10 Killer Rock Music Bands With No Guitarist
Not a guitarist in sight, just people living in the moment.
It is a hard and fast rule that most of the rock songs we know and love have a ripping guitarist driving them. And the same goes for the bands. What would Van Halen have been without Eddie? The White Stripes without Jack? The Jonas Brothers without Nick? Okay, maybe let's not go there.
But while guitar and rock go together like Taylor Swift and carbon emissions, that doesn't mean the six-string is always an essential tool of the trade. Over the past 30 years in particular, more and more pretty sensational rock bands have emerged without a plank spanker in sight - and with said plank spankers' reputation for vanity, debauchery, falling out with the band and spinning off into niche and unnecessary passion projects, who needs 'em?
Certainly not Twenty One Pilots, Apocalyptica, Royal Blood or The HU. No, whether using bass, cellos or Mongolian throat singing, a whole host of talented groups have found ways to put out killer tunes without a guitar in sight. Thus, the following are ten rock bands who have not only managed to get by but thrive without rock's cornerstone instrument.
10. Taipei Houston
Taipei Houston are about as green a band as you could hope to hear, with the rock duo only starting out this decade. And while brothers Myles and Layne don’t have a lot of music industry experience under their belts, they do have a couple of edges over competitors – including that their dad is, oh, I don’t know, the drummer for Metallica.
That’s right, ‘Tallica’s own skins gremlin Lars Ulrich has brought two budding musicians into the world and unleashed them on our earholes – with some pretty killer results. Though the pair only officially formed Taipei Houston - named after an intercontinental flight - in the summer of 2021, they hit the ground running and have been touring and releasing foot-stomping, barn-storming rock tracks like nobody’s business.
And the best part of it all? They can make one hell of a noise without a Hetfield, Hammett, Mustaine or six-string in sight. Rather than attempt to ape their dad's work, the boys have taken more of a garage/blues rock approach infused with an electronic flair ala The Dead Weather, with Myles on drums, Layne on vox and pedal board-heavy bass.