Pearl Jam Bassist says Rock is in a ‘Better Place’

While there’s no shortage of classic rockers who like to complain about modern music, Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament isn’t one of them. He believes “music is in a better place than it’s ever been right now.”

The bassist says he caught a performance by the punkish band Idles last year — and he was so impressed, he was inspired to check out several other up-and-coming acts. “There’s so much fantastic music,” Ament says. “It’s different than it was a couple years ago. It’s not like you’re going to the record store and talking to the record guy, but it’s going online, it’s talking to your friends.”

Ament says hearing such bands as Murder Capital, Fontaines D.C. and Shame “feels as exciting” as when he first listened to The Ramones, Black Flag and Dead Kennedys. “This is rock,” he says. “This is as good as rock music has been on the planet in the last 20 years.”

When was the last time hearing a new band generated that kind of excitement in you? What genre of music is the most lucrative?