Indie rock

Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music. However, as with many terms applied to popular culture, the precise meaning can be hard to define. Indie rock is often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that aren't on labels at all. In that sense, indie rock can be seen as the follower to the Punk and New Wave movements of the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a counter-culture movement opposed to mainstream corporate rock.

In the 1980s, these bands were referred to as "alternative", since they were an alternative to mainstream rock at that time. However, indie rock was effectively launched when Nirvana broke into the mainstream along with several other bands, taking the "alternative" label with them, ironically enough. "Indie rock" tends to be an umbrella term covering a wide range of musical styles – everyone from the Elephant 6 collective to the Pixies to the Cocteau Twins; the main thing tying these bands together is their existence in the underground. Some related genres include emo, lo-fi, retroist, garage punk, alternative rock, twee pop (Sub Pop) and Britpop.

In the mid-90s, following the lead of Pearl Jam, many acts who, by choice or fate, remained outside the commercial mainstream, became part of the indie rock movement. Indie rock acts placed a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, often releasing albums on their own independent record labels and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Linked by an ethos more than a musical approach, the indie rock movement encompasses a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge influenced bands like Superchunk to punk-folk singers such as Ani DiFranco.

Indie: status or genre?

In the UK, indie music charts have been compiled since at least the 1980s. These charts initially featured independent bands that emerged from punk and post punk, as well as the indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera, Orange Juice the C86 jangle-pop movement and the twee pop of Sarah Records artists. The 1980s indie scene directly influenced 1990s Britpop artists such as Blur and Suede (though many of these were technically not indie artists, being signed to major labels).

Currently, the term "indie rock" is sometimes used to refer to the current wave of New Wave-influenced alternative art rock such as Franz Ferdinand popularised by the media on the music channel MTV2 and in the rock music tabloid NME. The core of this movement has mostly been the resurgence of spiky 80s post punk rhythms and riffs akin to those played by Gang of Four, Television and Wire. Current bands in this movement include Franz Ferdinand, along with Bloc Party, The Futureheads, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs and Moving Units. Often this style has been blended with other even more alternative genres such as garage rock (Death From Above 1979), synth rock (The Killers), Dance (Bloc Party), and Post-Punk (Interpol). Some would also classify the Scissor Sisters as fellow travellers within this movement.

Whether this movement embodies the indie ethos is debatable. Many of these bands are signed to independent labels, and express a disdain of the major-label marketing apparatus. (In the 8th January 2005 issue of NME, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand authored an article championing the genre, saying independent labels 'have character', how they are 'run by people who are passionate about music' and stressing 'why independent record labels are so important' as the saviour of good music.) The Killers recorded a song titled 'Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll', which became an anthem for this movement; ironically, The Killers are signed to Universal, the largest of the "big four" major labels. Critics point out that, while many of the bands are signed to labels technically independent of the Big Four, the movement is highly commercial, image-oriented and market-driven, with millions of dollars spent on marketing and the investment of corporate promoters such as MTV, Clear Channel and Carling; a far cry from the traditional indie world of labels run out of bedrooms by friends of the bands and unconcerned with commercial success. Furthermore, much of this movement has been said to be rigidly formulaic, with a set of aesthetic stances (i.e., the severe black suits and thin ties of bands such as Interpol and the Kaiser Chiefs) and sounds imitating a small number of 1970s/1980s post punk and new wave bands, and thus not particularly independent in spirit. While some artists in this movement may embody the DIY aesthetic and unconcerned attitude of indie more than others, it cannot be said to infuse the entire movement.

Further muddying the waters of the technical definition of "indie" is the fact that independence from major labels and independence from market-driven commercialism are not always correlated. For a time in the late 1990s, three of the most successful artists in the UK indie charts were NSync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. All three were signed to Zomba, which was technically an independent label at the time. (Zomba has since become part of major label Sony BMG). In contrast, there has been a small number of notable artists (such as Radiohead, Pulp and The Flaming Lips) who have maintained considerable creative independence and won critical acclaim whilst signed to major labels.

Recent trends in the United States

In the last few years Omaha, Nebraska has been noted by various observers and fans as the unofficial capital of indie rock in the United States; some comparisons have been made with Seattle's role in the grunge scene of the early 1990s. This is largely due to the Omaha-based Saddle Creek Records, which is home to several highly regarded indie rock acts, most notably Bright Eyes and The Faint. Bright Eyes singer/songwriter and Omaha native Conor Oberst, who started the label, has been called the "King of Indie Rock" by Rolling Stone magazine, although his status among the indie community is sometimes nowhere near as high. Some publications such as Spin magazine are now claiming Montreal as being North America's indie rock capital due to bands such as The Arcade Fire. New York City (namely the borough of Brooklyn) has also been cited as a major scene for recent indie rock music with such bands as The Walkmen, TV on the Radio, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

See also

• List of indie rock artists
• List of independent record labels
• List of Australian indie rock bands