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The charge Reynolds levels here- that English rock is white, thus self-consciously racist, has been made elsewhere- http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2007/10/22/071022crmu_music_frerejones- about indie rock in general. Methinx it's a load o' bollocks, mate. What seems more likely to me is that the bands he cites simply play what they want based on what they like, and their audiences (note the plural) like their music for musical rather than socio-political reasons.
The audience is fragmented now. In a day when the technology and the Internet makes it possible for most anyone to make and distribute their own music- and for their audience to find them- there is no need for any act to hit the road and work their way up, and little possible reward. This is a blessing for the musician, because it enables him or her to play whatever they want. But it is also a curse, because there is no world left to conquer as there was in the classic rock era. The last band with this kind of ambition is U2, and there won't be another one in the foreseeable future. Most bands know what Joe Strummer knew back in the day: phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust. Under the circumstances I'd stay home and play music to people that appreciated it rather than come here and play what I like, only to be called a bigot by self-appointed cultural arbiters because it doesn't sound black enough.
