I wonder if there's a bit of a Herb Alpert Imagine Dragons parallel. A lot of people don't realize Alpert was a massive 1960s seller, outsold the Beatles for a bit, his stuff was pretty kitschy.
Their popularity with teen and pre-teen boys might explain this. Friend took his lad to a gig and it was packed with them. Imagine Dragons are like Taylor Swift for young males. Can’t explain it
I can't recall a musical act emerging from nowhere and getting the buzz that Angine de Poitrine is getting. Tickets for their show in August at the Independent in San Francisco with a capacity of 500 sold out instantly today and are now on the secondary market for $500. I was in the queue right at 10am and was shut out. Freaking scalpers and bots.
Angine de Poitrine look and sound like a cross between The Residents and garage rock band The Sex Organs, a two piece who perform in penis and vagina costumes.
Chris - great write up. You may find this discussion with Rick Rubin and Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons frontman) to be illuminating. It really gives you a ton of insight into his unique upbringing and journey in his formative years. - and how everything he writes is autobiographical. (And if you didn't already tune into Rick's podcast Tetragammaton - highly recommend it! https://open.spotify.com/episode/2omfFK5HGJnSh0Pt93reNr?si=_kVxxnFwSsGNqKQy0bgC3w&nd=1&dlsi=234cf1d67d114b46
This parallel is striking because it reveals a recurring tension in the history of American popular music: the gap between critical gatekeeping and the organic liturgy of the live audience. In the early 1970s, as the communal idealism of the 1960s began to fragment into the more sequestered, interior world of the singer-songwriter, we saw a profound shift in how belonging was manufactured and marketed.
When critics of the 2010s dismiss massive, uncool bands, they are echoing the exact vitriol leveled at Grand Funk Railroad between 1970 and 1975. Despite being savaged by the press, Grand Funk was a people’s band in the truest sense—selling out Shea Stadium faster than the Beatles. The critics' preference for the solitary, confessional truth of the singer-songwriter (the Carole Kings and James Taylors) was often a preference for a controlled, lyrical sophistication over the raw, loud, and communal trauma-release of a live rock show.
The Solo Shift vs. The Tribal Roar
The decline of group sales in the early 70s signaled a move toward the individual. In the history of religions, this is the shift from the cathedral to the cell. While solo acts were dominating the charts with polished, radio-friendly introspection, bands like Grand Funk and The Grateful Dead were building something that couldn't be captured on a 45rpm single: a sustained, embodied community.
The Grateful Dead's Liturgy: the Dead are the ultimate example of a band that bypassed the hit machine entirely. They understood that in America, people weren't just looking for a song; they were looking for a home. By focusing on the live experience, they turned concerts into a form of modern pilgrimage. Much like the early Christian communities that operated outside the Roman imperial structure, the Dead built an economy of presence. They didn't need the critics because they had the initiates.
When a critic hates a band that sells out arenas, they are often missing the point of the gathering. It isn't about the technical perfection of the music; it's about the fact that ten thousand people are in a room together, proving they still belong to something.
I'm from Colombia and two years ago went to a Imagine Dragons concert here in Bogotá and it was just awesome. I've listened to their music since 2017... I didn't even know they were disliked that much, I don't get it 🧐
Really nice piece. Being in a band of two I take a little exception to the duo/band designation. I get the notion but i never think of the Black Keys or the White Stripes as anything other than being bands. I would never say, “hey, have you heard that new duo, The White Stripes.” But nor would I think of Simon & Garfunkel as a band. So I’m touché’d. Anyway my band only has two members. 🙄
You can totally have a band with 2 people but when I included duos, a bunch of electronic DJ duos showed up which felt different in spirit than what I was looking for. This also forced me exclude 21 Pilots who is a very popular rock duo
I quite like the first Imagine Dragons album and the second was fine. I saw them at a festival as a secondary headliner shortly after the first album came out. They put on a solid show. I watched them in their own concert a few years later, and they were fine. They were a band for years before that first album was released, so I think they just couldn’t keep up the output when that time frame for crafting a new album became every couple years or even every year. People keep buying them and they keep getting radio play, so while I may think they suck now, its hard to argue against their strategy.
