The Painful Death of Indie Rock

I always wondered if some of the divide was an amount of jealousy from bands that never made it to a major label. While it honestly might not be everyone's goal, I'd argue the trajectory of most bands starts out as "indie" cos you have to grind like hell. Nirvana toured relentlessly, and started on tiny little SubPop, then took the major label when it came knocking. Isnt that what most bands do? You grind like hell and hope for your shot. I feel like there's a small fraction of Seattle bands that never got swepped up by a major label and missed riding that band wagon, not necessarily by choice, and got passed over for other bands and were subsequently salty about it. Then they do the natural thing and embrace it, and say "oh we don't need them. We don't need to sell out. Forget major labels."

Even a band that got as big as the White Stripes was pretty independent, with Jack recording all their albums himself on tape in his house until Icky Thump. But obviously still chose major label distribution and support. But that Detroit garage rock scene for sure embraced the DIY ethos. And I think there's a lot of people from that scene too that resent them for getting big when they didn't.

Gotta say, only 99% agree on this one :)
At least the "old indie" sounded good... those "new indie" ones, well... oh well... :)

For me indie rock will always reference a specific sound of rock that kind of congealed in the 90's after Nevermind hit: bands like Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Superchunk, Guided By Voices, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Sebadoh and a hundred others. Many people now still play that sound, but it's not considered modern "indie rock" anymore, we call it something else.

To me, still to this day, indie rock is best represented by early modest mouse, especially its a long drive with nothing to think about and even more so, a lonesome crowded west.

no hate for mckenzy just i hard to believe this guy talking about indie, and never ever say in even just the name mac demarco XD

I have a K records tattoo like Kurt had. Tbh, i got it before I even knew what the meaning was. I thought it was a reference to a lyric kurt wrote on Anuerysm. I got it because kurt had it.
No regrets tho.
Or should i say NO REGERTS

Is this why every girl in the Pacific Northwest looks like Zoey Deschanel and Dakota Johnson?

While signed to a major label, the Beatles run their show from day one. Like deciding against the producer advice that their first single would be one of their songs, what type of portrait would be on their second album, how loud bass and drums would be in the mix, selecting who would write and direct their movies, stating in gigs contracts that audiences should not be segregated while all the time creating the highest art ever made

Normification and it's effect is on all subcultures. I wish Snake Pliskin could shut down the world power grid.

Indie is not a genre.

Post-rock is the true Indie

i like you and think youre cool but you dont HAVE to do the ads. WWIMD (WHAT WOULD IAN MCKAYE DO ?) peace always

It may be dead where you are but sadly here in Australia we are still stuck wiht all this indi hipster shogazy bullshit like tame impala ocean alley

modest mouse mentioned

On the OC Seth had a Falling Sickness poster on his wall. I played a show with those guys and they stayed at my house on that tour. They are a very obscure punk band on Hopeless Records and it was always funny to me that they ended up on his wall in that show. Someone that worked on that show had to know those guys.

Where do I get unlimited mamosas?

i always figured indie and hipsters went hand and hand

Man I really miss having a good indie music community new whenever I go to shows I just don't see the same kinda people anymore and they're never as fun as they used to be

I remember watching TRL on Vh1 on Saturday mornings and the re runs throughout the week during summer break along with MTV late night music video blocks. Old school Coldplay, The All American Rejects, Thriving Ivory, Death Cab For a Cutie, The Fray after their first album, Linkin Park post/pre Transformers 2007. Along with many bands who got lost with the times.

Calling Death Cab “like one guitar and a lot of complaining” is fucking hilarious.

I'm a big fan of Ant Nation on Sirius XM and they play a lot of the "indie" or "alternative" music discussed here so now I think of it as a breeding ground for commercial music. girl in red will soon be used in OnStar commercials. BENEE will be used by Taco Bell. Metric will end up in car commercials.

Today Indie is just pop for people who think they're too cool for pop

the death of indie rock is ok because of some tv drama series? ok then...

It all started when guitar music was being phased out of the charts.

Pop changed - ie someone must rap a verse in every song and collaborate
r and b - must have electro house production
Bands - just don’t enjoy the same mainstream success they once did.
Music in general - not as authentic, arguably its always been about marketability but you don’t see many making it organically like they did back in the day.

money is a helluva drug.

