The heart of rock and roll is in ... Mongolia?



Rock music in America is on life support.

The Black Keys, once at the vanguard of the genre's big resurgence in the 2000s, recently had to cancel their tour due to embarrassingly low ticket sales.

If I had to pick a winner in the all-Asia battle of the bands, it would probably be Mongolian guitar heroes The Hu.

One-time Southern rock monsters Kings Of Leon barely dented the charts with their latest album, "Can We Please Have Fun."

Even beloved indie stalwarts Weezer — say it ain't so! — just had to cancel a planned box set due to low anticipated demand.

The once-powerful roar of American home-grown music has been reduced to a feeble whisper, drowned out by the thumping bass of pop and the autotuned drivel dominating the charts.

Mosh pits have been replaced by TikTok dances. Since social media took over, not a single TV has been hurled out of a hotel window. This can't go on.

With domestic production lagging, stateside fans are turning to Asian imports.

Take South Korea. While its massive industry cranking out K-Pop idols gets all the attention, it has a robust rock scene dating back to the 1950s, when the American military began broadcasting Western music across the Korean peninsula.

Enter Shin Jung-hyeon, the “Godfather of Korean Rock,” who laid the foundation for the genre in South Korea, creating bands like Add4 and producing psychedelic masterpieces for legendary bands like Pearl Sisters, Kim Choo-ja, and Kim Jung Mi.

Fast forward to today, and the Korean rock scene is thriving. Silica Gel, a band from Ansan, a suburb of Seoul, stands out as one of its best. That’s because this fresh-faced four-piece offers an appetizing take on rock, combining modern elements with classic influences.

Their music features catchy guitar riffs and powerful synthesizers, creating a unique and rather enjoyable sound. Tracks like "Desert Eagle" and "No Pain” are solid offerings that provide a refreshing break from the somewhat nauseating K-pop scene.

Across the Yellow Sea in China — yes, China — there’s also been a surprising burst of rock energy. SixiWanzi is an all-female band from Beijing whose sound mixes the high-octane energy ofParamore with a unique, Chinese Communist Party-approved twist.

When I visited China a few years ago, I caught a show by Carsick Cars, another standout from the nation's capital. This indie rock band, formed in 2005, is known for its gritty, energetic mix of punk, noise, and garage rock. The band even played inBrooklyn way back in 2009. They put on quite a show.

That said, if I had to pick a winner in the all-Asia battle of the bands, it would probably be Mongolian guitar heroes The Hu.

Formed in 2016, The Hu combines traditional Mongolian instruments like the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and the tovshuur (traditional flute) with epic chants and heavy metal riffs to create a completely new genre: Hunnu rock.

The Hunnu people, also known as the Huns, were an ancient nomadic group who lived in Central Asia and northern China about 2,000 years ago. They were known for their skills in horseback riding and their warrior lifestyle.

For The Hu, this isn’t just music; it’s a cultural revival of sorts, a way of connecting the past with the present. The band’s lyrics, steeped in historical Mongolian war cries and poetry, bring to life the spirit of ancient empires, making their music a sort of headbanging history lesson.

Of all their tracks, "Wolf Totem" is probably the most notable. It features the aforementioned traditional instruments and heavy, infectious riffs. With diaphragm-driven humming and rhythmic drumming, the track is like nothing you’ve heard before.

Now, just to be clear — just because rock is thriving in Asia doesn’t mean all of it is good — this is the world's largest continent, after all. Some of these bands are an acquired taste, and that’s fine.

The point isn’t that every Asian rock act is making the next "Dark Side of the Moon." It's that the scene reveals the kind of fearless experimentation and irrepressible energy that used to animate American rock before it got overshadowed by vapid pop hits and genre-mashing monstrosities.

Even the all-American genre of country music is being reshaped by the likes of Beyoncé and Post Malone, for better or worse. Sure, they’re contributing to the genre in their own way, but it’s a far cry from the soulful grit of an artist like Oliver Anthony.

And it's not just Asia that's coming for American rock hegemony. Across the pond, the Brits seem to be gearing up for another invasion. Witness the buzz around the reunion of iconic '90s rockers Oasis after a 15-year hiatus. "Live Forever," indeed.

There's no telling how long the Gallagher bros will be able to get along, but even if it ends in fisticuffs, plenty of their younger compatriots are making noise across the pond.

Bands like Royal Blood, Soft Play (formerly known as Slaves before the woke mob forced a name change — not very rock ‘n’ roll, I know), and Idles are busy keeping the genre alive and exciting.

Some of you might think I exaggerate the situation. Rock is evolving, you'll say. But I challenge you to name three or four truly exciting American rock bands putting out fresh material today. If you’re left scratching your head or reaching for Google, that says a lot.

Rock in the U.S. isn’t evolving; it’s devolving. Or worse still, it's fading into irrelevance. Is this the end? Well, you know what Neil Young says: "Rock and roll will never die." Let's hope some maladjusted kids in a garage somewhere are already working on proving him right.

Bruce Springsteen’s Tour de Force

LONDON—I have seen rock ‘n’ roll’s past, and its name is still Bruce Springsteen. I have seen Springsteen half a dozen times over five decades, indoors and outdoors, with and without the E Street Band, from the rafters and from the side of the stage. His albums have bored me for decades. I cannot stand his fake-Okie folk singer routine, with its mock-rambling raconteuring. My toes curl at his podcasting with Barack Obama. But his show at London’s Wembley Stadium on July 25 was the best Springsteen concert I have ever seen. He has made the most of future past.

