What Is Rockism ?

Thank you for answering my question, though. There are two statements.

1) nothing a bar band couldn't do
2) as much personality as a Youtube video of Jimmy Page style pentatonic solo or Bonham shuffle

I have listened to one song, fwiw, and don't think I agree with statement #1 already

Oh my god, Tim. Have you listened to the album? If its problems are not immediately obvious to you, I got nothing.

Jesus

the second one is probably hyperbole

fwiw, i listened to some of the songs after reading the review, and it sounded pretty much exactly as i thought it would

xp

they can't even *play* a bonham shuffle

I have listened to one song and experienced the zep-ness

Where is the evidence that they cannot? I will gladly listen to that song or group of songs.

the second one is probably hyperbole

You think?

if you're saying these guys are particularly good musicians we're not really going to get anywhere

that's not even the problem with them anyway

has anybody else itt actually listened to the whole album? at least once?

I listened to at least a few verses of most the songs (that was the most I could take).

Tim — lol @ at all that back-and-forth before you had even queued up the album

that's not even the problem with them anyway

― Trϵϵship, Tuesday, October 23, 2018 10:07 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's more of a problem than them being target-marketed to white stripes fans.

like when the black crowes were doing a straight up stones impression for the entire 1990s at least one could argue that they could play and write a song or two.

I listened to this record. I like it. So what if it’s derivative. And it gives people something to talk about on the Internet. They’re bringing people together.

Yeah, Morris, I had heard "When the Curtain Falls." Listening again, there are a couple of things that strike me. One is that I really don't find the riffing to be hackneyed pentatonic hard rock stuff. There are a lot of notes in it and there's that one part where the bass plays the same notes. I actually feel like it's going the extra mile a little bit. I like the solo OK.

Someone mentioned sounding like Rush earlier - I hear that in the second part of the verse, too.

He sounds an awful lot like Geddy Lee.

Each song here could be written or played by any of a thousand classic rock cover bands that have standing gigs at sports bars and biker joints across America (the same venues where Greta Van Fleet cut their teeth when they were kids). So why should Greta Van Fleet be the ones signed to Republic and William Morris, because they don’t have bald spots yet? Tons of people in those cover bands play their instruments better than Greta Van Fleet, who are, currently, proficient at best.

it's funny how this is such a rockist argument, obviously a big part of why GVF are famous instead of any randomly selected bar band is because the former are boyband-cute, that seems as legitimate a reason for their success as any unless you feel obliged to judge them by their own standards

the bit about the Darkness seems like total cool-kids stuff, they're similarly derivative but cool enough to signal to the audience that they (and you) are too smart to really fall for this stuff, so they're OK to like

imo GVF is bad not because they're an unoriginal imitation per se, but because they're an unoriginal imitation of Led Zeppelin, who were rubbish, they should try imitating a good band instead, like Slade or Be Bop Deluxe - my review

Lol the Darkness was so terrible

GVF would be so much more unbearable if they were doing that kind of smirky, 'knowing' Darkness-esque thing of constant signposting that they are being ironic

the darkness wouldn't be well received by pitchfork in 2018

led zeppelin is good though by the way. they have this song that's called "when the levee breaks"

it occurred to me that the dead sara record from 5 or 6 years ago is probably the upper limit of what gvf could conceivably accomplish and no one really rode for those guys...hmm i wonder why

Earlier this year, even Robert Plant spoke out about his feelings on Great Van Fleet, saying, "They are Led Zeppelin I. Beautiful little singer, I hate him! He borrowed it from somebody I know very well!" in a sarcastic manner.

Speaking to NME, Greta Van Fleet's singer Josh Kiszka shared his thoughts on what Plant said.

