Good Afternoon, Evening, or wherever the hell your time zone is. As I continually reiterate my apologies for my lack of presence on my most cherished medium of musical ranting, I would like the record to show that I have not been off the grid completely. In fact, I have started writing for a notable UK site called Soundblab. Prior to discovering this relatively underground blogger safe haven, I was incredibly infatuated with a particular new album from Chicago shoegazers, Airiel. I knew discovering detailed reviews for this emerging group would pose some issues, but continued with my navigation anyway. Behind the group’s main website via Bandcamp, Soundblab’s Airiel: Molten Young Lovers was the second hot link that I ventured to. As I channel my inner George Costanza, I was very fond of the site, yadda yadda yadda, I am now writing for them. However, I know many (if any) are worn out with my somewhat lackadaisical attempts to justify my excuses for not writing for SUR periodically. SUR will always be my newborn and most prized possession, despite my temporary neglect. My hopes are to transform this into a circuit overloading hub for opinionated columns on music industry topics and threshold hovering raunchy material for all things sound. If you bear with me, you will get a heaving Costco free sample sized portion on what I hope to achieve. I would advise if you are easily stirred emotionally by non-conventional opinions and borderline risky material, either generate a new Disney tab above or get your screaming pillows ready. This week I will dive into the unnecessary and ludicrous obsession of the latest hot band, Greta Van Fleet.

Over the course of my life, I was extremely privileged to have a father that acquired an exceptional music library and unparalleled knowledge about rock. Both my mom and dad were easily compatible for each other, not only because of their instantaneous “gut feeling” draw to each other, but also a mutual understanding for music appreciation. My mom introduced the love of Bruce Springsteen, Squeeze, and Elvis Costello into the daily mix, while my dad ushered some hardcore punk, metal, and even jazz influences. During my days as a wired-up tyke that consistently needed ADD medication, I was exposed early to classic generational essentials like Boston, Kiss, Aerosmith, and most importantly, Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin was the first band that I really had an unconditional love for that never seemed to run dry. To me it was the paradigm of what all music should emulate. The larger than life stage duo that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page portrayed is still something I have trouble putting into words. John Paul Jones, almost acting as the band’s composition sensei and moral backbone should never go unnoticed. Also his magnum opus that was “No Quarter” is an ever long favorite during drab summer days. Due to my instrumental bias, the second deity that I worshiped was the drummer, John Bonham. His thunderous, Zeus-like caricature shattered everything I knew prior to being a drummer. I looked at him the same way many aspiring athletes look at people like Babe Ruth, Joe Montana, or Michael Jordan. My dad had every CD/Vinyl, while I had all the posters, t-shirts, and even a Jimmy Page action figure? Weird, I know. Anyways, you get the point. Again, to emphasis how lucky I was to not have a burn out dad who listened lame music or none at all, it is truly a blessing. Led Zeppelin and all the classic rock gods alike, were the founding fathers of something monumental to the industry and for generations to come. The conservative approach to business was now being transforming into aggressive record deals, lengthy publishing rights battles, and all out star studded, hotel smashing celebrity personas. This aspiration and reception of fame still remains a top priority among future rock stars today. To no surprise though, many artists wish to achieve sell out status from the initial stroke of their Epiphone. I am of course talking about Greta Van Fleet

Working at the troubadour, despite how frustrating it was to work there,  ultimately set the stage for many artists to reach their breakout status. One night I was working security inside, observing the stage from the upper deck, when the talent buyer came by and was telling me about an upcoming show she just booked. Ecstatic and ready to explain in detail, I was all ears and had my full attention. The buyer and I frequently had conversations about upcoming artists, shows in LA, and industry news because she knew I wanted to listen. This time was no different from any of those other conversations. She told me that she just booked three sold out shows for an emerging Michigan group, known as Greta Van Fleet. She had always made great suggestions, but many of them were bands that were about to play at the Troubadour, naturally. After work concluded at 2 AM, I researched them and listened to their five song Blackberry Smoke EP on my walk home. Upon first listen, I was solely convinced that these guys were a cover band, but if they weren’t, they could explode and be the next big thing. After the third song, I wanted to see if they were either an affiliated label band or a true independent, funding everything they had with their own dollar. As expected, I was directed to the disappointing conclusion that this five song EP was recorded, distributed, and funded under Republic Records, the biggest division of Universal Music. If you want to be really nitpicky about it and point out my fault in research, they technically were with Lava Records, WHO HAVE A joint venture with Atlantic Records and a partnership with Republic records. With that being said, Greta Van Fleet has every resource available to reach superstar status, which stimulated skeptical thinking about this so called “Led Zeppelin revival band.”