The post Bruce Springsteen’s Tour de Force appeared first on .

The Captain of Yacht Rock

Michael McDonald serenades us. On the radio, sure, plus on the television and the silver screen. He’s on heavy rotation at the grocery store and in the waiting room. Hear him hit high harmonies in captivating cameos with Steely Dan! Listen to his catchy keyboards and soulful vocals with the reinvented Doobie Brothers! If you […]

The post The Captain of Yacht Rock appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Ramblin’ Men

For those of us who came to the Allman Brothers Band late—not contemporaneously during their brief, indisputable reign as the hottest and coolest rock ’n’ roll band in the 1970s, but rather as the children of Boomers listening to classic-rock radio in the car—their "Ramblin’ Man" is the ultimate ABB song. It name-checks Southern geography, chugs along with a bouncing beat and a singalong chorus, and closes with an infectiously twangy guitar solo from writer and lead singer Dickey Betts.

The post Ramblin’ Men appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Alice Cooper Canceled By Cosmetic Line For Stating Mainstream Views On Transgenderism

A popular rockstar just got canceled for sharing the same views as a majority of Americans.

Any Major Dude Will Tell You Steely Dan Rocks (in a Creepy, Jazzy Kind of Way)

With apologies to The Big Lebowski and the Dude’s disdain for the Eagles, no 1970s American rock band is as polarizing as Steely Dan. Movie dialogue and sitcom quips have expressed the competing passions the group inspires. Friendships have frayed over the weirdos and loners, perverts and druggies who populate the songs. Siblings have sparred […]

The post Any Major Dude Will Tell You Steely Dan Rocks (in a Creepy, Jazzy Kind of Way) appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

How The Most Rotten Sex Pistol And His Wife Modeled Life-Long Commitment In A Rocky World

Despite Johnny’s outrageous public persona, his marriage to Nora never fed salacious headlines. There's been only one woman in his orbit.

Raging With The Machine

It was once America's outlet for political and cultural rebellion, but now rock and roll has taken a disturbing new direction, endorsing censorship, Covid mandates, and, worst of all, predictability.

'She's SO bad at this': Kamala Harris BRUTALLY mocked over latest lie-filled 'word salad'



On "The News & Why It Matters" Monday, BlazeTV hosts Sara Gonzales and Chad Prather and guest Jamie Kilstein discussed Vice President Kamala Harris' widely mocked interview with NBC's Chuck Todd over the weekend. Speaking on "Meet the Press," Biden's so-called "Border czar" insisted that the U.S.-Mexico border is "secure," even after Todd pointed out that nearly "2 million people [have] cross[ed] this border for the first time ever."

"The border is secure," Harris told Todd. "But we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed."

"We're going to have 2 million people cross this border for the first time ever. You're confident this border is secure?" Todd responded.

"We have a secure border — in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration," Harris bluffed. "But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix given the deterioration that happened over the last four years."

Presumably, she meant the four years that Donald Trump was president and not the actual last four years, as Harris has herself been the person responsible for "the deterioration that happened" at the border for nearly two out of "the last four years."

"We also have to put in place a- a- a- a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for the millions of people who are here and are prepared to do what is required to gain citizenship," Harris added, apparently unaware that she just admitted that there are "millions of people" already in this country illegally.

\u201cKamala Harris: "We have a secure border...we also have to put in place a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for the millions of people who are here."\u201d
— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller) 1662989850
\u201c@DailyCaller You've never been to the border... IT'S NOT SECURE!\u201d
— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller) 1662989850
\u201c@DailyCaller The first part of her statement is clearly false. The second part of her statement is also clearly false.\u201d
— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller) 1662989850
\u201c@DailyCaller how is this a serious person\u201d
— Daily Caller (@Daily Caller) 1662989850
\u201cNEW: Good morning from Eagle Pass, TX, where another large group of approx 200+ migrants just crossed illegally onto private property. Almost all of them are single adults, mostly from Venezuela. Somebody hung a Venezuelan flag on the barbed wire fence built by TX here. @FoxNews\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1662986907
\u201c@BillFOXLA @BonBee81 @FoxNews But Kamala just said the border was secure\u2026The Border Czar. \ud83e\udd21\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1662986907
\u201c@BillFOXLA @FoxNews I am Border Czar\u2026\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1662986907
\u201cAnother word salad meaning nothing! It\u2019s almost embarrassing! Vice President Harris is as bad as Biden in some ways!\u201d
— Rock (@Rock) 1663044658

"She's so bad at this. How was she a lawyer?" Sara asked. "You literally can see the wheels turning in her brain trying to figure out what word she's going to choose next."

"Please tell me why we have the D.C. mayor and the New York mayor complaining that now Texas is busing illegal immigrants into their cities and they've got such an overflow, such an influx that they don't have the capacity to handle them. How is that happening if the border is secure?" Sara added.

Watch the video below to catch more of the conversation, or find more episodes of "The News & Why It Matters" here. Can't watch? Download the podcast here.


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