"It was kind of strange to watch, but it was quite flattering. I think he likes the stuff! That's good, to kinda get that seal of approval. He's one of the most fantastic singers ever. I think what he was taking from was those black singers like Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. It was just his interpretation, and I think I've got this separate interpretation. There are similarities, and I see it, so it was pretty amazing that he mentioned it."

the bit about the Darkness seems like total cool-kids stuff, they're similarly derivative but cool enough to signal to the audience that they (and you) are too smart to really fall for this stuff, so they're OK to like

Nah, you’re taking an aesthetic argument and pretending it’s sociological (to paraphrase Treeship), so you can rip on it.

xp JFC that child is dumb as rocks

i think it's bad form for robert plant to weigh in

robert plant correctly dissed gvf and supported yoyoka who is the led zeppelin homage the world actually needs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cozHT9QaFJo

xp
normally, i'd agree, but one listen to the first 15 seconds of "highway tune" kind of demands a response. that was the first one i listened to, because it was their most listened to song on spotify. but it's weird, because the song is from their first album, From the Fires (2017), even though the pitchfork review twice refers to Anthem of the Peaceful Army (think about that title for a second) as their "debut"

From the Fires “is a double EP, consisting of eight songs; four being newly recorded by the band, four songs originally found from their prior EP, Black Smoke Rising.”

(That’s how the band/label seems to classify it, anyway.)

Presto/Roll the Bones-era Rush also sort of fits in with the lste ips/early 90s AOR sound I was thinking of, I guess. It wouldn't have occurred to me to call GVF a blues rock band based on the songs I know.

*late 80s. Maybe Counterparts is closer, though?

Oh jeez, dont say this sounds like Counterparts. I'm gonna have to listen to this record and then wallow in self-loathing.

I haven't heard the new album anyway. Not saying any of it is as good as Rush.

led zeppelin is good though by the way. they have this song that's called "when the levee breaks"

― Trϵϵship, Tuesday, October 23, 2018 11:14 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've heard it but tell me more

you haven't heard led zep until you wear an unbuttoned denim vest and your sweaty chest hair smells like shit

"If its problems are not immediately obvious to you, I got nothing."

There you have Rockism nicely reduced to a syllogism.

https://i.imgur.com/UxDmSUJ.jpg

xp hell yeah

I think if I had seen these guys live as a teenager I probably would have dug it

If I saw them live now I think it would largely be a matter of what scene they played. If they played a big stage at a stoner festival I'd be like get outta here with that weak, derivative bs. But if they played to 30 half-interested families on a tiny stage at a county fair I'd probably find them endearing and happily clap along.

I think the annoying part is that there's a lot of good rock music out there, retro rock too, and this is really nowhere near top tier, but for reasons that are not completely clear to me (perhaps a mixture of marketing and their radio-friendly blandness) these guys are getting a ton of attention, and so when you read something like that youtube comment:

'I'm a classical guitarist, so I don't keep up with the latest rock or metal, but these young guys are the first thing to catch my ear in a long time with high energy, well written and well played infectious licks. The Kiszka boys have got it going.'

it's like, well no, you don't keep up, and though I'm v happy you were now exposed to this and enjoyed it, I hope it works as a gateway to some really rawking zep/rush-inspired bands, cause this is like the Domino's Pizza of rock and there is some seriously tasty pizza out there

if you want to hear Zep worship pushed in a cool direction I recommend, as kurt schwitters once recommended to me, Danava's Unonou album

here. the last track is amazing and also a zep rip-off apparently

https://youtu.be/x-cvvpiqL-w

Rockism is remembering the names of the records

If I saw them live now I think it would largely be a matter of what scene they played. If they played a big stage at a stoner festival I'd be like get outta here with that weak, derivative bs. But if they played to 30 half-interested families on a tiny stage at a county fair I'd probably find them endearing and happily clap along.

i am so glad i will never have to go to bonnaroo

people have made the point that lots of kids still go a Zep phase, so it makes sense that there's a band like GVF - do kids still go through a Doors phase? it would be cool if there was a successful band that's like GVF but for the Doors instead of Zep, with a singer who looks like Bruce McCulloch in that Kids In The Hall skit