I think this genre bugged me more than any other bad genre because I really liked the previous era of indie rock - early Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, The Unicorns, Stars, Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett, The Microphones, ahhh, I’m getting powerful nostalgia just listing them out. Not that all these bands sounded similar to each other, but there was this weirdo/folko/p4k-zone that they all occupied that I found really moving and relatable, I think cause most of the people making it were depressed and anxious or otherwise mentally ill like me.
When all this stomp/clap “indie” bullshit started it felt like they took music I love, stripped everything interesting from it, and gave it to the rich kids with no problems that were often CAUSING me mental illness. It felt like some cruel ironic punishment from Greek mythos.
I feel the exact same. I loved most of those names you listed, and my poor Sufjan banjo brain was not ready for the onslaught of assembly line indie that came barreling in after them.
Some of those original indie darlings are goddamn weird people, and they brought all their quirks into their music. There’s a very messy personal artistry you get with bands like The Microphones or Neutral Milk Hotel that is completely polished away in the generation of indie bands that exploded in the early 10’s.
I’m glad some of the earlier scene is alive still though. I saw Owen live this year and I can tell you he is still fucking killing it.
Nana Grizol inherited the NMH brass section, and they really are the most precious band in existence and I will buy every shirt sticker and button they ever put out.
Holy shit I love Stars they’re still one of my most listened bands, and if you don’t count listening to Hybrid Theory on repeat when I was 12, In Our Bedroom After the War is probably my most repeated album of all time.
Same. I’ve always thought of frightened rabbit in particular as more of a touchstone than they get credit for. A lot of their earlier stuff sounds like the groundwork for this fake ass bullshit that came after. Shame, because they were actually really good.
I think this genre bugged me more than any other bad genre because I really liked the previous era of indie rock - early Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, Neutral Milk Hotel, Animal Collective, The Unicorns, Stars, Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett, The Microphones, ahhh, I’m getting powerful nostalgia just listing them out. Not that all these bands sounded similar to each other, but there was this weirdo/folko/p4k-zone that they all occupied that I found really moving and relatable, I think cause most of the people making it were depressed and anxious or otherwise mentally ill like me.
When all this stomp/clap “indie” bullshit started it felt like they took music I love, stripped everything interesting from it, and gave it to the rich kids with no problems that were often CAUSING me mental illness. It felt like some cruel ironic punishment from Greek mythos.
I feel the exact same. I loved most of those names you listed, and my poor Sufjan banjo brain was not ready for the onslaught of assembly line indie that came barreling in after them.
Some of those original indie darlings are goddamn weird people, and they brought all their quirks into their music. There’s a very messy personal artistry you get with bands like The Microphones or Neutral Milk Hotel that is completely polished away in the generation of indie bands that exploded in the early 10’s.
I’m glad some of the earlier scene is alive still though. I saw Owen live this year and I can tell you he is still fucking killing it.
Nana Grizol inherited the NMH brass section, and they really are the most precious band in existence and I will buy every shirt sticker and button they ever put out.
Wait, is it the same musicians?
Just the horns players but yeah.
Holy shit I love Stars they’re still one of my most listened bands, and if you don’t count listening to Hybrid Theory on repeat when I was 12, In Our Bedroom After the War is probably my most repeated album of all time.
Same. I’ve always thought of frightened rabbit in particular as more of a touchstone than they get credit for. A lot of their earlier stuff sounds like the groundwork for this fake ass bullshit that came after. Shame, because they were actually really good.