What are your favourite bands and why?

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I have a few favourite bands but my favourites are boysetsfire, Enter Shikari, Rise Against and Sick Of It All. They are kind of punk/rock/hardcore bands, and the main reason I like them is because they have mainly political lyrics which I really like (especially boysetsfire as they have a particularly similar political standpoint to me).
What bands are your favourites, and why do you like them?

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Shy, awkward 16 year old communist girl whose main interests are 9/11, roller coasters and the 1917 Russian Revolution. I might not have any friends but somehow I have a really amazing boyfriend

Modest Mouse. I have a very intense obsession with modest mouse and everything within its world. The singer Issac Brock is a absolutely amazing lyricist. He has his own iconic way of describing his view and reactions to life. A lot of its pretty existential and about constantly moving around while simultaneously winding in this feeling of appreciation for the beauty of nature even if its isn't in the lyrics but just the music. Honestly I think a few of the albums would have more context in the states but you know, art is art. I can very much identify with the music. He's an existential, probably bipolar, notorious drunkard/drug abuser. You know, a character. I have a deep passion and ever-growing knowledge of this band.

Back in the day I used to be a huge Plasmatics fan. I saw them play once (The Exploited opened) and I saw a Wendy O. Williams show. I loved the band because they were a unique blend of metal and punk. Wendt didn't sing. Her style was sprechtstimme, like Lou Reed, Jim Carroll or Ian Dury. She wore whatever she wanted onstage, and it was usually risqué. She challenged authority and took chances by blowing TV's up as well as rigging explosions in buses. I loved the whole "idea" of the Plasmatics. They were a sight to behold.

At the moment: Buzzcocks and 'family' (so Magazine and Pete Shelley solo - but I haven't got into Flag of Convenience/Steve Diggle yet.)

They basically started the Manchester music scene proper. And I think they are underrated compared to The Smiths. Pete Shelley is much cooler than Morrissey. He's much less of a headline-grabbing, arrogant fool than Morrissey, so he's less well-known. Also, Morrissey sort of copied him. And Magazine/Howard Devoto are very awesome. And Buzzcocks still tour; I've seen them a few times and they were good - not just good for a bunch of middle-aged men but actually good.

In case someone has a go at me for saying this stuff: I actually like The Smiths a lot. I also like Morrissey, even if he is all the things I called him before. I just find it weird that people have written quite a lot of books about them whereas the only 2 books about Buzzcocks (one of which is Steve's crappy autobiography) are both out of print. I just think Buzzcocks are the most underrated Manchester band compared to how significant and influential they were (I know there are tonnes of bands from my city, but I'm talking about those that had a big impact on pop music.) The only other major Manchester band that's just as underrated from that era is The Fall, and Buzzcocks are much easier to listen to than The Fall (whom I also love, btw.)

I like Buzzcocks because the lyrics are so straight-forward and easy to relate to, without sounding trite. I like that it's a punk band mostly singing about relationships in this vulnerable, non-macho sort of way. And they're really tight and the rhythm section is superb. They're not the most avant-garde or challenging group in the world, but they did do some interesting stuff musically (especially around 79/80 when they took lots of acid.) If you want avant-garde and challenging, though - Magazine are/were superb. Pete Shelly also recorded a noise album on a home-made synthesizer when he was 18 at university; it's basically unlistenable, but it was all whole year before Metal Machine Music was released.

I used to have a massive obsession with The Kinks, but I'm too young to have ever seen them. I want to see Ray Davies before he dies, like I got to see Lou Reed. The Velvet Underground are also one of my all-time favourite bands, though I have to say that I listen more to the solo projects that they spawned, rather than their actual 60s albums.

I love The Kinks longtime and I'm glad they sort of got the recognition they deserved during the 90s Britpop era. I still massively prefer them to any other 60s British invasion band (including The Beatles.) They just had the most interesting songs and lyrics and I like the primitive garage-like quality to their early recordings, though I realise that would put most people off. Ray Davies also wrote the most interesting, coherent concept albums, even if some of the tracks on them are a bit weak.

Ah sorry about this; I should've put a special interest warning up.

I love music. It's so difficult to choose favourites.

I'm listening to Haim alot at the moment. I just love the sound. It's peaceful, but a bit edgy at the same time which is a great mix. I love Churvhes and London Grammar too. They've got wonderful, interesting voices with beautiful aching melodies and interesting sounds going on throughout the music.

Older groups, I love Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy that sort of thing. I like how stripped back their music is and the slightly jarring, but equally pleasing vocals.

Even older, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Wishbone Ash, lots of guitars going on there with some intersting twists and turns.

I love 60s music too. The Frost, The Zombies, Crosby Stills and Nash, it was time for having fun with new sounds and melodies and you can feel the joy of making music conveyed in the sounds. It's not like the corporate, highly polished pop music churned out by the industry today.

More modern, I do like a bit of Dubstep. I just can't get enough of Nero's Welcome to Reality. I like Grimes as well. I like the 80s synth influence, even though I found it annoying in the 80s. I guess it sort of stuck somewhere in my subconcious and sounds comfortingly familiar.

I listen to a wide variety of old punk. I love the Clash, Operation Ivy/Rancid, Social Distortion, Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Buzzcocks, NoFX, etc...

But my favorite band is PUSA. You cannot listen to an album like Pure Frosting and remain sad, depressed, or in the grips of any sort of negativity. A lot of people dismiss the Presidents as some kind of silly novelty act, but that's exactly why I like them so much. Life's too short to indulge in a bunch of angst-ridden nonsense.

PS

They have a new live & a new studio album releasing next month!

WooHOO!

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/pusa

Puddingmouse we seem to have some overlap in our musical tastes.

