I know some of you guys (I forgot your usernames) recently said on here that alt-rock has made a comeback this decade. I have not seen proof of that happening. Can you guys provide me with examples of new alt-rock songs that have came out this decade?

I honestly don't see rock music in general making a comeback at all. The culture has been moving away from rock music for years. Rock is basically going to be like jazz in the 1960s - a largely past peak genre.

There are a number of factors working against a rock revival.

Living conditions: It's no secret the cost of housing and rent have been going through the roof for years, especially in large cultural centers like New York. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted salaries have only started going up in the past few years, and that is surely no longer going to be the case now.

You can't exactly expect to start a band in someone's garage when you can't afford one.

Demographics: While rock started off as an invention of the black community, it has been painted as white people music for years. While music should obviously never be restricted by race, it still influences perceptions, the course of the genre etc. With less and less young white people, rock music loses its youthful blood.

Memes: For better or (I'll be honest) worse, so many songs now owe the chief source of their popularity to memes. Rap and pop music, with their focus on danceability and repetition, are much better suited for this landscape.

Stagnation: Similar to jazz, rock now suffers from stagnation. Look at how much rock music fans elevate the old school acts (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, etc.) as near untouchable gods and tend to contrast them with "lesser" newer music.

This used to not be the case - rock had no problem "killing it's heroes" for the sake of something new. Now, those heroes are elevated and emulated. The end result is stuff like Greta Van Fleet that does nothing other than outright copy the sound of older acts (Led Zeppelin in this case). It's hard to get people excited about a genre that's doing nothing new. Love it or hate it, mumble rap WAS something brand new.

In summary, I think rock music's time has come and gone. It's no longer relevant, has consistently failed to update itself, and the conditions no longer allow for a revival.

I honestly don't see rock music in general making a comeback at all. The culture has been moving away from rock music for years. Rock is basically going to be like jazz in the 1960s - a largely past peak genre.

There are a number of factors working against a rock revival.

Living conditions: It's no secret the cost of housing and rent have been going through the roof for years, especially in large cultural centers like New York. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted salaries have only started going up in the past few years, and that is surely no longer going to be the case now.

You can't exactly expect to start a band in someone's garage when you can't afford one.

Demographics: While rock started off as an invention of the black community, it has been painted as white people music for years. While music should obviously never be restricted by race, it still influences perceptions, the course of the genre etc. With less and less young white people, rock music loses its youthful blood.

Memes: For better or (I'll be honest) worse, so many songs now owe the chief source of their popularity to memes. Rap and pop music, with their focus on danceability and repetition, are much better suited for this landscape.

Stagnation: Similar to jazz, rock now suffers from stagnation. Look at how much rock music fans elevate the old school acts (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, etc.) as near untouchable gods and tend to contrast them with "lesser" newer music.

This used to not be the case - rock had no problem "killing it's heroes" for the sake of something new. Now, those heroes are elevated and emulated. The end result is stuff like Greta Van Fleet that does nothing other than outright copy the sound of older acts (Led Zeppelin in this case). It's hard to get people excited about a genre that's doing nothing new. Love it or hate it, mumble rap WAS something brand new.

In summary, I think rock music's time has come and gone. It's no longer relevant, has consistently failed to update itself, and the conditions no longer allow for a revival.


As a die hard rock fan who has been collecting music since the late 60s I must, with a heavy heart, pretty much agree with the points of your assessment. There will be no "resurgence". Even no less a rock icon than Neil Young sang,in the late 70s  as punk decimated the old rock stars, "once you're gone you can't come back".  What amazes me is how many of my peer group are in a bubble and don't see that it's gone. They say "oh it's still around, kids are still forming groups...". Yeah, well not that many and even the ones that are have NONE of the matter-of-life-and-death, go-for-blood importance and intensity about them that bands had in the 60s and 70s when music drove the culture and rock stars were the leaders of the charge. Have you seen these "indie bands" around now? My God, "baby-ish" is the only word that comes to mind! And even bands like Greta Van Fleet...I do not doubt their sincerity or their talent, but too often they come across as kids playing dress up with a bunch of old rock and roll clothes from the 70s they found in their parent's (or grandparent's) closet. SIGH.

I honestly don't see rock music in general making a comeback at all. The culture has been moving away from rock music for years. Rock is basically going to be like jazz in the 1960s - a largely past peak genre.

There are a number of factors working against a rock revival.

