Saturday afternoons, there's a show on my local NPR station called Sound Opinions. On it, the two hosts spend an hour talking about rock music: lists, reviews, general chat, etc..

Last weekend, they did a segment on a guy who had called up to ask for some new music recommendations. He was in his mid-30's, had grown up listening to stuff like Van Halen, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin (classic rock, essentially), then moved to stuff like Nirvana, STP, and Weezer, in the early 90's. But after that, he lost touch with new music: the bands he liked moved in directions he didn't like, and he couldn't find anything else to replace them. So, he asked the hosts to recommend something new that "rocks" but still has a melody. He said he listens to commercial radio (and hates it), so we can assume he knows about Nickelback et al and that they just don't do it for him. So, that's a pretty good question: what new music rocks, with melodies, but isn't 4th a generation Nirvana rip-off?

The hosts gave him two recommendations: an album from Secret Machines and another from Wolf Parade. Check out those links and tell me if you think either of those bands have anything to do with classic hard rock or 90's grunge-alt-rock. Nope, not even close. They do sound like the kind of bands rock critics would like, though. The caller was politely underwhelmed.

But, who's a better fit?

My top pick has to be Queens Of The Stone Age. They certainly rock, they've got a touch of that 90's alt-rock vibe, but they're definitely not a Nirvana clone.

But after them, who? I assume he would know the White Stripes, if he listens to commercial radio.

Maybe ...Trail Of Dead, or Pinback ?

Anyone else?