Indie Rock
Emerged from early 1980s US and UK independent music scenes
Independence as ideology. Lo-fi, literate, uncompromising.
Indie rock started as a description of a business model, bands on independent labels, and became a genre defined by its refusal to be easily defined. Lo-fi aesthetics, literary lyrics, angular guitars, and a commitment to doing things on your own terms.
From Pavement's slack genius to the Strokes' calculated cool to Arctic Monkeys' sharp-tongued storytelling, indie rock proved that rock music could evolve without corporate backing.
Defining Characteristics
—Lo-fi aesthetics
—Angular guitars
—Literate lyrics
—DIY production
—Independent label releases
Essential Artists
Essential Albums
1992
Slanted and Enchanted—Pavement
2001
Is This It—The Strokes
2006
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not—Arctic Monkeys
2004
Funeral—Arcade Fire
2002
Turn On the Bright Lights—Interpol