English bands singing in American accents

Sporky

tabbycat said:

people can do what they want, but the authenticity thing is an issue.

I disagree entirely. Authenticity is a conceit in the mind of the listener, not an intention in the mind of the musician.

What actually matters is whether the music (including the singing) is good or not.

Jim Reid said (swearing removed) "We didn't want to live in a wardrobe making records for 20 people". The JAMC wanted to get out of East Kilbride and sell records - they were anti-authenticity.

eSully

UnclePsychosis said:

My favourite ones are the modern US punk bands, who sound like Americans trying to sing like Brits trying to sound like Americans who were copying Brits who were copying Americans.

I genuinely read a really interesting thing on the US West Coast Punk accent that was written by a linguist. I'll see if I can find it.

Rancid would be a good example of this - American mixed with cockney.

Surprised people are saying Biffy Clyro, I think their Scottish accents come through quiet strong in their singing, particularly in the earlier albums. 

eSully

In general I think there's just various rock styles of singing, I don't necessarily think of them as British, American or other. It's just the style although I do get OP's point. When someone sings in a very put-on/forced voice that's blatantly not how they'd naturally sing that does tend to annoy me.

Drew_TNBD

I find it hilarious that a forum full of impressionists and in-authentic people who care more about expensive strats than they do the music that they fail to write, even have a viewpoint on this!

UnclePsychosis

stickyfiddle said:

UnclePsychosis said:

My favourite ones are the modern US punk bands, who sound like Americans trying to sing like Brits trying to sound like Americans who were copying Brits who were copying Americans.

I genuinely read a really interesting thing on the US West Coast Punk accent that was written by a linguist. I'll see if I can find it.

I'd be interested to read that

*googles* this one? 

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/i-made-a-linguistics-professor-listen-to-a-blink-182-song-and-analyze-the-accent

That's the one. Saved me a google

BigMonka

eSully said:

Surprised people are saying Biffy Clyro, I think their Scottish accents come through quiet strong in their singing, particularly in the earlier albums. 

That's exactly what I thought, I'd hold them up and someone who does show off their own accent rather than faking another

tabbycat

Sporky said:

tabbycat said:

people can do what they want, but the authenticity thing is an issue.

I disagree entirely. Authenticity is a conceit in the mind of the listener, not an intention in the mind of the musician.

What actually matters is whether the music (including the singing) is good or not.

Jim Reid said (swearing removed) "We didn't want to live in a wardrobe making records for 20 people". The JAMC wanted to get out of East Kilbride and sell records - they were anti-authenticity.

jamc were deeply into authenticity, they just despised a certain kind of snobby indie-ghetto up-oneself pseudo-authenticity that was floating around in certain corners of the british music papers in the early 1980s. the 'ian curtis one true god' mob, who equated authenticity with wrist-slashing angst. but they were profoundly authentic.

as to anything jim reid said in interviews at the time, you have also to filter that through 'how pissed off they were at having to do that interview' to decide how sincere the comments conatined therein were.

exhibit A. (ignore bobby gillespie, he's busy).

Sporky

tabbycat said:

as to anything jim reid said in interviews at the time, you have also to filter that through 'how pissed off they were at having to do that interview' to decide how sincere the comments conatined therein were. 

So if he says something that fits your position he meant it, and if he says something that doesn't fit your position he didn't mean it?

No point discussing this further then!

Reverend

Deijavoo said:

What about screamo metal and hardcore bands?

Where is that accent from?

Georgetown via Syria. 

tabbycat

Sporky said:

tabbycat said:

as to anything jim reid said in interviews at the time, you have also to filter that through 'how pissed off they were at having to do that interview' to decide how sincere the comments conatined therein were. 

So if he says something that fits your position he meant it, and if he says something that doesn't fit your position he didn't mean it?

No point discussing this further then!

saying you don't want to be naval-gazing factory records also-rans is not the same thing as saying you are anti-authenticity. i suspect a little digging around will prove the quote sporky gave was contextualised on those terms.
they also gave a lot of tongue-in-cheek interviews to smash hits etc at the time (the above clip being typical) which they have admitted since were just sheer provocation intended to upset those high brow music papers trying to dismiss them for not being po-faced curtis-clones.

sorting the sincere statements from the wantonly provocative is obviously a subjective exercise. but i have formed my impressions and you can form your own.

fretmeister

I'm trying to imagine Benji singing in Skindred in his actual Welsh accent rather than the Jamaican / reggae patois that works with the music.

No doubt it would be very funny. But the notion of being authentic would ruin the music. 

jonnygreentrees

NickL said:

Sir Elton has been singing in a strange mid-Atlantic twang for his whole career. Maybe that came from his early days doing those Woolworths "not original artists" records.

