“Turn on the radio, nah fuck it, turn it off” shouts Zack de la Rocha on Rage Against the Machine’s track “Vietnow” and I couldn’t agree more. Radio stations lately have been especially irritating to my ears. Now mind you, I am well aware my musical tastes might be a little biased but I’m just tired of the overplayed, undercooked music that stations like the Edge and Y108 persistently bombard their listeners with day in and day out. I’ve completely tuned out the radio.

I listen to a decent variety of music but my personal favorites mostly come from the wide, wide world of rock and roll. My favourite band is Led Zeppelin. In fact, they are the greatest band in the world. But that’s some Classic Rock radio shit though so it’s not even worth talking about right now. The radio people I have beef with are the ones that present themselves as the beacon for “new” music – rock in particular. Pop music is not my thing and they are always playing the latest and greatest anyways so what’s for pop listeners go complain about anyway, right?

When it comes down to rock radio, the stations that promote the newest bands just tend to shovel the same garbage into listeners’ ears every day. A typical radio schedule for a rock station these days is pretty much loaded with Mumford and Sons, the Black Keys, Mumford and Sons coattail-riders, Nirvana and, of course, the CanCon staple Tragically Hip. Where’s the goddamn variety? Do people have the balls to play new music anymore? Okay, so that’s not the only stuff getting played on rock radio right now, but the deviations are not far off. Swap Nirvana out for Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or, even worse, Nickelback (I’m looking at you Y108) and throw in the latest sonic trend, whether it be the folk vibe we have now or the retro rock revival of the Black Keys. Where are bands like Tame Impala? METZ? My Morning Jacket? Titus Andronicus? There are so many fantastic bands out there that deserve some airtime. Just play some new music that excites people, makes people interested and keeps them thinking. Stop stuffing us with the same shit all the time. I swear I heard Finger Eleven on the radio more times this week than I can count. Are they even a relevant group anymore? What did they do for music? Why keep playing them?

Take a risk, rock radio, and show me something I haven’t heard before. Challenge your audience and challenge yourself because I’m over you.

By: Kyle Fisher