Indie RockGenre Research

Introduction

Indie Rock is a genre of alternative rock which originated in the 1980s in both the UK and the USA

Sub genres of Indie Rock include Indie Pop and Jangle Pop

Although the term Indie Rock originally suggested that artists were outsiders and underground, many Indie Rock artists began to boast commercial success in the 2000s. This was a result of changes in the music industry and was partly due to the internet

Origins of Indie Rock – College Rock

In the US, the Indie Rock scene began with “College Rock” in the early 1980s. In the US this included bands such as R.E.M, and in the UK bands such as The Smiths

Other bands in this genre included 10,000 Maniacs, The Housemartins and The La’s

These bands went against the “synthpop” genre which dominated the early 1980s

Origins of Indie Rock – Indie Pop

In the UK in 1986, NME made a compilation cassette featuring bands such as The Pastels and Primal Scream. This is a document of the start of the Indie Pop scene which influenced the development of the entire British Indie scene

Some original Indie Pop artists include Josef K and Orange Juice

Indie Rock turns Mainstream In the 1990s many Grunge bands such as

Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were widely exposed and achieved commercial success

Punk revival bands including Green Day and The Offspring were grouped under the Alternative Rock umbrella and were also very popular

In the UK, bands such as Blur and Oasis also broke into the mainstream

The terms “Indie” and “Alternative” lost their original countercultural meanings and now described a lighter form of music as a result of mainstream success

Generic Features

Music style combines elements from British Punk, Rock and Heavy Metal

Usual instruments include guitar, bass, drums and keyboard

The main emphasis is on the vocals Lyrics often a reflection of social and

economic matters or address topics of social concern

Typically underground and less popular artists signed to independent record labels

Instruments

Guitars Bass Keyboards Drums Vocals

Vocals

The vocals of Indie music have a distinctive sound which mean the lyrics do not necessarily match the beat

The Smiths

The Smiths were formed in Manchester in 1982

Signed to Rough Trade Records Four studio albums Most important band marking the start of

the UK indie scene in the 1980s The band broke up in 1987

R.E.M.

American Rock band formed in 1980 One of the first popular Alternative/Indie

Rock bands Originally signed to the record label Hib-Tone Achieved mainstream success with their

single “The One I Love” in 1987 Signed to Warner Bros Records in 1988 The drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997

but the rest of the group continued as a trio Announced their split in 2011

Blur

English Alternative Rock band formed in London in 1988

Graham Coxon (the guitarist and singer) left the band in 2002 but they carried on to do a tour in 2003 without him

After this tour, however, they did not continue to any studio work or touring as a band

The band reunited with Coxon in 2008 and still remain active

They received a Brit Award in 2012 for Outstanding Contribution to Music

Death Cab for Cutie

American Indie Rock band formed in 1997 Noted for use of unconventional

instruments Seven studio albums and five EPs Gained commercial success in 2003 with

their fourth studio album “Transatlanticism”

Kings of Leon

American Rock band formed in 1999 Originally the band produced music with

Southern Rock and Blues influences but has gradually expanded to a more alternative, arena rock sound

Nine UK top 40 singles and two Brit Awards Achieved chart success in the US in 2008

with their singles “Sex on Fire”, “Use Somebody” and “Notion”

The band still remain active

Bloc Party

British Indie Rock band formed at the 1999 Reading music festival

Musical influence from bands such as The Cure and Radiohead

“Silent Alarm” was their 2005 debut album which won NME Album of the Year and Indie Album of the Year at the PLUG Awards

Went on to release three more albums and are still active

Franz Ferdinand

Formed in Glasgow in 2002 First achieved UK chart success with their

second single “Take Me Out” Their second album in 2005 was platinum-

selling in the UK and gold-selling in the U Nominated for several Grammy and Brit

Awards, and won an NME Award Sold over 3 million albums

worldwide in 2009

The Arctic Monkeys

Formed in Sheffield in 2002 Four studio albums and one live album Their debut album in 2006 was the fastest

selling debut album in British music history Five Brit Awards, and two Grammy

nominations Fall under the umbrella of Indie Rock,

however one of the bands key features is that they have changed their genre of Rock in each of their albums

More Indie Rock Musicians