The Shins in the McDonalds advert was a major tipping point

Indie is alive and well and like 25 years ago, you gotta go and look for it.

Is there a difference between indie and alternative? If so, what’s the difference. It came to mind when you referenced 120 minutes and said they played alternative music.

The show Chuck also had a banger "indie-ish" soundtrack. Wasn't as big as The OC, but definitely also inspired a whole generation of music taste.

some bands manage to be edgy yet mainstream appeal at the same time. be interesting to know how they do that. Think of the Beatles as prime example

The smiths and the cure are post punk bands same as sonic youth..

Fugazi is a post hardcore band, what are you talking about..

The "indie" label annoys me so much. It's one of the stupidest labels ever. It really means nothing anymore. He's definitely right about indie being more of a general aesthetic label. But the same thing always happens once it gets a little popular. I suppose it's become almost a sub-culture. Just like punk, goth, emo, metal, and rap. But unlike those, indie is super vague and blurred as too what it actually represents. Most people define it as a sub-culture full of awkward, quirky, accessibly weird traits that make a lifestyle. It tends to be tied with the whole "hipster" caricature, which i find super annoying and stupid as well. Most people don't even know the true meaning of these labels. Indie started as a simple overarching label for independent artists. The styles of course varied from post punk, to jangle pop, to hardcore punk, to electronic. I understand there is a certain sound or aesthetic that ties a lot of these more modern "indie" artists. Usually pop with strong influences from 50s 60s and 80s pop. A blend of these usually. They tend to have a trebbly sound with a lot of reverb, upbeat with cliche introspective lyrics. Like hipsters, there is a strong obsession with aesthetics from the past and "modernizing" them. A weird sense of Nostalgia is key factor in the indie and hipster scene. It's a blend of aesthetics from the past.

" I have a channel with punk rock (MBA) in the name" while wearing Nike hat.

The soaring multi-vocalist orchestral chorus that Arcade Fire stole from The Delgados then spread around the Indie Scene like a mutated strain of super-herpes was the death of Indie. Bands like Lumineers were presiding of The Funeral.

As a 30 something latino i can tell you that i have never seen one epiosde of the OC. But that some of my indide taste did come from Juno, 500 days of summer, and Garden state.

I'm from the era of Brit-Pop when Indie music became the mainstream. So for me, Indie came from meaning independent but became a sound. I don't think it has anything to do with "bottomless mimosas" however. That must be something American. That sounds like something middle-aged women do.

"The O.C." is a great series!

When it comes to rock slipping from popularity, really really boring indy artists come to mind, and so does nu metal. Neither of those genres were making fans of people excited for more music

"How did we get from Fugazi to the Lumineers?" Indeed, great question! I'm laughing while I'm crying.

I think a lot of people confuse indie with twee

maybe we should just create a new genre called 'nolabel'

so if the term indie has been hijacked what label should I use for my own music

all good things everything gets corrupted by the mainstream, that's the way it goes. so the question is what label should we use?

personally i don't really like genre labels, but yea have to play the game I suppose

Whats the band/music vid that starts around 7.30??

Judging by the cringey fast food commercials that have some sound cloud rap in the background, I’d say the ground has shifted. Still the same teenage white girl music, just a different decade.

Indie was always an aesthetic. It's just that it used to be an actually COOL aesthetic.

When I was younger i would resent hearing music or anything I liked being to wildly accessible as if it was mine personally. As an adult I heard The Toots and Maytals on a Levi’s commercial recently. I was excited, they are one of my favorites and it’s a way for the music to live on, for more people to be exposed to it, and for Toots Hibbert’s estate to get paid. That said if you bring a subculture to the mainstream you gotta ensure you are a worthy ambassador. I’m 35 and still into skateboarding, I have always thought Tony Hawk was a dork but I have a lot of respect for what he does for skating and how it’s represented by him. The rest of the skateboarders brought to you by MTV are kind an embarrassment, you can skateboard like a kid you don’t have to act like one all the time.

As long as an underground genre has an inkling of a catchy hook, it will become sanitized for the mainstream at some point.

Indie started late '70's in Britain & Ireland, after the post punk era, following on from the '79 Mod scene. Americans claiming Indie is like people from England claiming Rockabilly or Soul music. It was originally a working class inner city culture. Punk was already a pastiche by that period. Grunge was Heavy Metal Rawk through the back door, without the shredding. As far removed form original Indie as possible.