The Song Remains The Same

I got into a discussion with my friend on Saturday night over, namely, Coldplay and the Kooks. I’m not afraid to admit that I like either; neither set out with the intention to revolutionise the music industry so we are in no position to criticise when they haven’t.

Anyway, we were not discussing their credibility on the music scene, but more the sound of their songs. My friend believes they are too ‘same-y’ and that their material is essentially just slight variations of each other. I maintain it’s simply their musical style we hear; there is an obvious distinction between ‘Yellow’ and ‘Viva La Vida’, for example.

When you hear a song, you can usually distinguish a band by analysing several components. Soft rock guitar? Check. Sporadic infusions of drums and piano? Check. Chris Martin’s somewhat effeminate voice? Check. It must be Coldplay! But these elements that supposedly makes Coldplay’s work ‘same-y’ are surely applicable to any band. If you listen to many Beatles albums, aside from the natural progression they display as a band, the recognisable Liverpudlian tones and pop permeated guitar strummings conjure up that fuzzy feeling of familiarity inside you. But do you hear anyone really harp on about all the Beatles tracks sounding the same as each other? No, they wouldn’t dare.

Nowadays we expect too much from our music and the artists in general. Fifty years ago popular music was still very much in its developmental stages, and the limited number of recording artists reflected that. Fast forward and we now have hundreds of new bands attempting to infiltrate their way into our musical sub-conscience every day. We are spoilt for choice and as a result expect substantial variety in order to reflect the supply and demand. The fact is, with a band, such as Coldplay, their individual sound is not the repetitive problem we have here. It simply comes down to the fact that the genres have been over-saturated with bands competing for the same audience and our expectant selves have become too gluttonous.