[magicalhippo]

> there might be more punk bands then ever before but if they all sound the same, who cares?

> Maybe bands needs to go underground for a bit for a new sound to emerge.

I think this is what I'm trying to get at. The advent of affordable recording sessions and affordable world-wide distribution and marketing (internet) means the underground has become less underground.

Before acts would rise from the underground to the radio with a fresh new sound, but I'm pretty sure if you put them in the scene they came from you'd say "they all sound the same" as well.

They all sound the same today because the radio filter has been removed, and you can experience all of it in a way you couldn't before. So the gradual changes and differences don't get a chance to build up to a radical difference before people hear it.

IMHO this is great, as for me it means I can find a lot more music that I enjoy.

But it would seem it has made it more difficult for you to find the next stand-out thing to enjoy.