In honor of the new Sleigh Bells album, REIGN OF TERROR, I took a Facebook poll asking fans of Defending Axl Rose to vote for their favorite 2-member rock band. I’ve always had a soft spot for 2-member rock bands that are able to sound like regular full-sized bands.
Anyway, below are the results which are SHOCKING and as always…highly unscientific.
5, 6, & 7. (3-way Tie): The Ting Tings, Japandroids, and Tegan & Sara: This one bums me out the most, because I think Tegan & Sara are amazing. They’ve put out more records than the Ting Tings and should not have tied with them. I never got around to hearing the second Ting Tings album (did it ever come out? I’m too lazy to Google this) but their first record was catchy enough. I saw ‘em live and they were okay. Kinda the reverse of The White Stripes with the dude on drums. Actually, the drummer for The Ting Tings was pretty badass, playing both a guitar and the drums at the same time. Still, Tegan & Sara should have been ranked higher.
Canadian indie rockers Japandroids also tied for last place, which is a little less-surprising as they were the most low-profile band in the poll. I really dig their crunchy garage rock sound and I gotta agree with the person who voted for them: “Heart Sweats” of POST-NOTHING is about as awesome as awesome gets.
4. & 3. (2-way Tie): The Black Keys and Death From Above 1979: I’m super-biased here because I actually voted for Death From Above 1979. I am surprised to see that The Black Keys didn’t do better as they’ve got a lot of heat right now. I dig their down-and-dirty blues rock swagger—but I think that personally they’re assholes (go read any interview the band has ever given).
While Death From Above 1979 only put out one album (well, they also released a second album that was a remix of the first one, but who counts that shit?) but they made a big impression on me. DFA1979 sounds like way more than two dudes. They’re noise-rock at it’s finest and super-underrated. Go listen to “Romantic Rights” or “Black History Month” it’ll knock your socks off. Two people? Woah.
2. The White Stripes: What the hell happened here? I pretty much came up with this question with Jack and Meg in mind. When I think of 2-piece rock bands, The White Stripes are THE first band I think of. What’s worse about this is the band they lost to (more on that later) not to mention that one of my friends (who voted for Tegan & Sara) went out of her way to inform me that The White Stripes are just as crappy as “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith. That’s just disappointing.
Even if you ignore the fact that Jack White is this generation’s greatest songwriter (and a helluva guitar player), The White Stripes should still be #1 for their ability to sound like an entire 7 Nation Army when they play.
1. Tenacious D: I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that The “D” came out on top in this poll. After all, all my friends are stoners…just kidding. Tenacious D is a pretty sweet band, although they get a LOT of help from really famous rock/metal musicians, so I’m not sure if it’s 100% fair to give them the crown in the “Best 2-Piece Rock Band” category. That said, Jack and Kyle have done a lot of good for rock music, acting as metal-ambassadors to the world.
We fucking win!!!
Do you disagree with these findings? Then head on over to Facebook and “Like” Defending Axl Rose, then the next time I have a Highly-Unscientific Rock Poll you can add your two-cents.
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