Bands that sound the same

[Dan Hollister]

I'm probably going to get major shit for saying this on this site of all places, but am I the only one who thinks that when bands sound the same, they shouldn't be signed?

Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco come to mind. They sound the same. They're on the same label. Why? If it were me, and it was time to sign P!ATD, the right thing to do would be say, "Sorry, we already have a band that sounds like you. If you want us to sign you, please go create a unique sound."

Is this really too much to ask?

And I don't say this to be some snob, I think it benefits the bands, too. Because the bands don't get as diluted and don't fade so quickly from the spotlight if they sound unique. It's helpful to a band for them to know where their strengths and weaknesses are so that they can build a unique sound, rather than rewarding them for sounding just like some other band that may have been successful.

[xbrokendownx]

fall out boy is on island records



panic at the disco is on fueled by ramen/decaydence




good try though

[DroppedUrPocket]

Bayside sounds like the lovechild of Smoking Popes and Alkaline Trio.

[Joe DeAndrea]

Plus 44 and Blink 182

[fedhed7]

Look at the success that Panic has had. Obviously if that sound is popular, it's going to sell records.

Besides. They don't sound THAT much the same. Geez.

[kshtoinks12]

I always thought it'd be a good idea for all bands on a label to sound alike! that way you can generalize them together.

[summer skin]

My theory is it went something like this...

"hay guyz i lyke u but we already have a gwoup that sounds like fallowt boi and its mu band cauaez im peet wenzt lawl jakay ima sign you ne way"

but seriously...fall out boy > mtv 6000

[Dan Hollister]

fall out boy is on island records



panic at the disco is on fueled by ramen/decaydence




good try though

They were on Fueled By Ramen for a long time and they are still jointly represnted by Island and Fueled By Ramen both, not just Island.

And yes, I know this will be a rough subject for people. Disregard perhaps the 2 bands I used as examples, feel free to replace them with any 2 pop-punk bands that sound identical see if that makes you feel better about it. Haha.

I'm also not denying their sucess. I'm just wondering if we should be encouraging bands to be sucessful by sounding like other successful bands, as opposed to being successful because they're totally unique.

[Joe DeAndrea]

Look at the success that Panic has had. Obviously if that sound is popular, it's going to sell records.

Besides. They don't sound THAT much the same. Geez.


It's ridiculous to compare Panic! and Fall Out Boy to anything. They sound absolutely nothing alike.

[mrzippo3]

why is this even in the entertainment forum?

[justbishop]

Look at the success that Panic has had. Obviously if that sound is popular, it's going to sell records.

Besides. They don't sound THAT much the same. Geez.
Agreed. And it happens in every genre of music in every time period. It's a business, which is what sucks about it. As a society, we're pretty sheep-like. And money is money.

[hobbes2809]

why is this even in the entertainment forum?

I cant even believe it took 10 posts for this reply

[EnderDove]

Wrong forum, not to mention both bands are horrible so stop wasting your time discussing them.

[Brownpants06]

both bands suck

[Justin_stacy]

I personally like it when a label has a particular sound. Look at fat wreck chords, when I was in high school fat had a certain sound and all the bands they signed performed a certain variation of that sound. When you bought a fat album you knew what you were getting and you didn't need to download half the album first to make sure it wasn't crap.

[mrzippo3]

I personally like it when a label has a particular sound. Look at fat wreck chords, when I was in high school fat had a certain sound and all the bands they signed performed a certain variation of that sound. When you bought a fat album you knew what you were getting and you didn't need to download half the album first to make sure it wasn't crap.
Good point. DTR had that goin on for a while as well.

[gilatron5000]

why not? Pete discovered them, and he signed them. He said himself "I know people were going to copy us, why can't I make money off of it?"

[summer skin]

I personally like it when a label has a particular sound. Look at fat wreck chords, when I was in high school fat had a certain sound and all the bands they signed performed a certain variation of that sound. When you bought a fat album you knew what you were getting and you didn't need to download half the album first to make sure it wasn't crap.
yeah, you knew you were about to hear preachy lyrics over three powerchords repeated over and over.

[Scott Weber]

vocally, PATD and FOB sound very similar. Musically, not much at all.

[whiteboypain]

fall out boy is on island records



panic at the disco is on fueled by ramen/decaydence




good try though

ROFL! ah fuck. that was funny

[Dan Hollister]

ROFL! ah fuck. that was funny

You missed the part where I responded, pointing out that he's wrong.

Anyway, no I get the fact that labels should have a particular genre or style. Epitaph for example only sticks to what they know, and they do it well. That's a good call. But having a particular genre or style is a far cry from signing bands that are hard to distinguish if you were listening to them next to each other.

And as I said, you guys don't have to stick to my example of FOB and P!ATD if you don't want to. There are plenty of these identical sounding poppy bands out there. There is no way any of you can say that this incredible surge of pop-rock bands emerging and getting popular all are genuinely unique.

[Broken Parachute]

The vocals may sound a little similar, but FOB is alot more talented musically.

[Scott Weber]

The vocals may sound a little similar, but FOB is alot more talented musically.

... Actually, I disagree. The songwriting and instrumentation on the PATD CD is leaps and bounds beyond anything FOB has done musically. Whether they wrote those parts or Matt Squire did is up in the air, but it's far more creative than FOB.

[ascitiesburn101]

Trustkills bands all sound the same.

[xvszero]

Blink 182 and about a million bands.

MxPx and Slick Shoes have nearly indistinguishable vocalists. The major difference in the bands is Slick Shoes has amazing musicians and can actually write excellent songs.

So of course MxPx was the band that got big.

[Scott Weber]

Blink 182 and about a million bands.

MxPx and Slick Shoes have nearly indistinguishable vocalists. The major difference in the bands is Slick Shoes has amazing musicians and can actually write excellent songs.

So of course MxPx was the band that got big.
MxPx is a thousand times better than Slick Shoes, and Mike's voice is way better.

[xvszero]

If by a thousand times better you mean they can barely play power chords... yeah.

Here is how I tend to judge bands skill levels with their instruments. If *I* can play all your songs... you fucking suck, because I fucking suck.

[lightcollapse]

p!atd and fall out boy, other than the singers, sound NOTHING alike

[Scott Weber]

If by a thousand times better you mean they can barely play power chords... yeah.

Here is how I tend to judge bands skill levels with their instruments. If *I* can play all your songs... you fucking suck, because I fucking suck.
It's fucking punk rock...what do you expect? At least Mike can sing and write decent songs.