Johnny Marr: 'What I like about these bands is the energy'

I've been following some of the new guitar bands inasmuch as I follow any good music. I've never been allied to any particular scene – that's always been an embarrassing trait of British pop culture. The mania that builds up in the UK when something new comes along is tedious. It's about the intent, not the scene. Having said that, there's something very exciting about some of the guitar bands breaking through now, especially the ones from America. If a band's good enough then the movement that spawns them usually becomes secondary to their talent. You know certain people aren't going to go away when the hype dies down, whether it's Kurt Cobain or Radiohead or whoever.

What I like about these new bands is the energy factor. To be 15 or 16 years old and hear the White Stripes must be a real revelation. I think the Vines have got something good going on too. I gave their album a few listens on random play and it was their more melodic songs that stood out. It's on the more tightly composed, song-based tracks that you really hear their talent. All they need to do now is stop trying so hard to be a rock band. When you start smashing your gear up on every television appearance you make it gets a bit embarrassing.

There are one or two other groups I'm getting into. "Remote Control (Me)" by Electric Six is one of the best tracks I've heard this year; the "Black Rooster" EP by The Kills is another good record. On a very basic level, it's satisfying to find so many bands losing their inhibitions and making a lot of noise.

I think it's great that guitar music is finally getting away from that sensitive, plodding mid-tempo earnestness. I'm not naming any names here, but I think you can guess who I'm talking about. Everyone's tired of it. It sounds like John Denver with a fuzz pedal. At the risk of sounding old and corny, it has felt lately as if we've forgotten the sense of abandon that comes with rock'n'roll. I used to hear it in the New York bands that came around in the late Seventies such as the Heartbreakers, Richard Hell and the Patti Smith Group.

That sense of abandon and adrenalin is very powerful and really seductive. It's easy to get hooked on the lifestyle that comes with it. When you look at what happened to Johnny Thunders and Sid Vicious, you realise it can be dangerous – but it's got to be better than people swaying in a field to some earnest mid-tempo rubbish.

Johnny Marr, former Smith and full-time guitar hero, was talking to Fiona Sturges