RFI: What is Dadrock?

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Initially, 'Dadrock' was such an absurdly prejudiced term it was fun for a few laughs at Oasis' expense, but anymore it says as much about the person saying it (with a straight face!) as it does about the artists it supposedly describes. "Oh, I don't have time for 60s derived music. It's got to be re-cycled Roxy Music or Human League for me. You know, stuff that's not afraid to take chances."

Curt, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Obviously it triangualtes the person saying it yeah, but all words - especially genre-words - do this. Are you saying that all the people using it on this thread think like that, Curt?

Tom, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

well, he's right about me, that much is clear!

gareth, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Tom, people using it here are responding to the question, so no, you're not all stinking hypocrites.

(After reading the thread, I see now that Alexander Blair had posted the same comment before me.)

Curt, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I dont care if HMS Fable is dadrock. Truly it is one of the finest displays of songwriting...ever!

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

However, Club Dad is not Dadrock.

Sarah, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

**Truly it is one of the finest displays of songwriting...ever!**

You're joking! Mostly, it's the sound of a decent talent reduced to nowt - desparately trying to toady up to what was left of the Brit- pop crowd. 'Streets of Kenny' is particularly shameful - Head wallowing in his own self-made mire of underachievement and waste. Shocking.

Dr. C, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Re Judd's point about genre terms like Punk starting out as derogatory, see also Garage, Bubblegum, Grunge, Shoegazer, Baggy, etc. - stereotyping, joke terms that have come into straightfaced usage. In the case of 'Dadrock', the transformation must have been accelerated in Britain. I'm still in the chuckling phase.

Curt, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dadrock is boring music with guitars that focuses heavily on songwriting and has a pious "the sixties were the best" attitude. Unlike Tortoise, say, which is boring stuff with guitars which doesn't focus heavily on songwriting or have a pios "the sixties were the best" attitude.

Nick Southall, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"**Truly it is one of the finest displays of songwriting...ever!** You're joking!"

Eh, no, actually, I'm not. Brilliant songs. Hugely emotional. Sad, yet optimistic. Battered but triumphant. I love it! Dadrock or otherwise!

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Eh, no, actually, I'm not.

But the good doctor has diagnosed you. Why do you not heed his words?

As it is, I'd rather listen to the Pale Fountains.

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

For some reason, "focuses heavily on songwriting" doesn't sound like a problem to me, but "display of songwriting" does. This might be from the hearing the Shack album and finding it kind of boring in a self-satisfied way.

Curt, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"But the good doctor has diagnosed you. Why do you not heed his words?"

Cos he's wrong. I heart Shack 4eva!

"For some reason, "focuses heavily on songwriting" doesn't sound like a problem to me, but "display of songwriting" does. This might be from the hearing the Shack album and finding it kind of boring in a self-satisfied way."

The phrase "best display of song-writing" just means that the album's full of top tunes. Which makes me want to play it endlessly, so I do. Its not slf-satisfied, either, its moving and powerful.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Shack vs Shed 7...FITE!

Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Shack vs Shed 7...FITE!"

Why bother? We all know Shack will win.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

HMS fable wasn't bad at all. Certianly doesn;t really touch the same reference points of "Dadrock" as described above (Weller, Small Faces, etc). And I think if you listen to it is isn't really so self-satisfied sounding. Certianly not risk taking but it has a much more individual and introspective voice than say travis, starsailor, coldplay and the lot.

g, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Michael Head And The Strands pisses on Shack. And I've had Waterpistol for years.

Nick Southall, Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Michael Head And The Strands pisses on Shack."

Wouldn't know, don't have the Strands record. All I know is I love HMS Fable

"And I've had Waterpistol for years."

Good for you, never said you didn't.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 2 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Can't remember writing that, must've been pissed.

There's only two tracks on HMS Fable thatI woudln't want to be without, and they're both John's rather than Michael's. Waterpistol is less immediate than HMS Fable, but more consistent, and has had greater longevity for me. The Strands album is just gorgeous though, stripped down, acoustic, folky and delicate. Something About You is one of my favourite singles of the last ten years.

Nick Southall, Friday, 3 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Zilch ain't bad either if you can find a copy...

g, Friday, 3 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Jonathan Romney - writing about 'Last Orders', funnily enough - claimed that the Cinema du Cahiers boyz referred to something called 'Cinema du papa', ie proper flicks your dad would like. Stuff that is insufficiently anxious about influence, maybe. I don't know if this is true or not. I rather hope he made it up.

I think mumpop is quite a fun idea, actually. St Etienne with their Dusty/70sMOR/girlgroup fetish are a good example. Actually mumpop is a good term for all those PSB/MarcAlmond/Smiths records reviving a Dusty/Pitney/Sandie.

Dad Rock = insufficiently Oedipal. mumpop = extravagantly so.

Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Friday, 3 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Whither numrock?

N., Saturday, 4 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

mumrock? wasn't he the villian on Thundercats?

Lord Custos 2.0 beta, Saturday, 4 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

two years pass...
arent groups like franz ferdinand kinda dad rock too then seeing as a lot of men who were young back then must have kids now too? does dadrock work in 20-25 year cycles?

dickvandyke (dickvandyke), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 09:57 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

this is a good thread. british-centric, though. are bands like wilco, white stripes, strokes, etc dadrock?

macaulay culkin's bukkake shocker (bug), Thursday, 30 April 2009 09:51 (seventeen years ago)

It's funny what you think is "Dad rock". I suppose it's how old your dad is. I think of it as seventies.

