What bothers me most, I think, is the inclination towards the playing of drums in an incessant monotonous plodding beat that sounds more like a computerized disco dance track than something that's alive. Don't get me wrong, I love lots of rock music and am a huge Led Zeppelin fan among other groups. But, drums and bass, as a rhythm section, should swing, move, lilt, or whatever, with the music. Turning the live feel of traditional music to the dead march of computer beats, even when generated by human hands, sucks the life out of the music.There are many good "folk/rock" bands which do the drums and bass thing well, not the least of which would be Cape Breton's Slainte Mhath. But they come from the tradition. There's a good chance that where the rhythm section thing is done poorly, the participants don't come from, or perhaps understand, the tradition. Either way, to use one style in everything a band plays reduces the bands affectiveness.
My remaining complaint is the limited use of other percussion instruments which are commonly available, from other types of drums to shakers etc, by the rock oriented bands. When coupled with the unimaginative use of a standard drum kit, this makes the potentially most lively instrument a dead bore.
In short, it's not so much that drums are used but how they are used.
That said, there's lots of room for no drums at all, particularly where a rhythm can be kept by other instruments. Nowadays, guitars are as much percussion and rhythm than anything, but most any instrument can be used to support the rhythm.
My (longwinded) $0.02 (Cdn funds), Mooh.