Georgia

Delaware

50 Bands 50 States

Florida

All-Time Best Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd
All-Time Best Solo Artist: Tom Petty
Best New Band: Torche

Ooooh, that smell? It’s the unmistakable, greasy stink of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern-fried triple-guitar overload. You can’t wash it out of your clothes or your hair — don’t even try. Just embrace it, and wear it like a badge of honor. (Skynyrd gets bonus Florida points for fronting like they were from Alabama.) | Yes, he was the second-least-important Wilbury (ouch, Jeff Lynne), but top-hat-loving Tom Petty was the crucial missing link between the Byrds-y folk-rock of the ’60s and the R.E.M. indie-rock revolution of the ’80s. And a late-cresting 2007 documentary (Runnin’ Down a Dream, directed by Peter Bogdanovich) has recently resuscitated Petty’s reputation among hipsters. | Miami metal machine Torche marries triumphant, anthemic vocals with bottom-of-the-barrel bass-line sludge, and sends them off on a catchy, doom-pop honeymoon. For a taste, get your hands on “Grenades.”

Video: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Video: Tom Petty

Listen: Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Simple Man"

Listen: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "The Waiting"

Listen: Torche, "Grenades"

Georgia

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Comments

Re: Florida

 Torche??? No way. DC-3 is the best "new" Florida band. www.myspace.com/dc3

By borneofashes@gmail.com on 07/01/2008 at 9:28:54

Re: Florida

 www.myspace.com/dc3Best "new" Florida act...hands down.

By borneofashes@gmail.com on 07/01/2008 at 9:30:02

Re: Florida

 Fl band? myspace.com/willquinlan

By dekkerd on 07/02/2008 at 12:05:33

Re: Florida

what?  no miami sound machine?  huh.

By Booben on 07/29/2008 at 4:16:28

Re: Florida

Newsflash for all of those "hipsters" . . . if you needed a film to resurrect Tom Petty's status in your music world, then you were obviously either 15 years old or trying so hard to be "hip" . . . that you weren't.

By alanlit96 on 07/30/2008 at 10:32:49

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