A few hours after I finish writing this, I will be heading out to see Bruce Springsteen close his Land of Hope & Dreams tour at Nationals Park, about three miles from the White House in Washington, DC. The forecast calls for rain. Bruce plays rain or shine. It should be a blast.
I have been seeing Bruce since Born to Run dropped in 1975. The last time I saw him was about two years ago in Baltimore. Clearly, I am a fan. But I’m writing today to push back against all my contemporaries – and quite frankly, plenty of people a lot younger than me – who say that if it weren’t for Bruce and Mick and Macca and Dylan, rock and roll would cease to exist.
I’m sure you’ve heard this refrain if you have even a passing interest in rock & roll. The refrain basically goes like this. “It sucks. I has sucked since the … (fill in the blank with whatever decade you became an adult.) That’s what I’m taking issue with today. You see, rock and roll is still just fine, provided you bother to look for it.
I’m not saying it’s what it was in those halcyon days. (Again, fill in whatever decade fits your age). Rock stopped being a dominant musical genre long ago. It is just a face in the crowd now. That does make it harder to find. But it’s there.
To make the point, I’m going to run through a set of fairly recent releases. They are all by bands that formed in the 21st century. I have listened to all of these songs in the past week. I am not claiming they are “the best” modern rock songs. I’m just saying they are recent rock songs and they are good.
My tastes have always run more toward punk than to classic rock, but I think this list offers a pretty good cross-section of what we can all agree is rock music. I jotted them down as I listened to them, so there’s no real rhyme or reason to the order.
How rock & roll is that?
“Lost” by A Place to Bury Strangers” (2026)
This is how this particular exercise began. Brooklyn's A Place to Bury Strangers released “Lost” a little over a week ago. I haven’t been a huge fan of their noisy shoegaze brand of modern rock – not my thing really – but I gave it a listen. I mean, it’s three minutes long. And once they got through the droning intro, I found I really liked the echoey, industrial pounding. Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe there was more good recent rock to be found.
“Water Underground” by Real Estate (2024)
I’ve known about Real Estate for a while now, and while I was thinking of other New York bands, I figured I'd listen to their album Daniel. Diametrically opposed to A Place to Bury Strangers, this is gorgeous sunshiney pop that still manages to avoid the mindlessness of so much other sunshine pop.
“Velcro” by Stand Atlantic (2026)
“Lavender Bones” was one of my favorite songs of 2018, and the Aussie band followed it up with a couple of solid albums in the COVID years. Now they are back with an upbeat advance on their pop punk roots that should be a major pop rock hit.
“Too Late to Say” by State Champs (2026)
Back to NY – this time the state capital – for a happy throwback to classic ‘90s pop punk.
“Live Laugh Toaster Bath” by WSTR (2026)
From Liverpool, another modern take on pop punk that is ideal for anyone who likes Blink and Sum 41. It’s “Fat Lip” for a new generation.
“Spine” by Jetty Bones (2025)
Ohio’s Kelc Galluzzo (AKA Jetty Bones) is indie Paramore.
“Nothing Has Changed” by Jack River (2023)
You might notice these songs tend to come in duos – I hear State Champs and then want to hear WSTR. I hear Jetty Bones and then, of course, need to hear some Jack River, whose song “Adolescent” was in my top ten of 2019. Aussie Holly Rankin does sunshine pop with an attitude.
“Flea” by St. Vincent (2024)
OK – I’m kind of just seeing if you’re paying attention. If you don’t know St. Vincent, I forbid you from declaring rock and roll a dead enterprise. Annie Clark is one of the giants of modern rock and roll – whether you modify it with “alt” or “indie.” “Flea” won the 2025 Grammy for Best Alt Music Performance, while another song from the Grammy-winning album All Born Screaming won Best Rock Song. I just happen to like “Flea” about two percent more than “Broken Man,” another sensational recent rock and roll song.
“Versus the Villain” by Hannah Wicklund (2026)
South Carolina’s Hannah Wicklund can do electric guitar songs in the vein of Heart. But Heart also did great acoustic rock, and that’s exactly what this is.
“Won’t Take Me Alive” by Dirty Honey (2023)
OK – their most recent single was a reboot of the Bad Company song “Rock Steady.” That should give you an idea of where the LA band is coming from. This one sounds more like Aerosmith to me. You can hear the studio version or a live version from last year. Either way, this is classic 1970’s rock redux.
“Juniper” by Joyous Wolf (2026)
Their second album isn’t out yet, but they dropped this single, and it is more excellent 70’s-styled rock, maybe leaning more toward Humble Pie.
“The Hard Way” by Goodbye June (2024)
If AC/DC had come from Nashville, they would have been Goodbye June.
“Six Pack” by Wine Lips (2024)
And if Ricky Wilson had not died young, I think this is where the B-52s would have ended up.
“Dead Silence” by Frankie & the Witch Fingers (2025)
If you ever wondered what the Cars would have sounded like if they teamed up with whoever was around from the 13th Floor Elevators, you can stop wondering. Just check out this Indiana blend of new wave, psychedelia, and garage rock.
“I Like it, It’s Nice” by Iguana Death Cult (2026)
I admit it, I was drawn in by the name. Any modern band from the Netherlands with “death” in their name would almost have to be from the black metal side of the street. But not these guys. They do have a touch of that, but they manage to combine a witty jazz throb with noise rock in an unavoidable earworm.
“Purgatory Silverstar” by Djo (2025)
You may know Joe Keery as Steve from Stranger Things. But on this song, he’s more like John Lennon on “Norwegian Wood.”
“Chaos Magnet” by Crashdiet (2026)
Do you miss Poison? I don’t, but I still like these grungy glamsters. Somehow, coming from Sweden makes it all cool.
“Catch Me if You Can” by Hardcore Superstar (2022)
I’ll repeat, I’m not a big fan of hair metal. But hearing it more sporadically than I used to back in the day, I kind of like it as an accent. Another Swedish band who recorded a song called “You Can’t Kill My Rock ‘n Roll” back in 2018 and is a classically anthemic slice of arena rock.
“Ol’ Father Time” by Jonathan Wilson (2023)
And if you are one of those music fans who thinks Pink Floyd went downhill after Meddle, Jonathan Wilson is the modern singer/songwriter for you.
“Hollywood Junkyard” by the Bobby Lees (2022)
If you are among my many fans (rapidly closing in on triple figures), you know I am a hopeless fanboy for the best modern punk rockers we have to offer. All three of their 2026 singles (in advance of their June 12 album release) are rippers. But I’ll go back to their last album for this one. This is punk with smart lyrics, an inescapable bass-driven melody, and spectacular frontwoman energy.
In Jesse Rifkin’s outstanding sociological study of New York City’s musical evolution – This Must Be the Place – the author notes towards the end that just because you are unaware of a particular scene, that doesn’t mean the scene doesn’t exist.
It is undeniable that rock & roll is not exactly what it used to be. Who would want it to be? That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of great new bands and hours and hours of music every month worthy of a listen. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
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