5 Bands To Make You Feel Like A Man

Music has a strange way of taking charge of your emotions. It’s also very easy to link emotions and experience to music. Some music can make you feel all emo, or bummed out, or forlorn. While other bands can make you feel pumped up, macho, and ready to kick some ass.

Here, I’ve put together a list of modern bands that will make you feel just manly. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about kicking ass and rocking out, but about being strong and respected.

The Black Keys

Akron, Ohio based rock duo The Black Keys are pretty much all over the charts right now, and for good reasons. Since the debut of their first album, The Big ComeUp, in 2002, they haven’t stopped being featured in TV shows, movies, commercials, and games. They have been the go-to bad for any scene or sentiment requiring someone to look just utterly bad ass.  Essentially, anytime you ever hear a fuzzy, wailing voice, strung out over edge guitar and tight drums. They are a tribute to the older school of rock, one of the fewer bands rekindling the passion for rock and roll that’s centered on the music making the scene. Not the scene making the music. Expect more and more big things from these, as they’ve only just begun to crack the crust of mainstream. They just put out a new album, El Camino, which you can assume has already infected your eardrums in some shape or form by now.

Audioslave

One of the few true super groups out there that was actually successful. Audioslave, with frontmanned by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, is one of those perfect storms of American rock. Backing Chris Cornell, or some may say leading him, are former Rage Against The Machine musicians, Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), and Brad Wilk (drums). If you’ve ever listened to Tom Morello solo and come up with melodies for the guitar, you’ll know this Harvard-grad is a certified musical genius, using reverb and creative noise to create a completely unique sound found nowhere else in music today.  Audioslave left behind many of the political leanings that Rage had, while opening up to a harder sound that Soundgarden did not have. What they created became so popular that they were the first American band to play in Cuba, before breaking up in 2007.

Songs To Check Out: Like A Stone, Sound of A Gun, I Am The Highway.

Ray Lamontagne

Ray Lamontagne, unlike the two bands listed above, is a very different sound. Whammy-bar guitar riffs are replaced by soulful, folk and blues based acoustic guitars. But you can expect the same sort of longing yearning voice. Ray Lamontagne, of  Lewiston, Maine, has music that cuts through any mood, any faith, and any preconceived notions on how music can make you feel. Just try listening to Gossip In The Grain, and try not to feel something. Ray’s music makes you feel like a man not because it makes you feel like a  badass, but because you feel something besides that.

Songs to check out: Trouble, You Are The Best Thing, Repo Man.

Kings of Leon

You’ve probably heard of Kings of Leon. But probably only recently. In reality, Kings of Leon, like The Black Keys, have been kicking around here and in Europe making American rock for almost 10 years now. The Followill Brothers, who were raised by a father who was a Pentacostal minister, spent most of their childhoold roadtripping across the Deep South while their father preached at various churches. After their father retired, they moved to Nashville and embraced their love of rock music and began a near-downward spiral of rock star indulgence. An adoption of  the badboy lifestyle of sex, drugs, and booze would kill most bands. It only made Kings of Leon come into their own, music wise. Although some argue that KOL has become a little watered down ever since breaking out with Only By The Night hits like Sex On Fire and Use Somebody, you can’t deny that they know how to kick it. But just go back to albums like Aha Shake Heartbreak and Young and Young Manhood to really hear them rock.

TOOL

Yes, their videos freak everyone out. And yes, their music sounds harsh on first listen. But their music is brilliant. Plain and simple. You can’t deny the talent and skill behind it. You also can’t deny that it’s a 100% guaranteed way to get you pumped up. I listen to Tool whenever I’m working on a project. Whether it be fixing something on the car, building something in the garage, or mowing the lawn. It’s the type of music that gets you in the zone, both in the sense that it motivates you but can keep you focused. It’s not overly intrusive with catchy lyrics or melodies. It’s hard, raw, and complex. And see them live if you want to see a visual and aural masterpiece. I’ve seen them once before and am getting tickets to see them in a month. Their shows are about music and visual displays. The band appears on stage in silhouette in front of giant screens with audio visualizations, lights, and lasers. No other rock band can pull it off, its almost like a techno/trance show. Give it a try.

Songs to checkout: Schism, Vicarious, Parabola, Stinkfist, Prison Sex.