Case in point: interpol fans making shirts that say "Interpol Wants Revenge" claiming that SWR sounds too much like Interpol.

Nevermind that Interpol sounds a bit too much like Echo and the Bunnymen/Joy Division.

Irony much?

Thank you! I second the Interpol squabble, who are they bitching at?

And Band of Horses sounds way way way too much like My Morning Jacket.

Shame on Sub Pop for thinking listeners won't care.

Thank you!! When a band bites so much off the style and sound of another band, I feel cheapened as a listener.

If a new band were to sound EXACTLY like Can, I think I'd be all right with that. There can never be too many Can imitators, as far as I'm concerned. And since Can were so multifaceted, an imitator would have to be awesome to replicate their sound(s).

Whitesnake were definitely ripping off Led Zeppelin. Whitesnake has got tobe one of the biggest ripoff bands of all time. I can't believe Jimmy Page did a record with David Coverdale. But he's Jimmy Page, he can do whatever he wants, right?

band of horses is almost beating my morning jacket: http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22my+morning+jacket%22%2C+%22band+of+horses%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

When you have 500 bands who all use a guitar, a bass and drums, how many different sounds can you really make? If it comes down to songwriting style, maybe the songwriters still need more time to mature and develop something unique.

I was sitting in my car the other day listening to the radio and a song came on. I was like, "Oh, this must be new My Morning Jacket."

I liked the song. I liked the music.

When the dj came on and said it was Band of Horses, I felt like had been, as Trent says, ripped off. I felt like I had been had.

Band of Horses are copy cats as far as I'm concerned.

So are The Lashes.

Yeah, The Lashes are totally ripping off a shit I took, like, 10 years ago.

Copycats.

Who Cares,

I can't buy the 500 bands all using a guitar, bass, and drums. There's too many other variables that factor in - the way someone sings, the way someone arranges their guitar settings, and the production.

I care because I'm interested in music and for some reason, it invokes my reaction.

I go back to the painters - there's only so many colors on the color wheel (like there's only so many instruments). If a painter painted a painting that looked exactly like Van Gogh's 'Starry Night', that painting would be laughed at, critics would unleash on it. It's Van Gogh, it's his style of painting, it's been done, and done well.

In literature, if a writer was to copy the words of another writer, it's called plagiarism, and it's illegal.

Is it different for music?

On Beck's 'Sea Change' I hear Surge Gainsbourg, but somehow Beck makes it his own. Plus, Beck and Gainsbourg are from different countries, and they have different listeners for the most part. It would be one thing if Beck ripped off Gainsbourg and was in France trying to sell records to Gainsbourg's fans.

Like Band of Horses trying to sell to My Morning Jacket fans or The Lashes selling to Strokes fans.

That one lashes song sounds so much like the Strokes that I almost liked it. Then I realized that'd put me in the same camp as fat, pasty-faced teenage girls who wear size 12 Seven jeans and too much eye make up.

I think it's natural and good for musicians to pull from other musicians. After all, you learn music by playing other people's music.

But there is a point where it crosses the line.

What Band of Horses and the Lashes are doing is over the line. What they are doing is more than just being influenced by My Morning Jacket and The Strokes. They are taking the sound those bands pioneered and acting like it's theirs.

It's lazy and insulting.

Bands like Band of Horses and The Lashes are lying to people. It's a hoax. I say Band of Horses and The Lashes, because they are local. But it happens all the time, all over the place.

A band gets huge, and there are immitators.

I think it should be illegal in music, just like it's illegal to plagiarize written word.

I think Band of Horses and The Lashes should have to pay royalties to My Morning and The Strokes.

What's more, is that Band of Horses and The Lashes are signed to big record labels and have all this press that says how amazing they are, and the radio stations play the hell out of them.

I don't understand how the journalists, label types, and DJ's don't throw bands in the trash where they should be. But when the label thinks it can make money, that becomes what it's all about. Not integrity. I guess the same goes for the radio station and journalist.

If the journalist thinks he or she can 'get onboard' with a band that's hot, it's good for their career, is that it?

Aren't the music journalists and the label people and the DJ's supposed to be the ones that know music?

To be fair, it's not like The Strokes were inventing electricity or something. They were just watering down old Velvet Underground jams for a generation of kids who think Lou Reed (who?) is dead.

If I'd had My Morning Coffee already, I could probably come up with the two or three bands that My Morning Jacket is cribbing too.

That's not to say that The Lashes or Band Of Horses aren't original, but only that their most immediate influences aren't either.

I dig that Band of Horses CD, but I'd never heard MMJ before so what do I know? Not much.

It's one thing to sound similar but the Lashes co-opted the Strokes look and sound. That's just pandering and lazy in my book.

Sadly, their are acne-scarred teenagers who buy music in the mall lapping that shit up like it's butter on a muffin.

If you really like music, you ignore bands like this. If you care about mall fashion and pre-packaged image then you buy it on droves.

I wish I could say I think it's about the money. I wish I could say it's called selling out.

But what I really think it is, is that the people in these copycat bands don't have the mental or musical fortitude or creative ability to come up with their own sound.

So what do they do, they glom onto what their favorite music is, they glom onto the people or the bands that they want to be like.

Maybe it is like 'Who Cares' says and that Band of Horses and The Lashes type musicians need time to mature. How old are those guys anyway.

Yeah, they should pay royalties if they're gonna rip a band off.

YEAH!! Make em pay!!

What's even worse is when a band takes their name from another band's lyrics (The Shins' for instance).

That is straight plagiarism!

We're not all 14 year old girls and mall rats. We're not a herd of powerless purchasers.

But, sadly, 14 year old girls and mall rats buy a lot of music and the music they buy is produced by what record companies and labels know will sell.

I actually don't think Band of Horses had 14 year old girls in mind when they recorded and when they wrote this record.

I just think Band of Horses suck. Did they think no one would notice that they sound almost exactly like another band, that is HUGE right now?

I doubt Band of Horses set out to rip anyone off. They didn't just appear out of nowhere earlier this year. They've been doing their thing for a couple of years now. And don't forget they grew out of Carissa's Wierd.

If you don't like what BOH or The Lashes are doing, don't listen to them.

Exactly. Out of all the bands that sound like each other, there are thousands more that sound nothing like them. There's always other music to listen to.

Please.... Band of Horses sounds very little like My Morning Jacket. Similar vocals does not equal similar music. My Morning Jacket is heavier produced, more atmospheric. Band of Horses has a more traditional sound. Yes, Interpol was STRONGLY influenced by bands such as Joy Division, but Turn on the bright lights was a classic by all definitions so, lock them up. Plus, if you really need a change in your life listen to Antics; they went away from their original sound somewhat, and sound less like Joy Division.

Hey FITS,

Does Head Like a Kite sound like The Shins? Are we stealing the sound of another band and passing it off as our own?

I think your smart ass is going to have take a dig at something else.

I'll find out how Dave got the name and get back to you.

You keep pressing play DJ boy.

This is getting good.

DJ Fits,

Head Like a Kite aren't plagiarizing anyone. Because they might have taken their name from another band's lyrics? Are you kidding me? Head Like a Kite seems to have made a pretty concerted to have a unique sound.

Fits, you're a dj, don't you play other people's music all night long? And you're giving someone shit about capitalizing on someone else's lyrics or sound?

Oh this is rich, a DJ (one who plays mostly CDs) is lecturing bands on originality?

i think people who complain about other people's music sound like a bunch of cry babies. someone definitely owes all the real cry babies royalties. they crap their diapers and they're not even getting paid for it.