A Boost for the Blues

Robert Hilburn’s article on the new wave of rock bands was excellent and inspiring (“Remember Rock?,” June 30).

I took note of Jack White’s comments about his blues influences. While rock will always need blues, the reality is, blues needs rock even more. When I was a kid in the ‘60s, I discovered blues at the Fillmore East. Bands like Cream, Ten Years After and the Dead led me to B.B. and Albert King.

I just played a show at Humphrey’s by the Bay on Shelter Island in San Diego (with the Mary Dukes band). As always, the reaction to Mary was great. The thing people tell me and Mary over and over is that it is great (and rare, these days) to see real blues. These days, the blues played on the radio are not classic blues. I believe, however, that people will respond positively to the real thing.

But unlike rock, there are no super-rich people or companies interested in spending money on blues. It would be great if, as in the ‘60s, blues bands could do shows opening for rock bands that support the blues.

JERRY ROSEN

South Side Records

www.southsidela.net

Los Angeles

*

Not only does Hilburn’s article, as well as his “The Best and the Brightest of the Passion Players,” smack of Johnny-come-latelyism, but they strike me as entirely inaccurate portrayals of a so-called scene that isn’t even old enough to warrant a label.

For starters, Hilburn betrays his obvious and well-documented bias against the Strokes by placing them on the same level of relevance and importance as the Vines and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and, in the process, elevating the Hives to the same “status” in the scene as the White Stripes.

Anyone who has been following the mainstream music press on either side of the Atlantic--be it New Musical Express, Q, Rolling Stone or Spin--for the last couple of years could tell you that the true trailblazers of this scene are the Stripes and the Strokes, not the Stripes and the Hives. Even Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist acknowledged in a recent interview with MTV News that his band would not have become as popular as it has without the benefit of those two bands coming first.

Why is Hilburn so reluctant to grant the Strokes the same credit? After reading Hilburn’s review of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last month, it was obvious to me he was intent on downplaying both the relevance and excellence of the Strokes’ LP and live show in favor of inflating his personal favorites. Perhaps Hilburn wasn’t present for the Strokes’ set at Coachella; I certainly wasn’t at the Mars Volta’s set. I can tell you, though, that there is no way the Mars Volta could touch the absolutely magical atmosphere of the Strokes set. It was breathtaking and exciting, the true buzz of the festival--not the overrated histrionics of Cedric Bixler and company.

LYNN ROBERTS

Sylmar

*

For once, I must agree with Hilburn (“Rock Passion Reborn,” June 30). Rock ‘n’ roll must surely have become as devoid of passion and creativity as he asserts, if we are now to find soul salvation from the likes of the White Stripes, the Hives, the Strokes, et al.

Why else should I pay attention to bands that try so desperately to assume the pose and yet fill the air with such hollow music? These guys make the Sex Pistols sound like Mozart. It couldn’t possibly be that Hilburn is trying another gambit to make sure we all listen to the proper music, is it? Or that, in desperation to find the next big thing, he’s grasping at the latest coffeehouse phenomena to assure us all that he’s still got it?

Face it, folks, these bands, lame as they are, still aim to be every bit the famous rock star as any other commercial artist. That they have wannabe rock-gurus like Hilburn fawning all over them is just another step up the ladder of success.

More power to them. Myself, I prefer bands that actually bother to get a bass player.

BOB LOZA

Burbank

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The bands Hilburn described have filled a void in rock--with ferocity, I might add.

However, I was disappointed to see he neglected to include a cornerstone band of this genre, the (International) Noise Conspiracy. I saw T.I.N.C. about two years ago at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim and also at the Roxy, and I was blown away. Within a year it seems like similar bands began to sprout like crabgrass. T.I.N.C. is definitely the forerunner in this area of rock. I think that it would behoove you to, as Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist of the Hives said, give “credit where credit is due.”

I understand that T.I.N.C.’s political views are a bit extreme for the sensitive capitalist underbelly of the great Western wonderland we call home, but a good number of us embrace the revolutionary, authority-questioning, passionate musings, distortions, croonings and rantings.

This is rock ‘n’ roll!

TIM ROSE

Costa Mesa

*

The White Stripes, the Hives and the rest definitely deserve the spotlight you have given them and their refreshing music. Maybe they will reintroduce the role of radio and non-arena entertainment to those too young to know otherwise.

DEBBIE YATSKA

Encino