I can't knock their hustle, but I remember someone writing about early 90s grunge that their gimmick was "We have no gimmick" which I think applies to Imagine Dragons. "Our sound is, we have no particular sound."
Hope you had fun in Nashville! As cheesy as locals say Broadway is, it's still pretty fun, and there's really nothing like it on earth.
I think for bands that debuted around that decade Imagine Dragons is probably the answer. The 2010s were a strange transitional period for bands and rock music.
Not a lot of new bands coming up that were really beloved. A lot of 90s and 2000s era bands making new stuff like Muse, Yo La Tengo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, TV on the Radio, The Killers and The Black Keys.
We saw a revival of folk music as popular with Mumford and The Lumineers preceded by The Avett Brothers, which I do like and still go back to.
There were also bands and solo artists like boygenius, Bleachers, Palace, Two Door Cinema Club, Hozier and Florence & The Machine that had rock influences but were doing something a bit different that I also enjoyed. None of them hit like Imagine Dragons necessarily but are very popular.
I had high hopes for Greta Van Fleet and they are just kinda forgettable.
My new band for the 2020s so far by a fucking mile is The Last Dinner Party. 2 albums so far and they are just awesome. I don’t like Geese at all. I don’t get it. The singer’s voice is nails on a chalk board.
I wonder if there's a bit of a Herb Alpert Imagine Dragons parallel. A lot of people don't realize Alpert was a massive 1960s seller, outsold the Beatles for a bit, his stuff was pretty kitschy.
Apt comparison. I think groups like this exist in every decade.
Their popularity with teen and pre-teen boys might explain this. Friend took his lad to a gig and it was packed with them. Imagine Dragons are like Taylor Swift for young males. Can’t explain it
I can't recall a musical act emerging from nowhere and getting the buzz that Angine de Poitrine is getting. Tickets for their show in August at the Independent in San Francisco with a capacity of 500 sold out instantly today and are now on the secondary market for $500. I was in the queue right at 10am and was shut out. Freaking scalpers and bots.
Angine de Poitrine look and sound like a cross between The Residents and garage rock band The Sex Organs, a two piece who perform in penis and vagina costumes.
Chris - great write up. You may find this discussion with Rick Rubin and Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons frontman) to be illuminating. It really gives you a ton of insight into his unique upbringing and journey in his formative years. - and how everything he writes is autobiographical. (And if you didn't already tune into Rick's podcast Tetragammaton - highly recommend it! https://open.spotify.com/episode/2omfFK5HGJnSh0Pt93reNr?si=_kVxxnFwSsGNqKQy0bgC3w&nd=1&dlsi=234cf1d67d114b46
Awesome interview! Thanks for recommending it.
The More Things Change . . .
This parallel is striking because it reveals a recurring tension in the history of American popular music: the gap between critical gatekeeping and the organic liturgy of the live audience. In the early 1970s, as the communal idealism of the 1960s began to fragment into the more sequestered, interior world of the singer-songwriter, we saw a profound shift in how belonging was manufactured and marketed.
When critics of the 2010s dismiss massive, uncool bands, they are echoing the exact vitriol leveled at Grand Funk Railroad between 1970 and 1975. Despite being savaged by the press, Grand Funk was a people’s band in the truest sense—selling out Shea Stadium faster than the Beatles. The critics' preference for the solitary, confessional truth of the singer-songwriter (the Carole Kings and James Taylors) was often a preference for a controlled, lyrical sophistication over the raw, loud, and communal trauma-release of a live rock show.
