News Rock Of Ages (Ago): Does Radio 1 Still Trust In New Music?

Today in the office, we’re listening to Radio 1. We’re also sat, scratching our heads, wondering what the hell is going on. Right now, that loveable Welsh rogue Huw Stephens is nattering in between plays of the likes of Queen, Guns N’ Roses and Papa Roach. Why? Well, because it’s a very special ‘rock’ day.

Now, I’m all for some rock music. Hell, as you’ve probably guessed if you’ve come across any (or at least, most) of my writing, I tend to lean towards the noisy end of the musical spectrum. You can imagine that I’d be fairly happy to hear that the mainstream radio station would be dedicating its schedule to heavier music. Why on earth would I be finding myself frustrated after each track played?

Alright, that’s an exaggeration. I understand why the song they’d choose from Weezer’s back catalogue is ‘Buddy Holly’, and heck, I can even (sort of) get behind them playing ‘We Built This City’; but really, where are the new tracks? Where is our new breed of heavy bands? Where are the tracks from albums released in the past handful of months, even?

Looking up and down the last thirty or forty songs that have been played during Stephens’ slot (and we’re not picking on Huw here, it’s most certainly not down to this champion of new music), we count around six tracks that have been released in the last eighteen months. That includes Panic! At The Disco’s ‘The Ballad of Mona Lisa’, which was released back in March 2011 - as we all know, an impeccable representation of ‘rock’. Yes, Rolo Tomassi were just played at 4pm on daytime radio, and that in itself is remarkable, but it’s also not an alien concept for Radio 1. After all, this is the station that adopted Bring Me The Horizon as its own.

My frustration lies with the fact that for every Evanescence track, for every Papa Roach anthem, there are only a handful of songs to show their listeners that rock is alive and well right now. They keep reassuring me that I’ll hear live sessions from We Are The Ocean and While She Sleeps this evening, but isn’t that in a similar slot to Daniel P. Carter’s show anyhow? Wouldn’t I be able to tune into Zane Lowe on any given evening and hear him blasting the latest track from Deftones?

What seems fairly evident is that, whilst they are flying the flag for rock (if only there was a verbalisation for throwing the horns), it’s all still very safe, and in all honesty, still fairly mainstream. Their pick for My Chemical Romance was ‘Welcome To The Black Parade’ - their number 1 single from six years ago. 30 Seconds to Mars and Paramore draw in massive festivals crowds, and it’s not like Nirvana or Bon Jovi need any introductions.

So, my question is this: if rock is so alive and well, where is our proof? We can argue into the ground as to why our speakers aren’t pumping out heavy tracks every hour of every day, but when the latest releases from Young Guns, Title Fight, Deaf Havana and Gnarwolves - for example - are being missed in an entire day of ‘themed’ genre radio play, what hope does our cause really have? For every song that was an anthem five, ten, twenty years ago, there was some radio support involved, so where is it for the current wave? Why isn’t today being used for some form of exposure? Surely it’s an excuse to really push boundaries, in even the most diluted of terms. Why aren’t Mike Davies and Daniel P Carter curating shows and introducing new listeners to new music, right after they’ve had a good singalong to ‘Teenage Dirtbag’?

The worst part is we’re in the middle of an exceptionally exciting time for rock music. It really feels as though our modern breed of rock is the strongest it’s been in years. Yes, some bands will reap the benefits from today’s listing but that doesn’t mean an entire genre benefits.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love pretending that I’m out on a Tuesday night in Leeds - and right now, all I’m missing is a ridiculously cheap treble vodka and red bull and I’d be set - but as someone who has spent the last god-only-knows-how-long arguing with those who have told me my genre is dead, today has done little to convince even me. Maybe I’ll have to tune into Radio 1’s next indie day? Oh, wait…