Battles VS The Strokes ++ Franz Ferdinand VS Television ++ Scritti Politti VS Arcade Fire AND SO ON

Ian Williams of up and coming NYC band Battles (tour dates) had this to say….

The Strokes were just rich kids from uptown New York; the children of the heads of supermodel agencies who formed a rock band and thought they deserved respect because of that. Suddenly the downtown, older form of punk rock got co-opted by the system. If ever there was a point where Gucci and rebellion were married together, it was right there. The Strokes have, basically, been responsible for five or six years of a new form of hair metal, in the guise of something more tasteful. Their music is post-9/11 party music because it came out that week and everybody wanted to dance. They’re seen as the rebirth of rock in the UK – but it’s a very conservative, old-fashioned idea of rock for the 21st century. As for their punk credentials, I’m not going to say anyone’s more authentic than anyone else … But the Strokes are the new Duran Duran; the new decadence for the new millennium. [The Guardian]

Oh man, I hope they don’t run into each other into the subway because if they do, there’s most certainly going to be a BATTLE! (Ba-dum-bum!) Oh wait, The Strokes probably don’t use the subway because they’re SO RICH! (Ba-dum-bum?……)

…..speaking of Duran Duran, they played that fan club show in NYC last night (June 17). Congrats to the winners of the contest.

…..and speaking of the Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr. is playing Webster Hall tonight (June 18).

A bunch of big shows happened in NYC recently. One of them was Franz Ferdinand playing a small show at Bowery Ballroom. Another was Television playing a big show at Central Park Summerstage. These two bands meet up in our second conflict. Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand had this to say….

People expect us to love Television the way they think we love Gang of Four and were influenced by them – but we don’t and we weren’t! Marquee Moon is one of those records that I thought I loved, but it was only after a few years I realised I didn’t love the album, just the first 10 bars of the title track, which are pretty astonishing….. [Guardian]

First Franz vs Paul, and now this.

The Guardian article goes on to pit Scritti Politti against the Arcade Fire (“the rhythms are pedestrian”), The Flaming Lips against Nirvana, Art Brut against The Stone Roses, and The Hold Steady against The Doors. (thx RS)