The Solo Shift vs. The Tribal Roar
The decline of group sales in the early 70s signaled a move toward the individual. In the history of religions, this is the shift from the cathedral to the cell. While solo acts were dominating the charts with polished, radio-friendly introspection, bands like Grand Funk and The Grateful Dead were building something that couldn't be captured on a 45rpm single: a sustained, embodied community.
The Grateful Dead's Liturgy: the Dead are the ultimate example of a band that bypassed the hit machine entirely. They understood that in America, people weren't just looking for a song; they were looking for a home. By focusing on the live experience, they turned concerts into a form of modern pilgrimage. Much like the early Christian communities that operated outside the Roman imperial structure, the Dead built an economy of presence. They didn't need the critics because they had the initiates.
When a critic hates a band that sells out arenas, they are often missing the point of the gathering. It isn't about the technical perfection of the music; it's about the fact that ten thousand people are in a room together, proving they still belong to something.
Funny though; in that sense ID are the Anti-Dead. Passive consumption versus obsessive concertgoing and bootleg trading.
I'm from Colombia and two years ago went to a Imagine Dragons concert here in Bogotá and it was just awesome. I've listened to their music since 2017... I didn't even know they were disliked that much, I don't get it 🧐
Imagine draggin’ deez nutz across ‘yo face.
21st century Monkees
My revulsion for Imagine Dragons is as deep as the ocean. They couldn’t be more perfectly polished, cunningly crafted, or pathetically plastic.
My son and i were at the gym and one of Imagine Dragons’ execrable sonic crimes started belching out of the sound system.
I asked him “what genre of music is Imagine Dragons?”
He replied “Is it even really music?”
I’ll let him have the last word.
Really nice piece. Being in a band of two I take a little exception to the duo/band designation. I get the notion but i never think of the Black Keys or the White Stripes as anything other than being bands. I would never say, “hey, have you heard that new duo, The White Stripes.” But nor would I think of Simon & Garfunkel as a band. So I’m touché’d. Anyway my band only has two members. 🙄
You can totally have a band with 2 people but when I included duos, a bunch of electronic DJ duos showed up which felt different in spirit than what I was looking for. This also forced me exclude 21 Pilots who is a very popular rock duo
Tis a conundrum. Great piece!
Tame Impala is just one dude named Kevin!
I quite like the first Imagine Dragons album and the second was fine. I saw them at a festival as a secondary headliner shortly after the first album came out. They put on a solid show. I watched them in their own concert a few years later, and they were fine. They were a band for years before that first album was released, so I think they just couldn’t keep up the output when that time frame for crafting a new album became every couple years or even every year. People keep buying them and they keep getting radio play, so while I may think they suck now, its hard to argue against their strategy.
I can't knock their hustle, but I remember someone writing about early 90s grunge that their gimmick was "We have no gimmick" which I think applies to Imagine Dragons. "Our sound is, we have no particular sound."
Hope you had fun in Nashville! As cheesy as locals say Broadway is, it's still pretty fun, and there's really nothing like it on earth.
Congrats on your engagement and impending nuptials!
I think for bands that debuted around that decade Imagine Dragons is probably the answer. The 2010s were a strange transitional period for bands and rock music.
Not a lot of new bands coming up that were really beloved. A lot of 90s and 2000s era bands making new stuff like Muse, Yo La Tengo, Red Hot Chili Peppers, TV on the Radio, The Killers and The Black Keys.
We saw a revival of folk music as popular with Mumford and The Lumineers preceded by The Avett Brothers, which I do like and still go back to.
There were also bands and solo artists like boygenius, Bleachers, Palace, Two Door Cinema Club, Hozier and Florence & The Machine that had rock influences but were doing something a bit different that I also enjoyed. None of them hit like Imagine Dragons necessarily but are very popular.
I had high hopes for Greta Van Fleet and they are just kinda forgettable.
My new band for the 2020s so far by a fucking mile is The Last Dinner Party. 2 albums so far and they are just awesome. I don’t like Geese at all. I don’t get it. The singer’s voice is nails on a chalk board.