Swans - The '10s

They returned once more, to put the final nail in the coffin of rock music. M Gira and company have literally dissembled all that came before and stuffed it back in the womb, cowering and frightened, naked and permanently scarred.

The Naked And Famous

Hands down my favorite band of these '10s... 'teens? For anyone who was a child of the '80s, the last 10 years has been like a second coming of sorts. Ear candy to the Nth degree. I can't recommend TNAF enough.

Kyuss / Hermano / Unida

After Kyuss disbanded, Josh Homme went one way, finding success with QotSA, and singer John Garcia went another way - making kick-ass music in Unida and Hermano. I don't know why Garcia never found the success of his former partner. Unida is an absolute must for fans of The Cult, Circus of Power, and should even appeal to most QotSA fans.

Swans - The '00s

And by "Swans" I mean Swans-related. M Gira ended Swans in 1997, and by 1999 he was back under the Angels Of Light moniker.  What started out as a more subdued acoustic-based project slowly made its way to pretty much sounding like Swans by 2007's "We Are Him" album.  But gira did produce a lot of great music under the AoL name, so don't make the mistake of dismissing it.

Alice In Chains

Another rock 'n' roll tragedy. Imagine achieving more and more success with each release, leading to a #1 album in 1995... only to become inactive until the lead singer finally dies from an overdose some 6 years later.

RIP - Leonard Cohen

In my dreams, there is sometimes a roller rink. Leonard Cohen is always the soundtrack to those dreams.

Anti-Flag

Great punk rock band with strong social and political messages.  Seems highly apropos for some reason today.

New Order

Or... the poppy side of Joy Division.

Public Image Ltd

From the warbled strangeness of Metal Box to the pop electronics of 9, Lydon impresses more often than not.  The Pistols left an indelible mark with one, single album, but this is his real musical legacy.

Joy Division

An iconic band.  Should be in everyone's collection.  But, hey, you never know.  It's amazing to think these guys were barely adults when they started a very short career, which possibly influenced as many people as the Pistols.

Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs went from a kind of art-rock band with cacophonous guitar and saxophone to New Wave pop darlings and back again, leaving lots of great tunes in their wake.