what makes for a good "rhythm section"?

The pocket being that groove where the bass and drums lock in - the drummer isn't rushing the beat, perhaps they are a smidge behind the beat. The bass player accents the kick drum hits and finds other spaces on which to place an accent.

It's indescribable feel. Either it's there, or it isnt.

But it doesn't help you if you have never heard the term "in the pocket" before.

If you have never played in a regualar gigging band, this may be a hard concept to wrap your unnuanced ears around. This might help: be noticeable of the body language between the bass player and the drummer. Are they aware of each other? Do they play off each other? Do they occasionaly smile, as if sharing an inside joke?

Because they are.

However, those faces do generally mean that some sort of communication is happening, which is at least the beginning of a good rhythm section.

Maybe they suck at the moment. Maybe they won't eventually.

That's a good rhythm section. A great one, even. Then listen to almost any indie rock record. Chances are you'll be listening to a not-so-good rhythm section. Once you've established those baselines, you can begin to compare notes. No pun intended. Or maybe it was. I dunno.

it's all subjective I guess but to my ears D Grohl was a strong drummer driving Nirvana and the original guy in G&R was a stoned jerk just barely gettin' the job done (later replaced by a hack)

also: I think CE massively overrates McKagan/ Adler; Sixx/Lee, whom he inexplicably does not like, wipes the floor with G&R on Too Fast For Love, Shout at the Devil, and Doc Feelgood. this is mostly because the man with the state of Florida between his legs is the best rock drummer of his generation. And grohl is for his.

but CE is correct re: british bands of the '80s and '90s having suckass RSs. one of the consequences of Year zero/1977/Pistols etc etc is that the de-emphasization of playing well = no groove (Topper Headon excepted). this is true of about, oh I dunno, 75% of indie rock.

But that other 25%--the 25% descended from Gang of 4/Talking Heads/Blondie/Disco--have great rhythm sections.

Rat Scabies? But surely there were some good rhythm sections in New Pop, ska revival. etc. as well...

but in general, i'm not sure "good rhythm section" actually means anything. you have to talk about how or why the rhythm section is good or bad. like, i don't know much speed metal, but i'm sure there are great speed-metal rhythm sections, and lousy ones. (i'm guessing in that case it would have to do with force and velocity, as opposed to, say, the spaciousness and fluidity that characterizes good reggae rhythm sections.) can, led zeppelin and chic all have great rhythm sections, but they're great in different ways.

as for GoF, I think they tried hard, but too much of it is a student-y "look at the way we make this commie funk music! isn't this interesting how we re-interpret black music" approach that, while valid, is mighty stiff to my ears. same goes for PiL. My drummer has a predjudice against "new wave drumming."

and Scabies was alright, but he and virtually all punk drummers came from the Keith Moon "bull-in-china-shop" school. Moon, while a chief reason that the 'OO was what it was, had a dreadful influence on drummers. I'll take Bonzo, the steady as she goes/ Al Jackson/ Ziggy Modeliste of British guys over Moon any day–which is why Zep is better than the Who: you can't fuck to the Who.

does mark bryzickiwicki of Big Country/Townshend count as New Pop? he brought it! I would say that Roger Taylor had his moments, very occasionally.

and that Metallica is any good at all has everything to do with Hetfield, who has a whole riddim section in his right hand, then the very, very poor Ulrich.

except for really obvious exceptions like the buzzcocks. or the stranglers. or the jam. or killing joke. actually, i like a lot of punk rhythm sections.

nowadays, you just need a good drummer. they hide so many sins. i can't even hear the bass on a lot of modern rock albums. (not true of metal though.)

I think Blink-182 has a great rhythm section. A lot of the "pop-punk" bands do.

Sure, other members of the band can throw things off kilter by being too loud, or being all around piss poor players. But if the drummer is rushing the beat, or unable to maintain meter/tempo, then the whole band is a bloody mess.