Rock: Out of This World

When I first started this blog, I started off with a genre that seems to be on the decline: classical. However, through the post I hoped to give a great example of classical from within the past year, to prove that the genre is still very much alive. In today's post I hope to do the same thing, but with rock music.

Because rock music was absolutely huge in the mid-late 20th century (as compared to its fanbase today), it is often too easy to forget that the genre is even still around. Of course, the rock of today is very different from what it was when The Beatles had the stage, but it still has enough similarities to be classified as the same genre. Rock music, like almost every other large genre, is very vague, and many different styles have emerged since the 1940s. However, the strongest definition we can give it is any music with a strong emphasis on electric guitars, electric bass, drums, and a lead vocalist. This definition could obviously work for a lot of bands, so we will talk about an interesting one.

Courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starset_Band_Photo.jpg

Starset is a very new rock band, whose first album, Transmissions, came out in the summer of 2014. Starset is like many other rock bands of the time, but with a science fiction twist. Starset claims to be a part of a bigger mission, called The Starset Society. For this, instead of concerts, they call their live events "demonstrations". I have attempted several times to figure out just what the point of this society is for, with very little success. Even when in interviews, the band does not ever give a clear answer as to what their "cause" really is. Perhaps I just don't understand it, but due to the vagueness of their "cause", it is easy to assume that more than anything else, The Starset Society is a gimmick to give their music a fun sci-fi flair, and it does just that.

In the song "Down With the Fallen", the bands intention to create a science fiction feel is evident. From the beginning of the song to just about 18 seconds, we hear steady beeping noises, static sound waves, and what seems to be the clicking of different buttons. Through these subtle affects, the listener imagines waking up in a rocket ship in outer space, slowly getting a sense of their surroundings. At just around 0:18, the song rapidly escalates in intensity by adding the electric guitar and drum set, not only clarifying the genre as rock, but allowing the listener to paint the picture of finally being fully awake and aware of their new surroundings.

From 3:52 to the end, the music has stopped, but a narrator delivers random facts about our universe in a voice that implies being played with a weak signal, as if we were still in space. While this choice seems to be random, the band puts it there to end the song with the same outer space feelings that we experienced at the start. This provides the song with a nice frame to show the beginning and end.

Courtesy of https://static.pexels.com/photos/2150/sky-space-dark-galaxy.jpg

While the band is definitely classified as rock, it also has influences in electronic music, in order to fit the outer space theme. While it is not so present in this song, other songs on the album have a variety of different synths incorporated that help to, not only add variety to the music, but to help illustrate various malfunctions in the space ship, or at ground control.

Starset is just one example of many new rock bands contributing to the genre in new and exciting ways. While it is no where as big as it once was, rock music artists are definitely finding new and unique ways to be different, and stay afloat in the vast world of music.