Living conditions: It's no secret the cost of housing and rent have been going through the roof for years, especially in large cultural centers like New York. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted salaries have only started going up in the past few years, and that is surely no longer going to be the case now.

You can't exactly expect to start a band in someone's garage when you can't afford one.

Demographics: While rock started off as an invention of the black community, it has been painted as white people music for years. While music should obviously never be restricted by race, it still influences perceptions, the course of the genre etc. With less and less young white people, rock music loses its youthful blood.

Memes: For better or (I'll be honest) worse, so many songs now owe the chief source of their popularity to memes. Rap and pop music, with their focus on danceability and repetition, are much better suited for this landscape.

Stagnation: Similar to jazz, rock now suffers from stagnation. Look at how much rock music fans elevate the old school acts (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, etc.) as near untouchable gods and tend to contrast them with "lesser" newer music.

This used to not be the case - rock had no problem "killing it's heroes" for the sake of something new. Now, those heroes are elevated and emulated. The end result is stuff like Greta Van Fleet that does nothing other than outright copy the sound of older acts (Led Zeppelin in this case). It's hard to get people excited about a genre that's doing nothing new. Love it or hate it, mumble rap WAS something brand new.

In summary, I think rock music's time has come and gone. It's no longer relevant, has consistently failed to update itself, and the conditions no longer allow for a revival.


Yeah, I hear you.

However by the 2000s and throughout the mid 2010s there was a lot of rock popularity with metal revival (numerous genres), post-hardcore, metalcore, punk (street punk, hardcore, pop punk ), emo/screamo, and alternative/indie rock, experimental esoteric music etc without heavy mainstream exposure like the past and without the traditional music industry structure, mainly due to a lot of online exposure, social media, mp3s etc.

Also considering the ease to form a band, toss your stuff online without necessarily worrying about being signed, recording in an studio, pressing stuff on physical formats, traditional media exposure etc.

I would say rock popularity isn't as big as it was in 2005 or 2012 but still is pretty big, just not big in the way that was in 50s to the 90s nor as innovative as it should be. There are too many bands stuck in emulating a style from the past and or just stuck in a genre.

It's hard to know if it will ever come back, as the old structure has changed. Hopefully it does!

I didn’t know it ever left.

I honestly don't see rock music in general making a comeback at all. The culture has been moving away from rock music for years. Rock is basically going to be like jazz in the 1960s - a largely past peak genre.

There are a number of factors working against a rock revival.

Living conditions: It's no secret the cost of housing and rent have been going through the roof for years, especially in large cultural centers like New York. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted salaries have only started going up in the past few years, and that is surely no longer going to be the case now.

You can't exactly expect to start a band in someone's garage when you can't afford one.

Demographics: While rock started off as an invention of the black community, it has been painted as white people music for years. While music should obviously never be restricted by race, it still influences perceptions, the course of the genre etc. With less and less young white people, rock music loses its youthful blood.

Memes: For better or (I'll be honest) worse, so many songs now owe the chief source of their popularity to memes. Rap and pop music, with their focus on danceability and repetition, are much better suited for this landscape.

Stagnation: Similar to jazz, rock now suffers from stagnation. Look at how much rock music fans elevate the old school acts (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, etc.) as near untouchable gods and tend to contrast them with "lesser" newer music.

This used to not be the case - rock had no problem "killing it's heroes" for the sake of something new. Now, those heroes are elevated and emulated. The end result is stuff like Greta Van Fleet that does nothing other than outright copy the sound of older acts (Led Zeppelin in this case). It's hard to get people excited about a genre that's doing nothing new. Love it or hate it, mumble rap WAS something brand new.

In summary, I think rock music's time has come and gone. It's no longer relevant, has consistently failed to update itself, and the conditions no longer allow for a revival.


I would largely argue that demographics and stagnation have contributed to the downfall of rock.

Rock has begun to sound stale to young ears and has just been seen as "white man's music" too; considering how the music industry not only works on a sound but an image, and how people consume music based on that too, younger audiences may feel incredibly alienated by rock music's dominant demographic.

I've listened to some more obscure rock music but they don't tend to get attention either because of that reason of rock gods or because rock was becoming stale at that point especially with the introduction of new genres.

Personally I don't feel like that other genres of music can appeal to me in the same way but I understand why rock may not ever come back.

