What's a brother to do?

Over the last year or so my friend who we will call "Randolph" has strayed away from alot of the good quality music that he and I could agree on and listen to. I've stayed true to my broad roots of rock n' roll, added some country/bluegrass, and a little tolerance for some punk/heavier stuff as well.

When I tried to introduce him to The Hold Steady he discarded the first song in less than 45 seconds. "I don't like his voice." After playing a couple other songs with no approval I give up and we then resort to listening to his kind of music. I've provided weblinks only because I need outside opinions.

We listened to Cartel (whose name sounds like a rapper to me), Motion City Soundtrack (which until today I thought was really a soundtrack, not a band named Motion City Soundtrack), Panic! at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Plus 44, and the new Incubus album. All of these except for Incubus fall into some teen emo-shit pop/punk category that Randolph should have outgrown by now.

I'm pretty sure that Fall Out Boy started it all. I would get stuck hearing Dance Dance and Sugar We're Goin Down over and over last summer. Then this Panic! at the Disco thing happened. This band completely annoys the shit out of me. Randolph admits that he's seen their live performances on television and talks about how awful they sound. But when they came through St. Louis a few months ago I was begged upon to go. Why? If they suck on TV, they're going to suck in person, right? Plus 44 isn't that bad because it's one or two of the Blink 182 guys. The sound really hasn't changed much from the Blink days so it doesn't bother me as much. But this Motion City Soundtrack and Cartel has got to go! My Chemical Romance is another band that he likes, and over the weekend he said something about The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Or maybe is was the sound of him sneezing. Can't decide. He claims to hate bands like Bowling For Soup and Good Charlotte, but what's the F@#$ing difference? They're all pop-punk that my thirteen year old cousin would be listening to. Incubus is a tough loss for me. From S.CI.E.N.C.E. through Morning View my ears were filled with exciting rock and even a DJ spinning some tables. I've missed the bus that explains what their sound is now because I can't stand their last two albums. By the end of the day I did get to listen to Sam's Town from The Killers, and Fiction Plane, but only because I hooked up my iPod to his stereo. Then the damn battery died. Or was it a signal that his music taste isn't going away?

So what's a brother to do? Do I need to hold an intervention? Break into his computer and just delete all of this music? I feel like the guy in the Miller Beer commercials, trying to save a friend from drinking a tasteless beer. Remember those serious "I can't taste my beer" ad campaigns? Only thing is, that guy succeeds.

So here are a few songs that help me deal with the pain.

The Offspring - What Happened to You? "I try to explain but you just don't understand Man you're really losin' it."

R.E.M. - Radio Song "It's that same sing song, and the DJ sucks. It makes me sad."

The Format - Tune Out "Haven't we heard this song about a thousand times before?"

Kathleen Edwards - One More Song the Radio Won't Like "Johnny little rocket star flashing the label's credit card His name is at the door but no one knew what for."