Fire In The Disco

There is no escape. Rock magazines, web-zines, message boards, even NPR...the Arctic Monkeys are everywhere. A DIY band like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, these boys from Sheffield (I think the last band to make it out of that town was Def Leppard...yeesh) have the most hype of any band I have seen come around since the Strokes. Personally, the hype ruined the Strokes for me until I gave them another listen and liked them for what they are. I listened to the Arctic Monkeys before the hype even really kicked in and I wasn't impressed. My girlfriend thinks they're good and I am willing to give them a second chance, so let's give it some time. They remind of me old timers like the Jam and new blood like Franz Ferdinand...so it's not horrible...it's just not special.

And in case you can't tell, this dance-rock thing is everywhere. It isn't just the Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand. It's We Are Scientists. It's The Editors. It's She Wants Revenge. It's Metric (Metric's "Monster Hospital" is probably the best song by any of these bands, with their own "Combat Baby" and a few Franz Ferdinand singles to rival). Last year, it was The Killers and Bloc Party. Before that, Interpol. Even The Strokes turned to dance-rock on a couple of tracks on their latest (and most dissapointing) album, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have new, dancey sounds. And of course, there's Electric Six, who sound just a little bit different from the rest of these cats.

Someone took the garage and put it in the disco. Everyone wants to be the Talking Heads or the Jam (which explains why almost all these bands are either from New York City or from Britain) or, if they're darker, The Cure. Fire in the disco, indeed.