Arctic Monkeys pretty much summed it up in 'Fake Tales of San Francisco': "You're not from New York City, you're from Rotherham".

which is ironic considering he now speaks with a faux American accent

freakboy1610

What about Ian Astbury of The Cult. Not only does he sing in an American accent but he often talks in one, at least when he's on stage. Perhaps it was all part of them fully embracing the American rock & roll dream when they morphed from goths into leather clad rockers with Electric. I expect Ian would consider himself a child of many nations or some such nonsense (I believe he did live in Canada for a bit when he was a kid). Don't get me wrong, I love the Cult and have all their stuff but I've always found the "shake it don't break it baby, yeah" stuff rather humorous. \m/

tabbycat

andyp

I've genuinely been considering this lately too.

I've got a strong Scottish (but pretty central / "generic" Scottish rather than a local / regional) accent. I can't sing at all and I've always wanted to be able to. I definitely lack the confidence to try singing "properly" but even signing in the car or something with nobody around I find mimicking singers' voices means I sing in a sort of unnatural accent and I need to think too much - usually my bad version of American. Even with the likes of ACDC it's not a natural accent for me at all. But I also sound ridiculous if I try singing in my own accent as it sounds so strong.

On the Biffy point, I've always thought they were much more Scottish sounding than American but I've not heard too much of their later stuff. The likes of the Arctic Monkeys are interesting too, I can imagine that some accents work for some bands' styles and it defines them in a way, but it just doesn't work for others. I can't stand Twin Atlantic as it happens, it's so grating it's unreal.

I saw Neckdeep (Welsh pop-punk band) mentioned in a magazine recently so I went to listen to them and they sound so American I couldn't decide if it worked or not. It was decent enough and was certainly pop-punk but it was very generic sounding too. I quite liked most of it, but it sounded like a copy of someone else rather than their own sound. Opposite to them, The Twilight Sad are from the small town that I live in and he sings with his own accent and it works well but it's very noticeable when you first hear them. For me it's a big step out of the norm for a band to do this and when it works it gives them the unique style that makes them who they are.

There's just so much American content out there all the time - in any aspect of life, not just entertainment. This isn't a political comment, just an observation. Even when speaking to people at work from all over the world, most speak English with an American (or very close to) accent.

Back to point though, as long as it doesn't sound unnatural in the song I think the American / mid-Atlantic thing works and it's pretty much what people expect when they hear music. It's not just Rock, even look at Adele or Ed Sheeran or whoever... they all have a different accent when they sing to when they talk. It's kind of just how it is.

Andy

starwarsnosebleed

^agreed.

I think most English people dont sing in their regional accents as it probabably wouldnt fit most music very well, and i totally understsnd that. As long as its not too pronounced i dont think many people would notice, or give a shit.

Like i said in the original post, its only when its a very unnatural, overly emphasised accent that i find bizarre.

And yes @drewfx, America is a big place, i think we all know that. But wether its a Bronx accent, or Texan, they are all American accents arent they?
Sorry to be general, but i wasnt being specific about any particular band, or any particular regional American accent.

It usually doesnt bother me too much, but in recent years i seem too have noticed this more, and just had to ask, and its obviously quite a polarizing topic on here.

andyp

I think even American bands sing in a more generic / rolled-off accent in most cases. Except when you get into styles (like country maybe?) where a strong accent like the Southern states is part of the genre / style.

hugbot

How you perceive accents is partly subjective, I'm on the side that would hear Biffy Clyro as sounding very scottish for example.

Sporky said:

tabbycat said:

people can do what they want, but the authenticity thing is an issue.

I disagree entirely. Authenticity is a conceit in the mind of the listener, not an intention in the mind of the musician.

What actually matters is whether the music (including the singing) is good or not.

Jim Reid said (swearing removed) "We didn't want to live in a wardrobe making records for 20 people". The JAMC wanted to get out of East Kilbride and sell records - they were anti-authenticity.

Im reminded of that quote "sincerity - if you can fake that you've got it made"

I think theres a lot of that in music. I mean for example even if a song means a lot to you at the instant you write it and is "authentic", after you've rehersed it and played it out to the point where you're sick of it, and you're on a bad night where the crowd is shit and so on on...its lost some of that, so a performance always has a slight element of "faking it".

hugbot

Also I was reminded of the band sylabl and brains, who had a documentary about them.

Long story short they were a pair of emimem esqe shock rock type early 2000's rappers from scotland who went to an industry showcase and got laughed out the room. They went away and came back next time with the exact same songs, but in an american accent and got signed immediately. They then had to keep up the bullshit about their new fake identites until it all fell apart.

thecolourbox

I think that in some styles and English accent just sounds ridiculous, arctic monkeys included. I get why they do it as part of their shtick but it just makes them sound like George Formby to me.

But then there are styles it works perfectly well in, I liked the Libertines songs when they cockneyed it up a bit etc

Same as using a British style Vox amp for some stuff, or a Triple Rec for other stuff - surely you just have to do what you feel fits the song