Dubstep Is Killing The Rebirth Of Guitar Music

I'm going to lay my musical cards on the table now... I want 2011 to be the return of guitar music. I want it with every fibre of my being. I want the kids to get the same feeling I had the first time I saw The Strokes. Realising in just one song, that my life would change. I want it so much, that I'm even behind The Vaccines. If they're the band to stir up some hype and get people excited by indie music again, then I can ignore the lazy 'Post Break-up Sex' (but where's the exhilaration I was promised lads?)

But the problem doesn't lie in the indie bands, or lack there of, it's down to dubstep. That's right, dubstep. The genre that's been bubbling away beneath the surface for a few years now thanks to London-based producer Skream and his band of merry Magnetic Men, made its stratospheric leap into the mainstream last year and completely altered the British music scene.

The 'yoof' aren't going nuts for bands holding guitars in skinny jeans and Converse anymore. Instead they're losing their heads over ground shaking, ear buzzing, heavy, dirty, dubstep. And whose to blame them? It's euphoric. It bonds crowds. It's at gigs, rather than sneaking into clubs underage, and it's new. It's their own genre to explore and make their own.

Just look at The Vaccines recent tour. They opened to a lukewarm reception; Everything Everything were at their usual music-altering best, and gained a better crowd; but then along came Magnetic Man, and Brixton Academy went ballistic. Unified. Even the madness of headliners Crystal Castles thinned the crowd after Skream, Benga and Artwork had left the stage. They're unstoppable.

I'm beginning to sound like I remember the invention of the CD here (I do - my first CD was Jason Nevins vs Run DMC), but I'm not anti-dubstep; I welcome the new. I'm getting excited about Wu Lyf, Various Cruelties and Funeral Party (all guitar-based, by the way). It's not that I don't get this mash up of drum 'n' bass, I do. I like. But it doesn't effect me in the same way.

I'm still missing something. I'm missing The Strokes.

I am eagerly awaiting the March 21 for the drop of The Strokes record 'Angles', and after the thrill of waiting five years for comeback single 'Under Cover of Darkness' – and how blummin' electric it was – I think it's going to be a good day.

I'm preparing myself for a backlash, though – a lot has happened since the New York five-piece changed the musical landscape with 2001's 'Is This It', and purists are always critical: "It just doesn't have the fresh intensity of 'Last Night', blah blah blah." The return of The Strokes is sure to mean a hell of a lot for those of us there the first time round, but will it really cut through dubstep's hold? Even mainstream pop is soaked in the genre's beats... Tinie Tempah, Jessie J, Katy B, et al. Guitar bands aren't breaking into the top 10, and they're missing out on Radio 1's playlist, not even making a dent.

And the return of just one band - and a band not massively fussed on touring, interviews or promoting themselves now they're entering their 30s - just might not be enough. Prove me wrong, The Strokes, prove me wrong.

What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comment form below.