No current bands won’t be viewed that way. But not because they’re not good, but because the market no longer digs rock and roll, and radio is dead. So nobody is going to be going multiplatinum or being omnipresent enough to create that nostalgia. Yesterday at the grocery store their radio played Autograph’s Turn Up the Radio. I never liked Autograph, I never liked that song, I never bought it, and yet I knew all the words because I was alive in 1984 and that song was everywhere.
Rival Sons (my favorite 21st century band) makes better music on accident while loading in for a show than Autograph has ever done, but the world doesn’t play new rock and roll anymore so other than the occasional Chevy commercial (they’ve got 2 songs Chevy has used) you’ll never hear them without choosing to. So there won’t be any nostalgia. But they are a completely amazing band I’ll hold up to any of the nostalgia “classics” any day.
But rock is only dead in the sales. As far as creativity and quality are concerned this is a beautiful time in rock and roll. Great music is being made by great bands, and there’s no Paul Anka’s crowding out good music. You just have to go find it. But honestly, as a person who’s always been drawn to “optional entertainment” (like Frank Zappa, the guy who gave us that phrase), I’ve always gone to find it, and the hunt is half the fun.
It’s interesting that you mentioned the radio angle. I was thinking about that yesterday. Unless I mowed enough lawns or shoveled enough snow, I did not have money for albums. But I got an AM/FM radio for Christmas. So many great rock hits were on the FM Channels. Pop was on AM, and groups like the Who and Frank Zappa were on FM. Later, I saved enough money for a cassette recorder and bought a 60 - 90-minute cassette tape. I would listen to the radio and record my favorite songs as they came on. Later, when I had the money, albums, cassette tapes, and CDs were my source, so I stopped listening to the radio. But, it all started with the radio.
Which echoes my point about classical music. Maybe there are some great symphonies being written today. It doesn’t matter, people want to hear the masters.