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 April 18, 2005 - 08:14 PM | chris
When is Indie not Indie?

First of all, let me head off most of the comments at the pass. I'm calling it "Indie Rock" as a matter of convenience to refer to the current crop of low-fi, garage-rock-sounding bands. I know they're not representative of independent music, and me calling them that probably makes you as angry as it makes me when people call anything they don't like "emo".

Indie Rock

Time of Popularity: This one is kind of tricky, but I'll go with 2001 when the Strokes' first popular album came out until present. And yes, I know most of these bands have been around for a much longer time. People I used to trade Pumpkins' shows with have been babbling about Modest Mouse since the mide-to-late 90's.
Ripped off the musical stylings of: The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, pretty much every rock band of that era.
Trademark Sound: Forced "fuzziness" that's supposed to sound raw and energetic, but seems kind of fake when you realize that it's a calculated choice and not borne from not having the money for production.
Most Successful Artists: The Strokes, The Hives, The Vines, The White Stripes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Raveonettes, The Killers, basically The [insert plural noun here].
Band with the most staying power: It's still too early to tell. My guess would be whichever band adapts their sound to whatever is trendy next. If you held a gun to my head I'd say the White Stripes, because everyone seems to be oblivious to the fact that Meg White is possibly the worst drummer ever. The radio station here got a hold of a new song by them and played it incessantly this past weekend, and again I get the same kick drum pounded into my head over and over again. The drummer in my high school band used to try and play these ridiculous fills in every slight transition during our songs, while Meg takes the opposite approach: bang the cymbal or kick drum over and over and over again with no variation in rhythm at all.
Clothing: Tight t-shirts and tight jeans, I guess. And scariest of all, Beck was wearing his pants and boots like Napoleon Dynamite during SNL on Saturday.
Long term contribution to society: Too early to tell, although they've ushered in an age where the nerdy and poorly dressed are the new cool kids. Napoleon Dynamite is a hit movie, Seth Cohen is the most popular character on the OC, and comic book movies reign at the box office. 'Tis a great time to be a programmer.
The Last Word: It's especially ironic that these bands are called "indie", because they've been Smash Mouth-esque in their selling-out-ness. They're on commercials for Ipods, jeans, and cars before their songs are even on the radio, as was pretty much the case with The Zutons (yet another plural...noun?), whose song "Pressure Point" I heard in an advertisement for blue jeans and during a video game before I ever heard it on the radio. It's also a great time to be a lead singer, since actual singing skills are no longer required. "Perhaps if we turn up our guitars and don't make any attempt to do any post-production, people won't notice that I'm not on key," they seem to say. Luckily the time has just about run out for low-fi garage rock. Only a few more months of Franz Ferdinand and Bright Eyes until the fickle public casts its favor in the direction of a new sound. What will be next? The answer probably lies in "what hasn't made a comeback yet?". My guess..."disco rap".



Comments

I wouldn't have really thought to link the "new indie" back to the rolling stones, but then again, I don't consider "new indie" to be indie at all. Now that I understand that this includes major radio airplay....it's pretty sad to see MM bunched into a group with the killers, etc.

I think that there will be a wave of similar MM type indie hitting the airwaves very soon though. Look out for Built to spill's new album in the fall....major radio stations(and record labels) will be looking for something "new". I wouldn't be surprised to see a Dinosaur jr. revolution - they are touring together soon and Jay mascis and Lou barlow have had a bunch of success as solo artists.

With that in mind, I'd make a point that dinosaur (no jr. at first) help start the "underground indie" in the early 80's (83 ir 84 i think). i'd put Fugazi, pavement, Built to spill, MM, sebadoh and others in this general grouping as well. Perhaps pedro the lion or ted leo and the pharmacists fit in today.... it's too tough to tell with all the emo bands.

just my two pennys.

Posted by: mse at April 26, 2005 7:59 AM