Now a day, it is easier for urban, pop, and even Christian acts to land superior, upper echelon deals with the giants of the industry. Be it that these guys are barely legal enough to buy liquor, I spotted blood in the water. Through my lighthearted research, I found that their first official “independent” release was a live album in Detroit in 2014? No demos, no soundcloud, no nothing? 3 years their debut EP landed as high as 182 on the US charts. Only containing five songs, this achieved over 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify in a matter of months. That is odd.

Say what you will, but the rock and alternative genre that has been up for Grammy contention recently, has been a heavy cocktail of alternative and pop, with faint electronic influences (cough cough Twenty One Pilots cough cough). While this correlation hypothesis may be unorthodox thinking, it seems that the large influx of refurbished, retro band memorabilia among millennials may be playing a small part in this desire for a “classic rock resurgence.” Due to several of my experiments asking the cute girl with a ripped up Ride the Lightening t-shirt and not even knowing who the fuck Metallica is, might make my skeptical reasoning highly doubtful. However, with the demand for this beloved era of musical composition, it is inevitable that some consumers will demand reasoning behind their purchase. This is where Greta Van Fleet comes in. Recency bias always plays a huge factor in determining what music is deemed as relatable among today’s younger demographic. And what better way can you skyrocket revenues than regurgitate classic material in a way that is fashionable and trendy to teenagers and young adults itching for the next big thing. There isn’t. Unlike specific eras such as Disco, many bands and fashion companies can collude and ride this foreseeable wave out, putting their potential buyers exactly where they want them to be. Record companies and publishers are selling the experience of living a 70s persona, but supplying the attention grabbing product using rehashed material.

While the business collusion may not seem as obvious, the tasteless music sampling is something that really drove me up the wall. As mentioned before, they had three sold out shows at the Troubadour, and naturally I was going to have to work one of them. When that day came, our 600 person capacity was easily attained within a matter of 45 minutes of the doors swinging open. Despite displaying my grimacing smile to the customers walking in, I was also hoping that I could be swayed by a solid live performance. As the band members victoriously stepped down from the mezzanine-like backstage area, their rock influences were made heavily aware. In traditional fashion, they opened up with two of their biggest hits “Talk on the Streets” and “Black Smoke Rising” that utterly baffled all ages of the crowd. While I am always very appreciative of bands who respect the legends of rock, I couldn’t help that this was nothing more than record company funded gimmick. Particularly the singer, Josh Kiszka, did everything during this set but change his name to Robert Plant Jr. His vocals were undeniably impressive, but the record companies who bought early, thought that this was the ingredient to a tertiary wave of classic rock. Going as far as the lead guitarist having the exact same Gibson Les Pauls (sunburst cherry and Angus Young SG) and having a gong behind the drummer, was a desperate attempt to recreate a 70s fantasy. The final straw was hearing the abysmal “new” number called “Flower Power” that evoked early Zeppelin with nauseous mirroring of a psychedelic Plant with his minimal tambourine work. There were so many elements that were cherry picked in an uncoordinated way that it just seemed depressing, rather than nostalgic. What made me cringe the most sadly was the massive abundance of people 40-60 in attendance at this show. This target following lived through the time that these famous bands got their initial start! Yet they were claiming that they was like the rock gods blessing us with another Zeppelin. I had one guy come up to me and tell me that this was better than Zeppelin, while I looked over, gave him a ugly scowl and said “Are you fucking serious? These guys are a gimmick with company funded puppet strings attached.” I am sure this sounds extremely cynical and arrogant to an outside viewer who doesn’t look into label status, which I completely understand. However, I know a facade when I see one and this is one that I will refuse to buy into. Like it if you want, just know that this is the argument for those who oppose their flagrant plagiarization to one of rock’s greatest.