Who are you and what have you done with the real sp2
What I listen to and what I consider good songwriting is not necessarily the same thing. I listen to stuff I consider good music. That doesn't necessarily mean good songs. Good songwriting means the music should be poppier and have a more traditional structure, and be very accessible. The lyrics should also be well-written and clever.
Most of the music I like doesn't necessarily have brilliant lyrics. Either they're really blunt and straightforward lyrics (like Dead Kennedys, which are still an awesome band) or very esoteric lyrics (like At the Drive-In, which are also an awesome band).
I'd say, really, The Weakerthans and Les Savy Fav are two of the best bands lyrically in the last 10 years. I wouldn't call Les Savy Fav great songwriters because their music doesn't have a lot in the way of good hooks...it's music geek music rather than song music. I'd also say that good songwriting should be thematically accessible to everyone, even if you disagree with it. Most of the really in your face blunt punk music that I like isn't accessible to anyone but a radical leftist. Most of the post-hardcore and post-punk stuff I listen to is not accessible to anyone but a music geek or a radical leftist. That's how it is.
As for Soundgarden, there are some real gems on each of their albums (not just the singles). One should not be ashamed of liking Soundgarden. They were by far the best band to come out of the "grunge" thing. As for Pearl Jam, I don't like them. But they still wrote a lot of really good tunes that could be considered on par with a lot of the great songwriting from the 60s and 70s.
Those were bands that came to mind off the top of my head. There are plenty of other bands that have great songwriting. Jawbreaker's earlier stuff is very well-written, although their lyrics are a little lacking. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are good at putting together a song, although they lack a little lyrically. The Black Keys write good songs, although a lot of their lyrics are a bit cliché.
But I wouldn't claim in a million years that being able to write a good song and being able to write good music are the same skill. In fact, they're vastly different.
