“I received into steel by Slipknot,” one Zoomer barista informed me final yr after recognizing my Killswitch Interact beanie. Success! I, an elder millennial tapping on 40, am formally nonetheless cool. Suck it, Boomers! My steel references won’t ever exit of trend! Surfacing nonetheless sounds as savagely heavy, as blisteringly pressing 25 years on because it ever did, and all the children agree with m-
“Dad rock kinda stuff,” the barista continued.
…sorry?
I felt like I’d simply taken a sniper shot straight to the guts. Slipknot? Dad rock? Certainly not?! I left, peppermint tea in hand, beanied head bowed and in a state of denial. Dad rock? Dad rock is Motörhead, Whitesnake and AC/DC, proper? No shade on any of these legendary bands – I am keen on all of them! – however how are you going to evaluate Angus Younger bobbing round in shorts to the visceral carnage of a Slipknot present?! Grooves so heavy they flip your pants inside out. Mosh pits so fierce they’d register on the Richter scale.
Clearly, I have not moshed at a Slipknot present shortly. Years and years, truly. I imply, I am almost 40. I might reasonably simply stand on the again and nod approvingl…oh no.
Nonetheless, I pushed the concept to the again of my mind. I’ve spent nearly my complete life figuring out ‘dad rock’ as representing a really particular period of bands – let’s name it from round 1970-1990. OG heavy steel. Traditional rock. Glam rock. You’ll be able to’t simply chuck the tag at any rock music that occurs to be over a decade outdated. Alright, Slipknot is nearer to a few a long time however nonetheless. Perhaps I am going to stretch my perimeters to incorporate the occasional early 90s band like Pearl Jam, however that is it.
And undoubtedly nothing that got here after 1993, OK?! That is when cool rock music actually began. Korn! Deftones! Limp Bizkit! System Of A Down! The true freaks, the outsiders, the edgy artists that immediately made a technology of rock and steel bands look knackered and previous it.
Sure, I am going to concede that is it been almost 4 years since Limp Bizkit poked enjoyable at their very own advancing years by releasing a track known as Dad Vibes with a Fred Durst makeover to match. However that was a joke! Plus children love nu steel anyway. And sure, I am keenly conscious you could purchase Slipknot merchandise from Debenhams now, however they’re cool designs for all ages.
Keep in mind once they launched that Now That is What I Name Dad Rock compilation about seven years in the past? I am going to relaxation my case with the tracklist: all 70s and 80s stuff. Queen, The Rolling Stones, Blue Oyster Cult, Meat Loaf, Whitesnake, Blink-182…oh, erm….Sum 41, ah….Fountains Of Wa…OK neglect it, dangerous instance. Who nonetheless listens to Now comps anyway?!
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In order I used to be saying, I pushed all of it to the again of my thoughts and went again to jamming Observe The Chief, White Pony and Toxicity, protected within the information that not solely do these albums go far too laborious to get the dad rock tag, however that every one these bands are arguably cooler than ever because of new generations embracing them and preserving them related.
Korn simply headlined Obtain for the primary time and are getting ADIDAS collabs. Deftones simply performed their largest UK present ever and are viral on TikTok. System Of A Down are going viral for having among the craziest crowds of their historical past. Dad rock may by no means!
And sure, OK, that every one occurred with the earlier generations of steel bands too. Iron Maiden turned a stadium band within the 2000s after Bruce Dickinson rejoined the band and metalheads my age jumped on board. They’ve by no means appeared again. However that was totally different as a result of…you recognize…Tik Tok and stuff.
Anyway, simply this morning I opened up Spotify to seek out that it had made this playlist for me.
Ah crap. Nice. Nu steel is dad rock. Metalcore is dad rock. I suppose emo is dad rock too, if we’re counting mid-career AFI as emo. I would as nicely embrace it. However can we provide you with a brand new tag for the actually outdated stuff to make me really feel higher? Gran-core? Let’s go together with that.
If anybody wants me subsequent week, I will be at Bloodstock Open Air, watching dad rock ultras Trivium bust out some old fashioned steel classics. However I am going to be certain that to catch some sensible youthful heavy bands like Paleface Swiss, Creeper, Heriot and Kublai Khan too. They are not dad rock but, proper? Proper?!