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Since we last journeyed onto the Hot 100 two weeks ago, not much has changed; aside from a new song in the top slot, the Top 10 is a virtual repeat of our 10/29/07 column. So what better time to take a look at a different spot on the FM dial -- like oh, we don't know, the Modern Rock chart? If facial hair and angst is your thing, this set of songs should give you plenty of earphone food. Loosen your guitar straps and raise a fist to the sky -- here's our look at Billboard's Modern Rock Top 10 for the week of 11/12/07!
1.
Foo Fighters, "The
Pretender" (RCA/Roswell)
Head Foo Dave Grohl knows a thing or two about alternating dynamics,
and he reminds us of that here, seesawing between tense buildups and
a vintage aggro explosions. Good thing, too, because the song doesn’t
really have the kind of hook that justifies three and a half minutes
of repetition, or making the listener wait nearly a minute and a half
to hit the chorus. Then again, just have a listen to the other stuff
being served to the format right now, and this song’s 11 weeks at Number
One make all kinds of sense.
2. Seether, "Fake
It" (Wind-Up)
See? This rock & roll thing isn’t so tricky. Just curl your lip,
come up with a suitably crunchy groove and a few lines about why you’re
pissed off, and wham! Instant hit. Of course, it tends to help if your
song is kind of clever, and can boast a chuckle-inducing video that
also happens to feature a generous helping of bouncy, barely clad T&A.
Watch out, “The Pretender” – “Fake It” is coming for you.
3. Jimmy Eat World, "Big
Casino" (Interscope)
As a general rule, Jimmy Eat World’s songs will either leave you feeling
pumped up or wanting to slap the next sullen college freshman you see;
happily, “Big Casino” falls into the former category. It sounds a little
like Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard fronting Joshua Tree-era
U2, which probably means that Angels & Airwaves’ Tom DeLonge is
weeping softly into his Zima right about now.
4.
Linkin Park, "Bleed
It Out" (Warner Bros.)
Combining Billy Corgan’s persecution complex (and nails-on-a-chalkboard
screech) with the physical charisma of the kid who got teabagged during
your seventh-grade PE class’s wrestling unit, Linkin Park frontman Chester
Bennington serves up another 2:48 of whatever the hell it is he does
that makes people want to buy his band’s shitty records. At least Mike
Shinoda raps on this one. And it’s short.
5. Three Days Grace, "Never
Too Late" (Jive)
Sounds like more of the same whiny crap that’s dogged rock radio for
the last ten years, but there’s actually an uplifting message in here,
if you take the time to dig past the melodramatic wailing and find it.
“Never Too Late” also has one of the more interesting videos on this
week’s countdown – but still, it’s hard not to wish that the David Lee
Roth of 1985 could somehow take a time machine into 2007, deliver a
few sorely needed zibbity-zobbity-bops, and kick Three Days Grace singer
Adam Gontier right squah in the nuts.
6. Serj Tankian, "Empty
Walls" (Reprise/Serjical Strike)
Five years ago, left-wing pundits bemoaned the shortage of political
songs from contemporary rock artists; now, they’re popping up all over
the place, to the point that it’s possible to dismiss even the smartest
anti-Bush administration tune as “trendy.” But System of a Down’s Serj
Tankian was one of the only artists who had the stones to air out his
political convictions before the polls shifted – think of him as sort
of like a Dixie Chick with slightly more facial hair – so it shouldn’t
surprise you that “Empty Walls” finds him back in full-on polemic mode.
The video makes us miss Frank Zappa in the best possible way.
7.
Paramore, "Misery
Business" (Atlantic/Lava/Fueled by Ramen)
Jumping between performance footage that seems to have been filmed in
front of a blown-up reproduction of No Doubt’s Rock Steady
album artwork and what look like outtakes from the worst-ever episode
of “Boy Meets World,” Paramore’s “Misery Business” video tells the story
of a heartless high school bitch who gets her comeuppance by having
her stuffies yanked out in an empty hallway. The horror! (Bonus fun
fact: Paramore singer Hayley Williams apologized to fans for using the
phrase “God it feels so good” in the lyrics. Awwww!)
8. Finger Eleven, "Paralyzer"
(Wind-Up)
The Canadian band once known as the Rainbow Butt Monkeys elects to go
the Led Zeppelin/Franz Ferdinand mash-up route for the leadoff single
to its fifth album, and the results are every bit as mindlessly derivative
as you might think – but they’re also eminently danceable and, curiously,
somewhat awesome. Dig the fancy hoofin’ in the video!
9. The White Stripes, "You
Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)” (Warner Bros.)
It’s pretty bare-bones and retro, even for the White Stripes, but this
song’s overdriven guitars and dense, blocky rhythm would have sounded
just as comfortable on Modern Rock playlists 20 years ago, and there’s
something to be said for that. Maybe not a whole lot to be said, but
still – who needs to talk? Just turn it up and drive around for awhile.
10.
Chevelle, "I
Get It" (Epic)
Chevelle has never been as cool as its name, and everything wrong with
the band’s music is neatly, punishingly encapsulated in this unbearably
competent track. Seriously, is there anything in here that would have
escaped the grasp of any bottom-feeding group from the format’s so-called
“corporate rock” heyday? Anything on Triumph’s last album beats “I Get
It.” Ed Roland of Collective Soul probably farts songs like this in
his sleep, but he’s stuck playing minor-league ballparks with Third
Eye Blind, while these clowns are opening for Nickelback and inevitably
grabbing the kind of first-class groupie tail that only a Dove Award-winning
“Christian Alternative Metal” band can snag. (Which is not to say that
Collective Soul and/or Third Eye Blind don’t belong in minor-league
ballparks – just that Chevelle and Nickelback do.)
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