When rock goes POP!

[The Curmudgeon]

Admittedly that sounds like one of those awful cover albums, where no-hoper bands do identical sounding "rock" covers of Britney Spears songs, but fear not.

As a fan of (mostly) alternative rock, I expect the albums I buy and the music I enjoy to be unsuitable for most standard musical palette's. The layered, introspective music of, say, Arcade Fire or the brooding, intense sound of the Smashing Pumpkins is never going to be on the wave length of people who consider rock music to pretty much mean Bon Jovi. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with Bon Jovi, just that they offer a far more commercial sounding rock song. Nothing wrong with that. I'd rather Bon Jovi and their blend of infectious soft rock anthems than, say, Nickleback's witless chunder.

Anyway, this thread is dedicated to bands who aren't renowned for creating commercial sounding "radio friendly unit shifters", as Nirvana once put it, but have, every now and then, written a song that wouldn't sound out of place on drive-time radio.

I mentioned "Last Dance", a Raveonettes song a few threads ago that was unashamedly poppy, even if the subject matter was suitably dark. All hand-claps and "ooooh-ooooh's" and a chorus so strong you could stack books on it. I love it. So - that kind of thing.

An obvious choice would be the Pixies and "Here Comes Your Man". No trademark Frank Black yelps, no screaming or weird lyrics. Just an unavoidable, gorgeous song. If only they'd made a suitably commercial video to go with the song..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvi4iA3PnKE

After releasing an EP and an album of amazing, low-fi, grinding rock music, few would have expected Idlewild to return with a top ten hit single, with no screeching, no distorted guitars and no feedback. Fucking awesome song, though.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4k29rpQGG4

So that's two from me today. Any other surprisingly radio friendly songs from traditionally radio unfriendly bands?

[trashcanman]

Well, I was going to go with Otep's "Perfectly Flawed", which jumped out to me as an obvious attempt at a radio single but it turns out they didn't even make a video for it so I'll move along.... You know, I'm kind of drawing a blank here. I mean, I could point out "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls or the horrible "I Like It" from Lacuna Coil, but they were both pretty radio friendly even before that. A lot of people pointed at Slipknot's "Left Behind" as one, but honestly, I think it still sounds like Slipknot being Slipknot to me.

[The Curmudgeon]

Bit of a "bump" for this thread because I came across a perfect example of it today.

So I bought a Clash album the other day and stuck it on my ipod. Anyway, I was on the train and a song I didn't know came on. And it caught my attention because I instantly loved it. I had no idea who it was, though. At first I assumed it was indie pop darlings Belle and Sebastian but the vocals didn't match. Arcade Fire.. maybe? Nope, I gave up. I pulled the ipod out of my pocket and.. The Clash??

Yes, indeed. A loving tribute to the Motown sound, this is a polar opposite of what The Clash are known for, and that's what makes it great.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=opFyTAA0DiI

[trashcanman]

Sandinista is fucking insanity, man. There simply is no other band in music history that could make an album like that. I was arguing with some dope the other day on a Dixie Chicks thread I started on Amazon years ago (don't ask) who was trashing them for some reason as "right wing reactionaries" and sell-outs. It became pretty clear to me that The Clash was not a band he knew anything about and his entire beef was based on the line from London Calling "phony Beatlmemania has bitten the dust". Funny shit. Anyways, speaking of London Calling, how about Train in Vain? That is a perfect, perfect, PERFECT pop song. And a rare hidden track that became a bonafide classic to boot.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYK7bEo1Z4M