One proviso before we start this article. The term “indie music” can mean simply independently produced music of any sort. However, I think of it as the branch of music that succeeded punk and, at least at first, featured, as its hallmark, discordant guitar. This definition could be easily argued against, but it will have to do.
A little history may be in order. In the 1970s, punk blew the doors off of rock and spawned indie. The big change was that music was allowed to become discordant. There had been some discordant guitar music before this, notably Jimi Hendrix and Crazy Horse, but punk took this a lot further. Indie is essentially post-punk discordant guitar taken to its logical extremes. At the first peak of this wave were the Pixies, now loved by millions of people who didn’t ever listen to them in the late eighties. Kurt Cobain has admitted that his goal with Smells Like Teen Spirit was “basically trying to rip off the Pixies.” However, Nirvana did it just that little bit later and were much more “cool” with all the guitar smashing and such. So, Nirvana got fame and riches (a mixed blessing, it seems), and the Pixies essentially got squat. I once saw them open for Jane’s Addiction, which was so insanely backwards that I had to leave after Jane’s Addiction’s first song.
The main problem with the Pixies was one of appearance. The first time I saw one of their videos, I thought that it was a joke. It looked like they had deliberately dressed like dorks or that they’d got complete losers to act like they were the band (there was a mini-trend of this, i.e. New Order’s video for Touched by the Hand of God and others).
This highlights a long-standing tradition in indie music. It is usually written by people who couldn’t get laid in high school (and, admittedly, often listened to by such folk). However, and perhaps as a result of this, the technical skill of indie musicians is often very high.
This brings us to what I love about indie music. Most music has a fairly rigid form with minor variations. Indie was a great flowering of experimentation after punk. Bands like the Cure and the Smiths eventually became more melodic but pushed boundaries all the same. Other bands like the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. did the same but in a less melodic fashion. Crucial to all directions was experimentation and, at its best, an audible passion in the music. This is what I truly love, the novelty and passion so missing in mainstream music. These bands often made sounds unlike anything that came before. This early indie came to be known as “Alternative Music” and it was exactly that: an alternative to the bland crap that was (and always is) the mainstream.
Nirvana killed this first wave of indie with their massive success. Suddenly record company executives realized the commercial potential of this music and gave a record contract to any schmuck in a lumberjack shirt. Sadly, Nirvana’s album wasn’t really all that good. Kurt later admitted that he had tried to make an alternative Beatles-style pop album and he succeeded. Having said that, their next release, In Utero, thumbed its nose at all that and was truly brilliant (and truly alternative).
So, all of a sudden, alternative was the mainstream and had every bit of creativity beaten out of it. Some of the bands started off quite well but their instant success and fame sucked the creativity out of them quickly (Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, etc.). Any little musical movement made the cover of Time magazine in weeks or months instead of years and indie music stagnated. A friend, who is the manager of the coolest indie record store in Vancouver and guitarist in an up and coming band called this time “the last gasp of indie.” Luckily for us, he was wrong. Indie music is currently going through a renaissance. In both Canada and America (Britain produces mainly posers), the indie scene has recently produced dozens of truly great bands.
This new indie music is even less homogenous than “alternative” was. Bright Eyes, Sufjan Stevens, Devendra Banhart and others have returned to a kind of bizarre but beautiful modern version of folk music. Built to Spill and Modest Mouse have wandered off into Neil Young and Crazy Horse territory. Interpol, TV on the Radio, and the Walkmen have followed edgier 80s stuff into new places. Many others like Ween, Islands, Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Sunset Rubdown, etc. have just gone off in weird and wonderful directions of their own. This diversity is what may protect this era of indie rock from a second Nirvana-like incident (the White Stripes tried but failed, thankfully).
At first listen, some of these bands may seem a bit strange. However, you will find that they definitely grow on you. The unifying factor in these new bands is the same as it has always been. Musical skill coupled with enormous creativity and, often, boundless passion.
If you ever get the opportunity to see any of these bands live, jump at the chance. Put simply, they rock. However, if you don’t live in a big city you’re probably out of luck, but you can still listen. Mainstream radio is no help but some friends swear by Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW (radio and on-line.) The internet has helped enormously. Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, a great band, self-distributed their first album until demand got so strong they couldn’t keep up. Many others give away free songs to find an audience. Websites like www.pitchforkmedia.com have had a great effect as well. If you would like to learn about these bands, pitchfork would be a good place to start. Their rating system can be a bit harsh but it’s usually on the money. I’m lucky in having that record store manager as my friend because he has constantly pushed me in directions that I wouldn’t otherwise go.
-Mike Joyce
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