Matchup #31: The Southeast – Flaming Lips VS. The Meters

American Bands-Who are the best?

In all honesty, I had no idea who The Meters were when I was assigned them. Considering my deep and abiding love for New Orleans music, this was a huge surprise to me. Then I saw the words “funk band”. I fought long and hard to keep Parliament Funkadelic out of this competition, and immediately got my dander up. Then I listened to the songs.

This is the most rock n’ roll funk has ever been. You want a party in the streets? The Meters are your men. They brought Second Line grooves to a much larger audience, making it seem as though they’d always been there, and why not? They damn well should be. I wrote a Second Line for my upcoming album, and I sure as hell would call it rock n’ roll. Just you wait. Deeply Meters inspired without ever having heard ’em. Doesn’t make sense? Just…

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Matchup #30: The Southwest – Van Halen VS. Weezer

American Bands-Who are the best?

Seth sez: Weezer FTW.

Consistency is a difficult thing to maintain, especially in bands. With creative pursuits, there is a revolving door, and Weezer are no exception. Even those members of the band who have been around the longest – Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell, Scott Shriner and Patrick Wilson – change seats regularly. I saw them in 2008 at Madison Square Garden, and they rarely played the same instrument more than three times in a row.

They really perfected the combo of nerd and punk rock, and developed a signature crunch that never fails to bring on the air-guitar; With heart-on-polyester-sleeve lyrics about holing up in your garage, falling in love with lesbians, they do it all with a straight face. The band is possibly THE definition of tight, and with just the right amount of stone-faced ridiculousness to keep it interesting. They’ve churned out a style all their own…

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