What We Want From Rock in 2015

Last year threw up a plethora of rock world shit I’d love to see the back of. Things like bands deciding en-masse to release their music on cassette, because god forbid should anybody actually be able to listen to it. Every artist revealing that their next record was to be “heavier but more melodic”. Anyone bitching about [insert 5SOS/Black Veil Brides teenie band here] when their fans and parents are the essentially the sole benefactors of a dying industry. Oh, and every vocalist insisting we all crouch on the ground and jump up (I know it’s going to look good for the #sidestage crew’s IG videos, however, those of us forced to enact this tired routine can’t summon the enthusiasm again).

But, as much as I’d love to throw all this in Room 101, there are three broader demands that I’d make of British rock for 2015.

By the end of last year, it was evident that British rock was creeping back into the peripheries of popular culture once more, but it would be refreshing to see it take more risks. While it’s great to see bands topping iTunes charts and getting Radio 1 play, 2015 presents the real risk of too many edges being softened. How did Slipknot crossover? By being metal as fuck. By finding their niche, by not wavering to trends, by having a strong “brand”. Ergo cult band. If a more mainstream success is the aim, being bold and inventive can be the path. Hearing more rock on Radio 1 in 2015 would be commercially and financially good for British bands and perhaps it could be done by being less compromising.

When Viv Albertine of The Slits spoke last year about music – and rock music – becoming “bread and circus entertainment” she was by and large right. The current political climate is aching for British bands to become more engaged. There’s nothing wrong with music purely for entertainment, but we’ve reached a climate in which punk rock ethics could be applied to see the genre become a part of cultural conversation once again.

There’s no denying that we’ve made a strong start. We have a few intelligent, articulate bands like Enter Shikari, who have become increasingly socio-political in their lyrical content and mood. Even those who don’t get on with their trance-post-hardcore music can respect the sentiment and messages behind the songs. Take “Anaesthetist” (above), for example. A track that sees Rou Reynolds screaming “You will not profit off our health” – a passionate response to the depressing and inevitable privatisation of the NHS. It’s fearless, it’s engaging and alongside his other inspiring politically minded output, I’d say it makes Rou Reynolds one of the most important British rockstars of recent years.

In a similar vein, Architects’ brilliant last album Lost Forever // Lost Together dealt with every issue from environmentalism to religious extremism and received more critical acclaim than their previous work. Why did Bring Me The Horizon’s "Antivist" (below) stand out as such an anthem in 2013 and explode when they played it at Wembley in December? Because it’s simple, it’s furious at the delusion of modern society, and it can be read as a call for grassroots level revolution. It’s proof that you don’t have to shut out “unsexy” politics to sell records. Slowly but surely, there seems to be an audience ready for this sort of rock music. The DIY punk scene is thriving in Britain right now and to see punk raging about Nigel Farage or London’s housing crisis or media’s portrayal of the conflict in Syria would see rock become more exciting and relevant than it’s been in years. We need more people like Rou Reynolds and the guys in Architects to show that music can engage, educate, anger and show political apathy the door.

By the same token, we need to get better at calling out bullshit. The wider music world was obsessed with think pieces, op eds and Twitter debates and, earlier in the year, it seemed as though 2014 was going to be a personal best for rock. When Attila, I Declare War and Emmure released a ridiculous and tacky line of misogynistic t-shirts, the rock world was very vocal about its rejection of them. In a similar vein, Joyce Manor banned stagediving at their shows after a heavier bloke went to stage dive on a group of fans, one or more of them much smaller young females. That opened up the biggest discussion on crowd behaviour in punk rock for many years.

But, let’s be honest, we can do a hell of a lot better in 2015. We had our own version of gross Lily Allen/ Katy Perry/ T-Swizzle misjudgement in the form of Mastodon’s music video for “The Motherload”. Thankfully this was picked up by Guardian’s Dom Lawson and props to him for writing a fantastic piece about it while highlighting the attitudes of those in the rock scene enabling things like this to be brushed under the rug. Although, it’s perhaps a little sad that it was published on the Guardian, a mainstream national news outlet, rather than the rock press itself, and once this piece was out there was a disappointing lack of discussion. Mostly, mention of it came from metal fans not just denying there was any problem with the video but shutting down the conversation entirely. There is no doubt in my mind that this is exactly the sort of sexist video that, had it been accompanying a pop song, would cause the smug that’s-what-you-get-from-shitty-pop music-we’re-so-very-separate-from-that attitude that the rock world continues to fall back on time and time again. It’s a double standard.

Still from Mastodon's video for "The Motherload"

There is still so much flagrant inequality in every scene – metal, pop-punk, punk rock and so on. You don’t need me or anyone to tell you again that it’s still a genre comprising almost solely of white men. But we can do better by building on the discussions of 2014 and continuing to open up about inequality – rock fans and bands alike.

More daring, more political and more ready to call out the bullshit. Do these things and this year will be even better than last.

(P.S. Rockstars: I’m actually being serious about the crouch-and-jumps. Please, no more.)

Hannah Ewens is on Twitter.