For the past 10 years, US rock bands have been trying to invade our shores. The Yank-rockers have finally cracked our defences, and resistance is futile. Kevin Courtney makes a last, desperate stand.
They're overwrought, over-hyped, overrated, and now they're finally over here. After many defeats, routs and false dawns, the much-trumpeted US invasion has at last gained ground, and nu-metal bands such as Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Linkin Park and Blink-182 have breached the barriers and entered the realm of Euro-stardom. It's been a long, tough campaign, but now the US rock 'n' roll army can claim victory over the philistine pop hordes, and put past humiliations behind them.
Just 10 years ago, it looked like the world would crumble under the might of American rock. In 1991, a charge of the grunge brigade swept the globe; at its vanguard was a three-piece from Seattle led by a troubled genius named Kurt Cobain. Nirvana took their cue from cult Boston band, The Pixies, and broke through to the mainstream with the hit single, Smells Like Teen Spirit, and the seminal album, Nevermind.
Floodgates opened, and out came a slew of sub-grunge outfits, including Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Mudhoney and Sebadoh. Out of this wave of first-generation grungeheads, however, only Pearl Jam managed to stay afloat long enough to cross the Atlantic, mostly thanks to charismatic singer Eddie Vedder. The rest washed up on Europe's shores without making more than a minor impact. While Rolling Stone and Spin magazines slavered over Scott Weiland's every utterance, few people over here would have recognised the Stone Temple Pilots' singer if they had met him in the street.
The next wave of US rock acts, armed with old-fashioned, blues-based rock 'n' roll, were quickly routed by the barmy Britpop army, who already had their own bluesy rock acts. Leading the ill-fated invasion was Hootie & The Blowfish, a band so crushingly dull and ordinary, they made Oasis look like The Beatles.
Sharing the same blues scales were G Love & Special Sauce, Spin Doctors, Blues Traveller and Phish, none of whom equalled their success at home on this side of the Atlantic. Phish, for instance, were known as the new Grateful Dead, because they toured non-stop, playing to thousands of dedicated "Phish-heads" across the US. When they played a concert in Dublin's SFX a few years ago, the venue was stuffed - mostly with hardcore American fans who were either living in Dublin, or who had flown in from the US to follow their favourite band.
Of the Hootie-rock brigade, only Dave Matthews has stood his ground, making a belated breakthrough last year with his single, The Space Between. Matthews is probably the best illustration of the space between the US and UK pop music tastes.
Over there, he's a household name, and to criticise his music is tantamount to heresy; over here, we only know him through that mobile phone ad featuring the girl singing in the tube station.
We may have said nosiree-bob to America's dadrockers, but we couldn't say no to nu-metal, because they ain't listening.
America's most wanted nu-wavers speak loudly,backed by a big p.a. system - and if you don't like it, you can just step out of the way, pal, cos they're comin' thru. Marilyn Manson and Slipknot mix hardcore metal with extreme shock tactics, grabbing headlines and shifting units on both sides of the pond. While not quite as terrifying (or as interesting), Jacksonville band Limp Bizkit aRe one of American rock's biggest exports right now, winning over white suburban kids with a mix of punk, metal and rap. Singer Fred Durst may cut a ridiculous figure in his "street" threads, but to young white males aged between 16 and 25, he's the bomb.
Durst is also a baggy-trousered philanthropist, helping young bands up on the ladder to superstardom via his record label, Flawless, and the Family Values tour, nu-metal's own Lollapalooza. One of the bands which has benefited from Durst's patronage is Staind, a band from Springfield, Massachusetts, led by a bald, angry singer named Aaron Lewis. Staind are part of a new crop of "complaint rock" bands, which include Train, Creed and Flawless signings Puddle Of Mudd. Their single, Outside, is yer typical anthem of alienation: grungy, depressing and really quite catchy. It's already been a huge hit in the US and should become their signature tune when the band begins their European tour this month, starting in Dublin's Point theatre tomorrow.
"It's been a good year for us," says Staind's guitarist, Mike Mushok. "People have kinda started to pay attention to us and realise that we exist. I think the reason is that they want to hear the music. You might call it 'complaint rock', but just because someone is middle-class and living in suburban comfort doesn't mean they don't have problems. A lot of people have real problems, no matter where they come from. When Aaron writes lyrics, he thinks about things that are real - emotions that he's experienced and gone through. I think people relate to that."
MUSHOK is not daunted by the task of cracking Europe - his band had to build its fanbase up slowly but surely, and he's quite willing to work at building it up over here.
"It's been a good progression for us. It's been a long and steady increase, just doing better and better each year. We started off in Springfield, just playing bars in Massachusetts and New England. Everybody's heard the story of how we met Limp Bizkit, and it's been great for us to tour with them. But you gotta find your own identity too, and hopefully people will see past the Fred Durst connection. The perception in Europe is that we became an overnight success, but we've had to tour the States for a long time and build up a following. Will we be big in Europe? I don't know. For us it's about being able to go to other places and play."
Really, though, all this talk of grunge, post-grunge and nu-metal is just a facile way of wrapping American rock up in nice, tidy compartments and writing an article about it. In truth, American rock has always crossed over, from Neil Young to Alanis Morissette, from Talking Heads to REM. Some bands, such as Mercury Rev and The Strokes, have to make it big in the UK before they can get arrested in their home towns, while any number of alt.rock and country acts have been thriving among the britrock herd.
And as the success of Eminem, Destiny's Child, Wu-Tang Clan and Outkast prove, no matter what the changing fortunes of American rock, hip-hop, rap and r&b will always rule the world.
Staind play at the Point tomorrow