After the 90s where guitar bands became popular enough to be mainstream, the 00`s should have been more of the same. Not so much the volume of such bands was the problem but the longevity. Somewhere around the turn of the century the relationship between the public and it`s guitar `heroes` changed a little. Whereas their 90s contempories had a fanbase that carried them though the decade, 00s bands seem to be dead huge at first and then just dissapate. I`m comparing like for like here - not also rans who clocked up 2 hit singles and died - I`m on about number one albums and singles and then seeing your profile slide.
Franz Ferdinand, were the art school rock darlings of the start of the decade. The first album was a blinder. No filler, brilliant hooks, cool lyrics etc. Brill. Things start to go a bit awry with their second album - "You could have it so much better" was way too long for it`s own good - it wasn`t as big as the first album, but you know, that`s just one album, and that`s just my opinion on why they lost a bit of bite on that release. But since then, they`re no longer the Top 10 band they were. I really dig their style, their references. They`ve not gone shit, but a release by the group nowadays would pass a lot of people by without being aware.
The Futureheads, another art rock band this time from the north east, were dropped by their label following the "News and Tributes" album - which was a firm favourite with myself but as there wasn`t a "hounds of love" type hit single to come off it, they were let go - in fact, they had to find out by the `penny dropping` method - unreturned phonecalls and the like. Now they have full control by releasing their music by themselves. Still touring and recording with a solid fanbase, I can`t see them wanting to go back to being on a roster - their label decided to go more of a pop route which saw them being nudged out quietly..
razorlight, had a great run of singles and the "Up all Night" album is a solid piece of work. Brilliant debut. The gospel rework of "Golden Touch" took them from indie so - so`s to getting on the the Live 8 bill eventually. Johnny Borrell has a bit of a reputation for .. well, being a big fan of himself - or at least coming across so in interviews. The glove and the pearl necklace was a bit much for me - you know which video I`m on about ...and with the music press not being totally smitten with the guy they got a few digs here and there, it just became more about Johnny than the music - not great if you`ve only just started out. They`ve released an new material this year, but the spotlight on them isn`t as bright as it once was.
Damon Gough aka. Badly Drawn Boy, kicked off the decade with a brilliant debut album, and then followed it soon after with a wonderful soundtrack to "About a Boy". Then came "don`t forget to feed the fish" .... It never did have the same magic of the previous releases, there was many more albums after - perhaps too many in a short space of time and he just faded from view. He reported to have lost it on a recent gig in th US where he ended up saying not nice things about the audience and leaving the gig - motioning he might quit being Badly Drawn Boy or music altogether.It seems really hard for british bands to keep a following over years in this climate. The ayrtic Monkeys will defo be up there by the end of this decade - maybe as they always shunned the limelight and weren`t going to be spat out by the publicity machine by not feeding it in the first place. Kaiser Chiefs maybe suffering a bit from this. When the the first album came out - everyone loved them - by the second, all sorts were taking pot shots at them.
What I`m worried about is the view that the public may form out of this that UK bands are good for one album - then it`s the next best thing.Even though bands/artists are touring and recording, the level of promotion that these bands get nowdays is lacking.
Maybe it`s because the majors don`t have the capacity to finance a band that might have two albums that stiff, it`s got to sell now. (It`s worth noting Bruce Springsteen didn`t sell many copies of his albums until his third release, but boy, he did CBS a lot of good business in the end)
The greater public are missing out on a generation of songwriters, but I just don`t know why.
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