JOAN ANDERMAN seems to pine for the days when the swaggering, cocksure rock frontman reigned, but I think that a lot of music fans are pretty glad to be rid of him ("The incredible shrinking frontman," Arts & Entertainment, Aug. 3). All you have to do is watch the excellent mock, rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" to see how cheesy, cartoonish, and dumb that ideal of a "rock star" really is.
One accomplishment of the grunge and indie rock movements that I identified with as a fan in the 1990s was the way that guys like Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder, along with record labels like Sub Pop and Kill Rock Stars, tore down the model of the strutting, classic rock peacock, while still delivering powerful, visceral music. And Riot grrrl bands such as Bikini Kill and L7 went even further in their opposition to the "frontman" concept, with all of its sexist implications.
Sex has always played a big role in rock and pop music. But when sexuality is emphasized at the expense of everything else, you're left with Britney Spears - and that's barely music at all. With the use of sex as a marketing tool having reached some kind of tipping point, bands like Wilco and Radiohead remind us of some of the other wonderful things rock music has to offer.
Much has changed in the world since classic rock's golden era of the 1960s and '70s, so why shouldn't that change be reflected in today's rock music? Between the war and the economy, not to mention the environment, I have never felt more anxiety and doubt than I feel right now.
I'm not disappointed that many of the musicians whom I love seem to have these feelings, too. If musicians like Chris Martin, Thom Yorke, and Jeff Tweedy seem more thoughtful, nuanced, and evolved than many cocky rockers of yore, is that really a bad thing?
THOMAS VALICENTI
Watertown
