There are numerous morose, David Gray-type songwriters (Damien Rice, Johnathan Rice, James Blunt, Tom Baxter). There are the spiky, shambolic Libertines-type bands (the Rakes, new Virgin signings Kooks, the Others, the Cazals). Hordes of bands owe a bigger-than-healthy debt to Franz Ferdinand, including the Brakes, the Editors, VHS to Beta, the Departure and We Are Scientists. Much of the time, Razorlight are an eerie facsimile of the Strokes.Other spin-offs include the bands being signed because they sound a lot like the Killers, as well as the boy bands because they're from the same management stable as a McFly or Busted. Athlete and Keane [How they make me angry] are just the famous ones in a fog of bands producing endless permutations of Coldplay's sound.In truth, some of them sound great but it's like they are only pushing all the right buttons to produce this winning formula. It's an empty orgasm of sound. Succesful Indie rock music defeats itself by its very nature. You can't be sardonic and critique society while wearing designer labels and simulating a rock band.
As for ballad pop, I used to hate Coldplay because I was cynical. Now, I secretly appreciate them but I can't forgive them for all their emulators. Part of me hopes that they will completely reinvent themselves. But they can't without losing their core audience, and they are limited with their sound. Nice as his voice may be, they will always make insipidly sweet balladic pop.
Perhaps that's why I always preferred Radiohead - who influenced Coldplay - and have changed their sound from indie rock pop to electronic bohemians.. Same with Blur, who tried about 5 angles before starting on side projects. Let's have more reinvention and less recycling.
Listening to Devendra Banheart. Now there is a guy that has no sound alikes. Perhaps that's a good thing, but for some reason his quirky sound can be catchy.
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