| Indie rock |
| Stylistic origins | Alternative rock, post-punk, new wave |
| Cultural origins | Early 1980s, United Kingdom, United States and Canada |
| Typical instruments | Guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, vocals |
| Mainstream popularity | Since the late 2000s in the UK and US |
| Subgenres |
| Garage punk, riot grrrl, twee pop, emo, grindie, post-punk revival, noise pop, dance-punk, New Weird America, Baroque pop, garage rock revival, lo-fi, sadcore, C86, math rock, shoegazing |
| Fusion genres |
| Indie pop – Indie folk - Indie punk - Indie dance |
| Regional scenes |
| Largely global, England – Ireland – Scotland – Wales – USA – Canada – Sweden – Japan - Australia |
| Other topics |
| Timeline of alternative rock, DIY ethic |
Indie rock is a genre of
rock music, and a means of producing that music, that originated in the
United Kingdom and the
United States in the
1980s. It is rooted in earlier genres such as
alternative rock,
post-punk, and
new wave.
The meaning of the term "indie rock" is contested today by many musicians, fans and commentators. Some use the term "indie" to describe any music produced by artists working within the network of
independent record labels and underground music venues that emerged in the
United States and elsewhere in 1980's and 1990's. Others understand indie rock as a distinct genre of
rock music with a specific artistic
aesthetic, and care less about the context in which it is made. Many embrace both meanings of the word, believing that the aesthetics of the genre and its means of production are deeply intertwined.
[1]
Indie rock artists are known for placing a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on independent record labels and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, airplay on independent or
college radio stations and, in recent years, the
Internet for promotion. However, in the 2000's many acts with a musical style identified as "indie" signed to major
record labels or their subsidiaries, and began promoting themselves through more traditional media outlets. This has led to a further blurring in the meaning of the term.
A variety of musical genres and subgenres with varying degrees of overlap are associated with indie rock. Some of these include
lo-fi,
sadcore,
C86,
math rock,
shoegaze/
dream pop,
jangle pop,
indie pop,
noise rock,
noise pop,
riot grrrl,
post-hardcore,
twee pop,
post-punk revival,
garage rock revival,
dance-punk,
indie folk,
baroque pop,
indie punk,
chillwave,
neo-psychedelia,
new prog, and
indietronica.
[edit] History
[edit] Early roots
The roots of modern indie rock are often traced back to
The Velvet Underground's
self-titled debut album, released in 1967, which was ranked #7 on Blender's list of the 100 greatest indie rock albums.
[2] Allmusic notes that every "left-of-center rock movement owes an audible debt" to this album.
[3] The Beach Boys' 1966 album
Pet Sounds is also commonly listed as a highly influential starting point,
[4] as are the 1960s
concept albums of
the Kinks.
[5] Later, the
punk movement of the 1970s had a direct impact on the
DIY aesthetic that later became a cornerstone of indie rock.
In the 1980s,
alternative rock, used as a term, was more or less synonymous with indie rock.
[6]
In the
United Kingdom, indie music charts have been compiled since the early 1980s.
[citation needed] Initially, the charts featured bands that emerged with a form of guitar-based alternative rock that dominated the indie charts, particularly
indie pop artists such as
Aztec Camera,
Josef K,
Orange Juice, the
C86 indie-pop movement and the
twee pop of
Sarah Records artists. Some definitive British indie rock bands of the 1980s were
The Smiths,
The Stone Roses,
Happy Mondays,
The Jesus and Mary Chain,
My Bloody Valentine,
Siouxsie and the Banshees and
The Cure whose music directly influenced 1990s alternative rock movements such as
shoegazing and
Britpop.
In the
United States, the term "indie rock" was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of
Hüsker Dü,
Sonic Youth,
Minutemen,
Meat Puppets,
Dinosaur Jr.,
Pixies and
The Replacements.
[7] R.E.M. is often associated with the
college rock movement of the 1980s.
[8]
A number of prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s. These include
Washington, DC's Dischord Records in 1980,
Seattle's Sub Pop Records in 1986
[9] and
New York City's Matador Records and
Durham, North Carolina's
Merge Records in 1989.
Chicago's Touch and Go Records was founded as a fanzine in 1979 and began to release records during the 1980s.
[citation needed]
The 1990s brought major changes to the
alternative rock scene.
Grunge bands such as
Nirvana,
Alice in Chains,
Soundgarden and
Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success and widespread exposure.
Punk revival bands like
Green Day and
The Offspring also became popular and were grouped under the "alternative" umbrella. The meaning of the term "alternative" changed as mainstream success attracted major-label investment and commercially-oriented or manufactured acts with a formulaic, conservative approach. With this, "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning and began to refer to the new form of music that was now achieving mainstream success. The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained underground.
The 1990s saw the emergence of several defining movements within indie rock. The
lo-fi movement was spearheaded by
Beck,
Elliott Smith,
Pavement,
Guided by Voices,
Neutral Milk Hotel and several bands associated with the
Elephant 6 Recording Company such as
Of Montreal. It placed a premium on simplistic recording techniques (including home recording), ironic detachment, and disinterest in "
selling out" to the mainstream alternative rock scene.
The
emo movement, which had grown out of the
hardcore punk scene in the 1980s with bands like
Rites of Spring, gained popularity as the 1990s progressed.
Sunny Day Real Estate,
The Promise Ring,
The Get Up Kids and others brought a more melodic sound to the genre.
[10][11] Weezer's Pinkerton introduced the genre to a wider and more mainstream audience.
[12] Years later, the term "emo" would be applied to a wider variety of more mainstream bands by the music press.
Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden and
Laughing Stock and
Slint's Spiderland, provided the catalyst for the development of
post-rock and
math rock.
[13][14][15] Post-rock, an experimental style influenced by
jazz and
electronic music, became recognized as a genre as
Tortoise and their
Chicago peers gained a national following in the middle part of the decade.
Math rock shares similar experimental aesthetics, but is generally denser and more abrasive.
[16] Don Caballero,
Chavez and others contributed to its rise in popularity during the 1990s.
[citation needed]
[edit] 2000s and current popularity
In the 2000s, the changing music industry and increased use of the internet as a tool for music promotion allowed a number of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream commercial success.
[17] Modest Mouse was one of the first popular indie acts of the 1990s to make the jump to a major label, signing with
Epic Records in 2000. Their 2004 album
Good News for People Who Love Bad News was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Rock Album. After many years with the
Barsuk label,
Death Cab for Cutie signed to
Atlantic records in 2004.
[18] Their 2005 album
Plans was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album of that year and charted on the
Billboard charts for 47 consecutive weeks.
[19] In November 2004, two
Bright Eyes singles, "
Lua" and "
Take It Easy (Love Nothing)", reached the two top spots on the
Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales.
[20] In 2010,
Arcade Fire's album
The Suburbs reached number 1 on the Billboard charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. Other indie-oriented artists including
LCD Soundsystem,
Vampire Weekend,
Interpol,
Spoon,
MGMT, and
The National have also cracked the United States top 10 and enjoyed mainstream popularity. Reasons suggested for this success include the decline of record sales and increased media exposure of indie artists due to internet marketing.
[21]
