across. Finally you need to make sure your parents HATE your particular ROCK noise, because it's too loud, too shouty, and ISN'T REALLY PROPER MUSIC. The 'South's album was released especially FOR Mother's Day. What does that tell you? Eh?

Riff Attainment: 0 (Acoustic guitar! D'oh!)
Nice Tune Effort: 12
Total Parental Annoyance Points: 0

2Girls Aloud
Girls AloudEasy there, rocksnobs! If you follow our simple rules, poppy little Girls Aloud actually score higher than indie-faves like Keane or James Blunt. Don't believe me? Look at the evidence. Riff-wise, 'Sound Of The Underground' has blamming surf guitar, 'Long Hot Summer' is riddled with jerky new wave-isms, and 'Biology' even has '60s blues-rock twiddly bits at the beginning. By comparison, James Blunt has no riffs, and Keane don't even have GUITARS. The Aloud do lose ROCK points for making too much of an effort with those catchy tunes, and cos your mum likes to dance around the kitchen when one of their songs is on the radio. But still, not a bad effort...for a bunch of girls.

Riff Attainment: 4
Nice Tune Effort: 10
Total Parental Annoyance Points: 3

3Son Of Dork
Son Of DorkSpeaking of a bunch of girls (see what we did there?), here's the post-Busted bunch who dress in their sisters' jeans and who spend more time in the bathroom than a slow plumber with rubber spanners. But do they ROCK? Well, kiiind of. They do have riffs, and loud guitars. And your parents don't really get why you like them, or why that Dave boy wears his guitar up round his tummy instead of below his belt. Trouble is, the band do lose ROCK points for that particular lapse in proper ROCK etiquette, which makes your mum right. And there's no problem whistling any of their tuneful tunes. So, while some respect is due, you can keep your spooky devil hand-sign in your pocket for now...

Riff Attainment: 6
Nice Tune Effort: 7
Total Parental Annoyance Points: 5

4Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy"DUUUUDE! FALL OUT BOY, LIKE, TOADLY ROCK!"
Indeed they do, young sir. But do they ROCK enough? Let's look at the figures. Well, they've certainly got the riffage, and the fact that they run a record label for most of the great new Emo bands on myspace gives them extra ROCK points without them even having to play a note. Lyrically, the 'Boy do very well too. They've got that whole teen psycho-babble 'Life Is Pain' thing down to a fine art. But what's this? Tunefulness? Harmonies? Isn't that all a bit, well, mum-friendly? There are Emo-kids up and down the country whose 'darkest' ever moment (if they're honest) was watching their dad nodding approvingly along to 'Sugar, We're Goin' Down' when the band were on the Pops. And that, sadly, is NOT QUITE ROCK ENOUGH.

Riff Attainment: 8
Nice Tune Effort: 5
Total Parental Annoyance Points: 7

5System Of A Down
System Of A DownNow THIS is a bit more like it! Monolithic riffs, bigger and heavier than nine Stonehenges in a big pile with Kanye West's ego resting on top? CHECK! A total absence of tunes that anyone bar a professional ostrich impersonator could whistle? CHECK! A vocalist whose best tricks include screaming, gabbling and yelling like an angry hen night? CHECK! A look of total horror on your entire family's face whenever the first second of the first song on 'Hypnotize' comes out of your headphones? CHUH-HECK! Tongues out, devil-horn hands in the air, people. THIS IS ROCK, AND IT IS MIGHTY!

Riff Attainment: 1 bazillion
Nice Tune Effort: Minus 2 bazillion
Total Parental Annoyance Points: 10 bazillion (times infinity...squared.)
Fraser M
21/04/2006

 

 
The Complete List
 
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  Pop Conspiracies  Go!  
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  Reality Pop Stars  Go!  
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  Toy Story  Go!  
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The Complete List


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