1. Task 6: Research on genre of chosen music
Indie Rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United
States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include indie pop,
jangle pop, among others. Originally used to describe record labels, the term became
associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with
alternative rock. As grunge and punk revival bands in the US, and then Britpop bands in the
UK, broke into the mainstream in the 1990s. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the
music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, a number of indie rock acts
began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a
term.
Indie rock, derived from "independent", describes the small and relatively low-budget labels
on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved.
Although distribution deals are often struck with major corporate companies, these labels
and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to
explore sounds, emotions and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences.
The influences and styles of the artists have been extremely diverse, including punk, rock
and country. The terms alternative rock and indie rock were used interchangeably in the
1980s, but after many alternative bands followed Nirvana into the mainstream in the early
1990s it began to be used to distinguish those bands, working in a variety of styles, that did
not pursue or achieve commercial success.
All music identifies indie rock as including a number of styles that are: "too sensitive and
melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately
revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its
melodies and riffs; too raw, too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical
styles." The indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged,
grunge-influenced bands, through do-it-yourself experimental bands like Pavement. Many
countries have developed an extensive local indie scene, flourishing with bands with enough
popularity to survive inside the respective country, but virtually unknown outside them.
Indie rock has been identified as a reaction against the "macho" culture that developed in
alternative rock in the aftermath of Nirvana's success. It has been noted that indie rock has a
relatively high proportion of female artists compared with rock genres.
History of Indie Rock
In the mid-1980s, the term "indie" began to be used to describe the music produced on post-
punk labels rather than the labels themselves. The indie rock scene in the US was
prefigured by the college rock that dominated college radio playlists, which included key
bands like R.E.M. from the US and The Smiths from the UK. In the 1980’s genre labels
“College rock”, “noise rock” and “Indie pop” were formed with bands such as The Smiths and
many more
The 1990s brought major changes to the alternative rock scene. Grunge bands such as
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains broke into the mainstream, achieving
2. 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.
Similarly, in the United Kingdom Britpop saw bands like Blur and Oasis emerge into the
mainstream, abandoning the regional, small-scale and political elements of the 1980s indie
scene. As a result of these changes the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural
meaning and began to refer to the new, commercially lighter form of music that was now
achieving mainstream success. The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and
genres that remained dedicated to their independent status. Ryan Moore has argued that in
the wake of the appropriation of alternative rock by the corporate music industry that what
became known as indie rock increasingly turned to the past to produce forms of "retro" rock
that drew on garage rock, rockabilly, blues, country and swing.Following indie pop these
included lo-fi, noise pop, emo, sadcore, post-rock, space rock and math rock.
Presently there has been a change in indie rock and the sub-genre groups it has, there has
been Garage rock/post-punk revival, bands such as The Strokes, an indie rock garage rock
band created in new York, the black keys that are indie rock or blues rock that come from
the US, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks and the Arctic Monkeys. Other sub-genre groups such as
emo music bands like panic! At the disco, paramore, fall out boy and my chemical romance.
Another sub-genre group is Indietronic, bands such as Klaxons, Trash fashion and
Hadouken!
Indie Rock Artists
The Black Keys
6. Example of magazines that include indie rock
bands/artists
Clash magazine
The one on the left is a much more new version of Clash’s layout. The band’s name
is bold and clear and lays over their image on the front over but doesn’t take over
their image completely just shows that the band’s name is linked to that image. Their
images are with a simple background showing a professional look and also that they
are a simple band, if there was to be say for example a dramatic patterned
background it would distract the reader from the main image of the band/artist. Their
clothing isn’t bright reflecting the band, showing that they aren’t attracting a young 11
to 15 audience; they are for an older audience also as an indie rock band they tend
to wear less bright clothing.