I think alt-rock and general rock will still stay relevant, but it'll probably be in the underground for good, just like jazz. Rap and pop music appeals to a wider audience, and the two genres will probably be popular for years to come as Gen Z becomes more racially and ethnically diverse.

And this is coming from a black guy who listens to all kinds of music, especially alt-rock acts like Tame Impala or Radiohead.

Well known commentator Bob Lefsetz had this to say about it in 2017. He basically writes the same column over and over, but this is the one I could find.

Why Rock Died
by Bob Lefsetz

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2017/06/29/why-rock-died/

Well known commentator Bob Lefsetz had this to say about it in 2017. He basically writes the same column over and over, but this is the one I could find.

Why Rock Died
by Bob Lefsetz

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2017/06/29/why-rock-died/


I like how he understood the problem with rock music today, and this is my favorite quote from the article:

"Like I stated above, it lost touch with the street. Everybody can make hip-hop. There’s a constantly changing cast of characters, new people are winning all the time, but rock is self-referential and repetitive. We need a new punk movement, something to shake it all up, but all we have is acts that are repeating forty year old formulas. Or moving off in unlistenable directions."

I like how he understood the problem with rock music today, and this is my favorite quote from the article:

"Like I stated above, it lost touch with the street. Everybody can make hip-hop. There’s a constantly changing cast of characters, new people are winning all the time, but rock is self-referential and repetitive. We need a new punk movement, something to shake it all up, but all we have is acts that are repeating forty year old formulas. Or moving off in unlistenable directions."


He posts a column on his blog pretty much every day. You should check it out. He can be infuriating but also has insightful things to say. he's an old guy (like me!) but keeps in touch with the way things are trending while at the same time being grounded in the way things once were. He sometimes writes about things other than music as well, like the way the virus is being handled.

Personally, there could be chance because you never know, but I doubt it's going ever gong to become mainstream as it was in the 2000s and 90s .  Rock in general hasn't really been popular on the charts since the late 2000s.

It pains me to say it as a huge rock fan myself, but too much time has passed since rock was last culturally relevant for it to make a proper comeback. Think of it this way; the teens who were engaging in the Myspace "emo" subculture of the Mid-Late 2000s are now in their late 20s, early 30s. Many of them are now married, have possibly put a deposit on a house and are starting to raise a family. They were the last core target audience for a rock subculture. Now they are at a stage in their lives where they are not even engaging with the youth culture of today.

Also, the current crop of high schoolers were either just starting school or learning how to walk during the Late 2000s, the last era in which rock was culturally relevant in the mainstream and making it onto the charts. Members of the Class of 2020 were just 2 years old when Green Day's American Idiot was released in 2004, 4 years old when My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade was released, as well as only being 10 years old when Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive" was a hit back in 2012. Unless their parents listened to rock music in the car or heavily exposed them to it through some other means, the genre simply wouldn't resonate with the teens of today in the same way that it did with previous generations. They're the first "post-rock" generation, if anything.

As a die hard rock fan who has been collecting music since the late 60s I must, with a heavy heart, pretty much agree with the points of your assessment. There will be no "resurgence". Even no less a rock icon than Neil Young sang,in the late 70s  as punk decimated the old rock stars, "once you're gone you can't come back".  What amazes me is how many of my peer group are in a bubble and don't see that it's gone. They say "oh it's still around, kids are still forming groups...". Yeah, well not that many and even the ones that are have NONE of the matter-of-life-and-death, go-for-blood importance and intensity about them that bands had in the 60s and 70s when music drove the culture and rock stars were the leaders of the charge. Have you seen these "indie bands" around now? My God, "baby-ish" is the only word that comes to mind! And even bands like Greta Van Fleet...I do not doubt their sincerity or their talent, but too often they come across as kids playing dress up with a bunch of old rock and roll clothes from the 70s they found in their parent's (or grandparent's) closet. SIGH.



Voiceofthe70s, I agree with what you said about Indie Rock bands. Three or four weeks ago, I was shopping at my local supermarket and heard 2010s Indie Rock song (Wikipedia lists it as an Indie Rock song) We Are Young by Fun playing on the store's in-store radio. After the supermarket's in-store radio played We Are Young, it played an Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s (I forgot the name 2000 of the song). The Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s sounded like a Rock song. We Are Young did not sound like a Rock song. It sounded like a Pop song. To piggyback off of what you said, We Are Young lacked the intensity that a real rock song has. With that being said, you might as well say that Indie Rock is really Pop. That's the reason why I want Alternative Rock to make a comeback. I don't like Indie Rock and I am getting tired of hearing Indie Rock songs. Indie Rock is not Rock.