I guess that "my band" is still The Smiths, although I know that Morrissey has revealed himself to be a prize pillock on numerous occasions. I started listening to them when they were current and even saw them live once. It was the lyrics about rejection, loneliness and sexual ambiguity that appealed to me. I liked the idea of valuing innocence, true love and literature) which was pretty subversive in the 1980s when compared to the "cock rock" attitude prevalent in the music most of my peers liked. A lot of people criticise The Smiths for being miserablists but there was a strong sense of humour there and the songs were warm hearted rather than nihilistic.

The Smiths acted as a "gateway drug" to other Indie, Post-Punk and Alternative bands like The Fall, Joy Division/New Order, Orange Juice (I can see a lot of Orange Juice influence on The Smiths), XTC, Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Only Ones etc.

The Smiths seemed to give rise to a whole bunch of similar (ish) bands which I also liked: James, The Wedding Present, The Woodentops, The Shop Assistants etc which attracted the label C86 or Twee Pop. I listened to them and still like them. I like the unpolished sound, unpredictable song structures and innocent, often witty, lyrics.

The mid-late 80s corresponded to my student years and was the time I was most passionate about music. Since then I've learned to love a lot of classic 60s and 70s stuff from before my time (Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Velvet Underground, Dylan, Byrds, T.Rex, Bowie etc) and a lot of punk (Pistols, Clash, Jam, Stiff Little Fingers etc). There have even been a few bands after the end of the 80s I liked - Suede in particular and I enjoyed quite a bit of the Britpop stuff.

I seem to always return to the Post-Punk/Indie Pop and Alternative era/genre though. I still keep finding bands from the era that I didn't know at the time (like The Monochrome Set and Gang of Four) that I didn't know at the time. If anyone can recommend me anything based on what I've said please post them.

I'm hugely into music. There are so many bands that I could write about but I'll restrict myself to a few:

Alice In Chains - I love the vocal harmonies in their music which sound so haunting and really complement the often dark themes in their lyrics. Jerry Cantrell's guitar riffs owe a great debt to the great Tony Iommi and their acoustic material is often just as good as their heavier songs.

Black Sabbath - Speaking of Mr. Iommi, he is responsible for creating an entirely new style of music as a result of an industrial accident and turned this misfortune into the blueprint for so much of the metal genre. Throw in the unique contributions from Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and of course Ozzy Osbourne and you have one of the most influential acts in rock history.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Nick Cave is the coolest man alive IMO. His stage presence is electrifying and he never seems to struggle to come up with interesting music and memorable lyrics.

Slayer - Always my favourite of the big four thrash bands, Slayer pushed the boundaries of extremity in heavy metal. Many other bands have outdone in terms of sheer heaviness but virtually all of them have been influenced by them in some way. There's just something about thus band that makes me want to bang my head like mad when I hear them even if I suffer from the physical effects. I could barely move my neck for three days after I last saw them live!

They Might Be Giants, Devo, and Bare Naked Ladies.
Their music is usually funny and just off the wall, and the artists themselves seem like artsy nerds. No other reason.

There's too many groups and reasons for me to detail it all, but some of my faves include Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Skillet, Michael Jackson, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and the Backstreet Boys. I was never a large fan of The Beatles for some odd reason, though.

Alice in Chains is my favourite right now, I can relate to the lyrics(unfortunately), the sound is very fitting to them as well and the band's personnel are probably the most humble and authentic of all of the rock bands with any kind of success. I also listen to Jerry Cantrell's solo materal and Layne Staley's work with Mad Season for the same reasons.

Coheed and Cambria is another I like for the same reasons is AIC. The musicianship is some of the best in rock of any kind and its strange how a concept band who's songs and records tell the story of a 78 planet space galaxy can be so relatable to the one we live in.

Therapy? is another one I listen too lately, for much the same reasons is AIC. Sadly I relate to much of their early material at least. This band is simple to listen to and simple to tab.

Soundgarden, great grunge band, a pleasant reminder of my childhood since their material was in one of my video games. Temple of the Dog should get a mention here as it was a retrospective super group of SG and Pearl Jam, beautiful songs and all relatable.

Pearl Jam, I like most of there early material and some of their new as well, they have so much respect for their fans, who else would have taken Ticketmaster on?

There are meny others, a lot of grunge, hard rock, alternative folk, roots rock type of things.

I have no interest in rock star types, people full of themselves, sellouts, people who write about nothing or relationships etc.

I'm rather obsessive about Primus and all things Les Claypool. Pork Soda was my intro to them, and Seas of Cheese got me to pick up the bass. I'm largely self-taught and play mostly their stuff; it's just such a great stress reliever. I own every album they've released, including a bootleg tape or two, along with all of Les's solo work. His playing style is a clear standout for me, but his lyrics and story telling ability completely clinches it for me. I love his humor and the characters he invents. I even read his book, "South of the Pumphouse," and loved it. I believe he is a true renaissance man, and likely the closest thing my generation has to Pink Floyd. They are a VERY close second to Mr. Claypool in my catalog and don't know if it gets much better than shutting off all the lights, closing my eyes, and listening to Echoes for some serious relaxation.

I like discovering new sounds but there are some bands/artists I listen to a lot (last couple of years), usually because I like their sound, lyrics come second, such as:
The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Florence and the Machine, Ben Howard (I am so mainstream, haha)

Oh jeez. I'll listen to almost anything, so it's very difficult to pick favorites because it would be too hard to compare other favorites from them.

That said, I guess I'll just say what I'm listening to the most at the moment. It's mostly Daft Punk (both older and newer stuff), Deadmau5, Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, Six Pence None The Richer, Mackelmore and Ryan Louis, and Ingrid Michaelson.