Kevin Yates, Phys. Ed. (u s steel), Thursday, 30 April 2009 10:03 (seventeen years ago)

no, my dad is dad-aged. but dad rock doesn't have to be made by actual dads.

macaulay culkin's bukkake shocker (bug), Thursday, 30 April 2009 10:07 (seventeen years ago)

this is a good thread. british-centric, though. are bands like wilco, white stripes, strokes, etc dadrock?

I guess Wilco. Not White Stripes or The Strokes.

I think a band can be "dadrock" if it is (a) especially influenced by 70s-sounding classic-rock or country-rock and/or (b) overly-controlled or polite. Wilco falls into both categories. The others less so (White Stripes have too much rock energy; The Strokes too much of a snotty attitude). Having said that, I love Wilco, especially their last -- and especially "dadrock" sounding -- disc, Sky Blue Sky, while I'm ambivalent about The White Stripes and couldn't care less about The Strokes. I'm also a dad in my early 40s, so I have plenty of "dadrock" bona fides.

Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 30 April 2009 10:34 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/les%20goupes/D/DAD/Everything%20Glows/Everything%20Glows.jpg

tevin "ratt" campbell (Pillbox), Thursday, 30 April 2009 10:56 (seventeen years ago)

My dad seems to like Fleet Foxes. Not sure if they're what I'd typically think of as dad rock but he heard it on Radio 2, who are probably one of the gatekeepers of what is/isn't.

try to fix the puffiness with some nolva and then go juicin' (gnarly sceptre), Thursday, 30 April 2009 11:42 (seventeen years ago)

dadrock never went away

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:08 (seventeen years ago)

i like 'dadrock' now because its 'cool' to listen to it 'ironically' as a 'young man' but worry that it wont be 'cool' for me to listen to 'dadrock' when im actually a 'dad'

advice please

rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:10 (seventeen years ago)

I wonder what Stepdadrock sounds like

Sacco, Vanzetti, Passantino... (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:11 (seventeen years ago)

i think that once you're actually a dad it's impossible for you to be cool, no matter what you listen to

congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:12 (seventeen years ago)

As a dad, I can say with absolute certainty that the litmus test for dadrock-entry is Animal Collective. If you love them and think everything they do is genius you're still hip. If you don't quite get what the fuss is about, welcome to the wonderful world of dadrock.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:16 (seventeen years ago)

is there any mumrock (apart from Bon Jovi) ?

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:16 (seventeen years ago)

As a dad, I can say with absolute certainty that the litmus test for dadrock-entry is Animal Collective. If you love them and think everything they do is genius you're still hip. If you don't quite get what the fuss is about, welcome to the wonderful world of dadrock.

if hating animal collective is wrong I don't want to be right

鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:22 (seventeen years ago)

Múm Rock

Sacco, Vanzetti, Passantino... (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:22 (seventeen years ago)

As a dad, I can say with absolute certainty that the litmus test for dadrock-entry is Animal Collective. If you love them and think everything they do is genius you're still hip. If you don't quite get what the fuss is about, welcome to the wonderful world of dadrock.

Aren't they exactly the sort of band an ageing ex-indie hipster who's now a dad in his mid-to-late 30s, or older, would listen to

Sacco, Vanzetti, Passantino... (Tom D.), Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:24 (seventeen years ago)

if hating animal collective is wrong I don't want to be right

FTW

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:25 (seventeen years ago)

Aren't they exactly the sort of band an ageing ex-indie hipster who's now a dad in his mid-to-late 30s, or older, would listen to

They're exactly the sort of band an aging ex-indie hipster who's now a dad would feel they're supposed to like if they were still cool. And despite having given them a fair chance and even enjoying an EP's worth of material, they just don't get it.

Another sign of dadrock-entry: You can't tell all the various "Wolf" or "Mountain" bands apart and you don't really care.

kornrulez6969, Thursday, 30 April 2009 14:29 (seventeen years ago)

You can't tell all the various "Wolf" or "Mountain" bands apart and you don't really care.

ha ! you have me totally summed up in one easy to remember sentence.

mark e, Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:05 (seventeen years ago)

lol this is some weird definitions of dadrock

just sayin, Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:08 (seventeen years ago)

why not just make it 'you dont get all yr music from mp3 blogs'

just sayin, Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:08 (seventeen years ago)

I know a couple of 30-something dudes who like Animal Collective. I don't feel uncool in the slightest for thinking they're turd.

Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:18 (seventeen years ago)

Ed III, Ned, Southall OTMFM

sorry for british (country matters), Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:20 (seventeen years ago)

coolness was never an option in my world, before or after i became a dad, but i now feel very bad that i never listened to my promo of 'sung tongs' all the way through.

mark e, Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

Fuck, I know a 50-something mum who likes them, and it was one of the 30-something blokes who got her into them.

She asked Em if we were going to see The Hold Steady the other day. (She's Em's section head at work.)

Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

Sung Tongs is better than the last two.

Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

I guess The Lex's AC h8r posts were just subliminally pimping the dadrock he lives and loves all along then

National Lampoon's Minimal House (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 30 April 2009 15:22 (seventeen years ago)

Really, who cares!?

Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 08:15 (seven years ago)

well, dad, for one

an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 08:40 (seven years ago)

And Rock for another.

Alan Alba (Tom D.), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 09:09 (seven years ago)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aY4fMVocj5o/UfWAaqmglJI/AAAAAAAAANM/5So4Rwntshc/s1600/Ian_Dury_One.jpg

dad and rock and snrub and geir.

kelp, clam and carrion (sic), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 09:33 (seven years ago)

depressing that what was dadrock only 9 years ago is firmly grandadrock now

thomasintrouble, Wednesday, 11 July 2018 10:20 (seven years ago)

There is no dad side of the rock; it's all dad, actually.

a film with a little more emotional balls (zchyrs), Wednesday, 11 July 2018 11:42 (seven years ago)


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