Tendril: Setting Rock 10 Steps Ahead

Tendril is an independent alternative rock act out of Texas. I stumbled upon this act while checking out another great act on the independent local label they both work with. I went to their MySpace Page and listen to a few tunes, and that was it.

After a quick search on YouTube, I found a live video of "The Love Is Dying". Please be warned that the studio versions are harder than granite stone.

This act has a power and precision not seen from unsigned acts these days. These guys are a metal mix of The Sex Pistols, Green Day, Devo, and Oingo Boingo, only the record groups can't find their asses for their elbows, never mind an obvious smash hit like Tendril.

Foo Fighters: Never Done, Always Next.

The Foo Fighters are clearly one of America's most important rock bands. This is not just my opinion. This fact is supported by the history of the founder, singer, and guitarist, Dave Grohl.

The first, and most powerful, element of Dave Grohl's persona is his deep seated, non-stop, drive to survive. Foo Fighters are a band that sees every day, every month, every year, as the time to fight for their very existence. Not only physical existence, but musical significance.

Dave Grohl was the drummer of Nirvana at the time of Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. In the destructive emotional environment that follows such events, Grohl set out to create a band with even more significance than Nirvana. But Grohl clearly understood the fickle entertainment media and marketing system. Grohl knew that in order to keep (business and artistic) control over his band that he would have to sing, write, and play guitar.

Using songs that he had recorded over the years, unreleased in the shadows of Nirvana's mega success, Grohl set the musical foundation that would become Foo Fighters. With the Nirvana experience in his pocket, and after Foo Fighter's initial successes, Grohl found complete control over the band's business and artistic directions. It has been clear to Grohl for many, many, years that success is not a destination, but an ongoing fight to remain seated at the very top of the industry. Just look at his face- it's no picnic.

Grohl's understanding of these hard realities show brightly in Foo Fighter's music. The many lyrics are a road map to living life and surviving life at the top and at the bottom, where those in-the-know realize that there are serious human similarities. This is an American band to watch closely, and to be heard for all time. This is one of the very few American bands to be worshiped.

Switchfoot: Spitiual Lightning Southern California Style

It's 1 :30 am on a Wednesday morning, and I am no where near going to bed. I'm caught up in the video/studio version of 'Stars' by Switchfoot, and I can't stop playing it (with headphones) at max'd out levels.

There is something about this band.
Maybe it's that they have that enviable upbringing in southern California coastal beach areas where surfing is gospel. Maybe it's the babes that make up so much of the southern California lifestyle. Maybe it's the youth in me (and in you) that never died, but is smothered into submission by life's circumstances.

Whatever it is, this music reminds me that this spirit still lives powerfully within me, and is a great part of what keeps me young. We need more acts like this- willing to speak to formidable spiritual powers that make us all strong, and indomitable in the aggregate.