Sometime in the early 2000s I made a decision. I declared rock was dead.
I retreated into my iPod filled with music from the 60s through the 90s and stayed there.
Same Rock Songs, Nothing Modern
At first, it worked. The iPod dropped on November 10, 2001, and having every record I owned in my pocket felt like a superpower.
As the years passed, listening to the same songs became boring. For someone who’s always been passionate about music, boring equaled sad. As a former DJ, I was used to being exposed to new music.
And Then Came The Warning
Sometime in 2023, a band called The Warning kept surfacing in my feed. When I found out they were performing at the MTV VMAs, I gave them a shot. What I heard stopped me cold:
I sat there stunned. This is it! I dove straight into their catalog.
What I Found in the Rabbit Hole
While enjoying myself in The Warning’s rabbit hole, I discovered a whole new world of rock music. It wasn’t dead at all. Perhaps just lying quietly in the background waiting for someone to come along and wake it up.
Young bands are carrying the rock torch today. It’s not nostalgia; it’s joy of the music. Sure, you can hear hints of their rock ancestors in their sound, but they’re not mimicking it. This is new and fresh and sounds like it belongs in 2026.
Once I started digging, I realized The Warning aren’t an exception. They’re the entry point.
The Bands Carrying Rock Forward
Rocket is one of the first bands that stopped me in my tracks. They’re lifelong friends from California: bassist and lead vocalist Alithea Tuttle, guitarists Desi Scaglione and Baron Rinzler, along with drummer Cooper Ladomade. They formed Rocket during the pandemic for something to do. Surprisingly, Alithea hadn’t sung or played an instrument before starting the band. You can’t tell.
As mentioned in my review of their 2025 debut album R is For Rocket, their sound pulls from ‘90s alt-rock and shoegaze but never feels like imitation. Scaglione and Rinzler lay down chaotic guitar riffs while Tuttle’s ethereal voice brings calm to it all. It’s a contrast that makes it all work in a special way.
You can see for yourself here in this full KEXP performance. You’ll wish it was longer:
Coast Arcade had me at the first song. They’re an organic band formed among friends from New Zealand while they were in high school. The group was founded by singer-guitarist Bella Bavin and drummer Thom Boynton, then later joined by bassist Leo Spykerman and guitarist Arlo Birss.
Like Rocket, the garage was too small to contain Coast Arcade. Each member brings something unique, be it a jazz background, love of shoegaze and grunge, metal or indie-rock roots.
Those backgrounds collide and you get Coast Arcade. Guitar driven, energetic rock that draws on its roots while keeping it fresh and relevant in 2026.
Baited, off their 2025 self-titled debut album, was the song that instantly hooked me on their sound. They go heavy on the guitars to close out this song, and it’s a chef’s kiss:
Although it’s a different sound, the parallels between Girl Tones and The Warning are intriguing. Both bands consist of sisters (there’s just one less in Girl Tones) and both sets of sisters are classically trained musicians. I often hear the question “How can only three people make so much sound?” around The Warning’s live performances. Wait until you hear what Girl Tones does with two people.
The rock duo consists of sisters Kenzie and Laila from Kentucky. Laila made the move from piano to drums, and Kenzie switched to guitar from cello. They bring raw, high-energy rock to the stage and have drawn comparisons to The White Stripes. I hear a little bit of The Linda Lindas as well.
Comparisons aside, Girl Tones rock. They were the first band to sign with new label Parallel Vision and plan to release their debut this year.
Cherry Picker is one of my favorites from them:
Rock Never Left. I Did.
I spent years listening to the same music, convinced nothing new could match what came before it.
The problem wasn’t the music. It was me.
And if you’ve been feeling the same way, maybe it’s time to start digging again.