It pains me to say it as a huge rock fan myself, but too much time has passed since rock was last culturally relevant for it to make a proper comeback. Think of it this way; the teens who were engaging in the Myspace "emo" subculture of the Mid-Late 2000s are now in their late 20s, early 30s. Many of them are now married, have possibly put a deposit on a house and are starting to raise a family. They were the last core target audience for a rock subculture. Now they are at a stage in their lives where they are not even engaging with the youth culture of today.

Also, the current crop of high schoolers were either just starting school or learning how to walk during the Late 2000s, the last era in which rock was culturally relevant in the mainstream and making it onto the charts. Members of the Class of 2020 were just 2 years old when Green Day's American Idiot was released in 2004, 4 years old when My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade was released, as well as only being 10 years old when Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive" was a hit back in 2012. Unless their parents listened to rock music in the car or heavily exposed them to it through some other means, the genre simply wouldn't resonate with the teens of today in the same way that it did with previous generations. They're the first "post-rock" generation, if anything.

True and I'm sad that I'm more Gen Z. It's also sad that well those grown-ups you mentioned that are entering their 30s can't engage with the youth because these days, it's a terrible time for them to even exist since everyone is struggling to put a roof over their heads.

Voiceofthe70s, I agree with what you said about Indie Rock bands. Three or four weeks ago, I was shopping at my local supermarket and heard 2010s Indie Rock song (Wikipedia lists it as an Indie Rock song) We Are Young by Fun playing on the store's in-store radio. After the supermarket's in-store radio played We Are Young, it played an Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s (I forgot the name 2000 of the song). The Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s sounded like a Rock song. We Are Young did not sound like a Rock song. It sounded like a Pop song. To piggyback off of what you said, We Are Young lacked the intensity that a real rock song has. With that being said, you might as well say that Indie Rock is really Pop. That's the reason why I want Alternative Rock to make a comeback. I don't like Indie Rock and I am getting tired of hearing Indie Rock songs. Indie Rock is not Rock.
I too want a comeback of rock. Indie rock lacks the edge that more conventional rock had against the cultural establishment including its characteristic sound (deemed Satanic in a thread I wrote under either Tenacious Tuxedo Talk or More than a Decade, I can't remember where exactly), but more issue was taken to the gender non-conforming style and seemingly anti-Christian lyrics and image of rockstars.
Rock music was what pushed a more gender non-conforming aesthetic into acceptance that at least some youth celebrate. It also pushed against an orthodoxy in regards to religion and other areas of life which youth these days tend to take a little for granted, well, those who live in typical Western backgrounds.

It pains me to say it as a huge rock fan myself, but too much time has passed since rock was last culturally relevant for it to make a proper comeback. Think of it this way; the teens who were engaging in the Myspace "emo" subculture of the Mid-Late 2000s are now in their late 20s, early 30s. Many of them are now married, have possibly put a deposit on a house and are starting to raise a family. They were the last core target audience for a rock subculture. Now they are at a stage in their lives where they are not even engaging with the youth culture of today.

Also, the current crop of high schoolers were either just starting school or learning how to walk during the Late 2000s, the last era in which rock was culturally relevant in the mainstream and making it onto the charts. Members of the Class of 2020 were just 2 years old when Green Day's American Idiot was released in 2004, 4 years old when My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade was released, as well as only being 10 years old when Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive" was a hit back in 2012. Unless their parents listened to rock music in the car or heavily exposed them to it through some other means, the genre simply wouldn't resonate with the teens of today in the same way that it did with previous generations. They're the first "post-rock" generation, if anything.


It honestly sucks that rock isn't popular anymore on the charts, but thanks to streaming services, I don't think it'll ever "die" off in people's interests. Countless rock bands are now at our disposal and are still gaining traction in the underground.

Voiceofthe70s, I agree with what you said about Indie Rock bands. Three or four weeks ago, I was shopping at my local supermarket and heard 2010s Indie Rock song (Wikipedia lists it as an Indie Rock song) We Are Young by Fun playing on the store's in-store radio. After the supermarket's in-store radio played We Are Young, it played an Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s (I forgot the name 2000 of the song). The Alternative Rock song from the early-2000s sounded like a Rock song. We Are Young did not sound like a Rock song. It sounded like a Pop song. To piggyback off of what you said, We Are Young lacked the intensity that a real rock song has. With that being said, you might as well say that Indie Rock is really Pop. That's the reason why I want Alternative Rock to make a comeback. I don't like Indie Rock and I am getting tired of hearing Indie Rock songs. Indie Rock is not Rock.


