BUCKCHERRY's JOSH TODD Says Rock Has Been 'Forgettable' And 'Faceless' For Past Two Decades

BUCKCHERRY singer Josh Todd has described the rock genre since the opening decade of this century as "forgettable" and "faceless".

Todd was talking on the White Line Fever podcast's YouTube channel and in a new Spotify-exclusive album companion series for the band's current record "Hellbound".

"As far as rock is concerned, I think since the 2000s, it's been forgettable," Josh told Australian journalist Steve Mascord. "Not that the bands aren't good and that they're not putting out songs. There's definitely been careers started after the 2000s in rock music, but it's just kind of, like, faceless. There's no rock stars, there's no guitar stars, there's no rock singers.

"If you look in the Nineties, look at all the great frontmen," he continued. "You had Chris Cornell and Layne Staley and Eddie Vedder and Zack De La Rocha and Jonathan Davis and so on. And then the 2000s and on? I couldn't even tell you who a singer is. It's so weird.

"I think it's because it became this Active Rock movement, where everything is tuned down and cut to grid and … everybody's playing the samples live, and the singers, they all sing the same. So you listen to Active Rock radio and it sounds like the same band for 45 minutes. There's no dynamics between bands. There's no, 'Oh, that's this band and that's that band,' and they all have their own little flavor. It's just not that way anymore. And I think that's why nobody is talking about rock music in the mainstream.

"There's literally one band that they go to commercially if they wanna fill that rock slot on some awards show or anything, and it's the FOO FIGHTERS," Todd added. "That's it. That's what you get for the entire rock genre. And that's good for them, but if you are a rock musician, it's tough."

The "Hellbound" album companion — made possible by a partnership between Spotify and Anchor — can be found at this location.

Last week, BUCKCHERRY postponed a couple of weeks' worth of tour dates after two members of the band tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

BUCKCHERRY's new album, "Hellbound", was released on June 25 via Round Hill Records. The follow-up to 2019's "Warpaint" was recorded last fall in Nashville, Tennessee with producer and songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow, among many others.

Last summer, BUCKCHERRY recruited JETBOY's Billy Rowe as its new guitarist. He joined the group as the replacement for Kevin Roentgen, who left BUCKCHERRY in July 2020.

In 2019, BUCKCHERRY recruited Francis Ruiz as its new drummer. He joined the group as the replacement for Sean Winchester, who exited BUCKCHERRY after laying down the drum tracks on "Warpaint".