It may be a just matter of semantics at this point, but indie rock, as toothless and babyish as it is, isn't EXACTLY "pop".  The indie bands are painfully earnest, but it's such a self-conscious kind of earnestness. It's all wrapped up in itself. It has none of the radical, raw honesty, the "lets go wherever this takes us", without-a-net abandon of the best of 1960s rock.  Whereas today's pop has none of the painful earnestness, effete as it is, of the indie bands. The pop "artists" may take THEMSELVES seriously, but they know their music, created by committee by the Max Martins and Dr. Lukes of the world, is nothing more than a "brand".  It's very cynical that way, despite whatever the lyrics may be espousing.

It may be a just matter of semantics at this point, but indie rock, as toothless and babyish as it is, isn't EXACTLY "pop".  The indie bands are painfully earnest, but it's such a self-conscious kind of earnestness. It's all wrapped up in itself. It has none of the radical, raw honesty, the "lets go wherever this takes us", without-a-net abandon of the best of 1960s rock.  Whereas today's pop has none of the painful earnestness, effete as it is, of the indie bands. The pop "artists" may take THEMSELVES seriously, but they know their music, created by committee by the Max Martins and Dr. Lukes of the world, is nothing more than a "brand".  It's very cynical that way, despite whatever the lyrics may be espousing.
It isn't and while it doesn't get the playtime of pop music in the radio and other mainstream sources, I guess the sound is something that transcends languages and sometimes cultural barriers. I feel like indie rock sounded too inoffensive to be appealing early on in the 2010s and rock just stopped being fashionable among the youth altogether as the decade progressed almost as a result. So I guess we are stuck with corporate-owned pop and hip hop music sadly these days. Rock too is corporate owned but it had a sound and an aesthetic that was seen as offensive almost from its inception. Hip hop too but not for a reason that appealed to me beyond its "f*** the police" message.

It honestly sucks that rock isn't popular anymore on the charts, but thanks to streaming services, I don't think it'll ever "die" off in people's interests. Countless rock bands are now at our disposal and are still gaining traction in the underground.


This is what I was saying. And the early 2010s to mid 2010s genre was still huge. Today just a bit less but mostly the same.

Look at the sheer number of festivals, bands, fans, social media channels etc

We’ve already moved passed the old model of charts being a measure of mainstream popularity.

I don't but indie-pop already is back and quite popular now in the mainstream.

I don't but indie-pop already is back and quite popular now in the mainstream.


Which indie-pop artists are popular? And please don't say Billie Eilish, because she's in the "alternative pop" category.

Which indie-pop artists are popular? And please don't say Billie Eilish, because she's in the "alternative pop" category.

Whatever, same thing. We can all it alt-pop then.

Whatever, same thing. We can all it alt-pop then.


There are still distinctions, though. Actual indie music is when artists or bands release their music without a major record label. Alternative music is applied to artists that are signed to a major label but they go outside of the mainstream norms in terms of eccentric musical production and quality.

There are still distinctions, though. Actual indie music is when artists or bands release their music without a major record label. Alternative music is applied to artists that are signed to a major label but they go outside of the mainstream norms in terms of eccentric musical production and quality.

Ok then I meant alt-pop.

It's not coming back lol. It's dead and buried, more than ever before.

Can't remember the last time there was a hyped up alt rock project.

It's not coming back lol. It's dead and buried, more than ever before.

Can't remember the last time there was a hyped up alt rock project.


Agreed, it's dead in the water. Alt rock became popular in a context when Gen Xers were young and rock was still a dominant youth cultural force.

It was an underground scene(from the ashes of punk rock) that was "alternative" to the mainstream 1980s pop culture and became over ground in the '90s.

Agreed, it's dead in the water. Alt rock became popular in a context when Gen Xers were young and rock was still a dominant youth cultural force.

It was an underground scene(from the ashes of punk rock) that was "alternative" to the mainstream 1980s pop culture and became over ground in the '90s.


Millenials also had pop punk and emo in the 2000s, but indie rock transitioned into indie pop in the early 2010s with acts like Foster the People, Gotye, Awolnation, and fun..