Indie rock

[kiera2]

Okay, please don't lynch me - I suck at genres, so I may have the label wrong. But in general this is the title that most of the music I like seems to be classified under. I really like progressive rock stuff like Muse and Porcupine Tree, as well as post-punk-type things like Kaiser Chiefs, Libertines, We Are Scientists, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, etc. Also love Klaxons, Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian... yeah, my tastes can get a bit eclectic.

Thing is, I went to university in England and fell in with a crowd who were really into music, and all of a sudden found myself introduced to a whole bunch of awesome stuff. But now I'm no longer at uni, and have no idea how to find out about interesting new bands for myself ;_;

So basically, I'm starting this thread to try to find people who are interested in the same sorts of things that I'm interested in, to discuss music tastes, and to introduce me to some awesome new bands. I will love you forever if you can find me a band as awesome as Muse :3

[speedphantom]

I think Hiraeth, who couldn't make the little gathering the other night likes Muse.

I've heard of lots of these British Indie bands but never listened to them. Would you be able to give me a few songs which would be a good sampler:p?

[imamess]

I'm an indie nerd. Totally. My college life was spent talking about reviews from Pitchfork with the snooty records store clerk types, so I can certainly see where you're coming from. It's hard to keep up with it when most people you know now aren't into it. I'm certainly more familiar with the American (and a bit Canadian) indie scene, although I'm very fond of quite a few British bands. I spent my morning listening to The Futureheads.

If you like Arcade Fire and stuff like Belle and Sebastian, I'd recommend another Canadian band called Immaculate Machine, who've opened for Arcade Fire. Their more recently album has that punk-influenced indie pop feel.

I'll stop before I get into full "fangirl" mode and rattle off too many recs, but maybe I'll be back later. :hm

[Spartan27]

I'm fan, love the Arcade Fire, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, The Fratellis, Stars, Kaiser Chiefs, Grand Ole Party, The Most Serene Republic, perhaps my favorite is The National great band with 5 very good albums.

[emoloz]

Muse are not Indie rock there more Alternative progressive rock to me.

Indie bands are crazy yeah no wodner you have become expsoded to it its taking the UK by storm.

Kaisers, Cribs, Arctic monkeys, foals, pigeon detectives, Bloc party, Franz, Bright Eyes, Death Cab, Dashboard, The Strokes, Interpol, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Editors, Ok Go, Kooks, Kasabian, Bella and sebastian, Razorlight, Maxïmo Park, Libertines, Babyshambles, Travis, some of Feeders stuff, Of Montreal, Snow Patrol, The Postal Service .... gah the lists endless.

If you have MTV2 LOOK THERE. Or Gonzo the show always loads on there.

I don't think there is any band at the moment as EPIC as Muse I can see what you mean by them and I don't think there is a band like them yet. It requires too much effort which bands cant really be bothered with.

[Carrotsandroses]

I'm an indie junkie myself and here are a few of my picks:

Arctic Monkeys (Just your general potatoes and steak post-punk indie group)
Metric (Canadian, not Brit, but they are good)
Blood Red Shoes (Great UK band, they are technically indie, but hate being called that)
Director (Irish, actually)
Robots In Disguise (You should know them if you've ever watched The Mighty Boosh)
Grammatics (It's a bit tough to get a hold of their songs if you're not from the UK. Trust me, this is from experience).

If you like Progressive, check out Spock's Beard, Dream Theater, and Coheed and Cambria.
Those weren't listed, I think. (Aside from Arctic M. I just had to re-emphasise them)
Top of my head, mostly, There are more, but my mind isn't in a thinking mood at the moment.

[Fyrefox]

XD Wow. I live in Austin, Texas- we have a huge rock scene, inclusive of all forms. To not be in touch with it is a wierd concept for me.

I would recommend Modest Mouse, the Artic Mokeys, Muse, Dream Theater, and also Flobots, even though their genre isn't really brought up here. I have more, but I don't feel like posting all of it. It's almost my bedtime.

A band as awesome as Muse in their genre? Not possible, my friend.

[jinxie]

I love the Austin, Texas indie scene. Explosions In The Sky are my numero uno favourites :inlove

And Omaha's (Nebraska) because of Saddle Creek records :love Bright Eyes (Conor!), The Faint, Cursive, etc.

Montreal, Canada has an amazing music scene, too. Godspeed You! Black Emperor are my favourites. So many amazing Canadian bands and musicians: Broken Social Scene (yay! I finally got to see them at Laneway!), Feist (her, too; lovely person!), Metric...

Australia has a good indie / alternative national radio station called Triple J so get to listen to awesome indie stuff from other countries through the station.

KCRW is a good source, too; I try to listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic whenever I can through the internet.

At the moment, listening to a lot of Black Kids and Walter Meego.

[Spartan27]

Canada in general has a amazing music scene considering it's population size, almost as many artist up in the great white north as there is in the states, at least it seems that way at times.

[Syn]

The Hush Sound is one of my favourite indie band! I'm surprised they haven't been listed yet XD Their first album is not really good though, but the second is much better and the third is a pearl (not to mention Greta found her column of air - is that how it's said in English? :D - in between the second and 3rd album).

But yeah, the others are already mentioned so.. XD

[Superunknown]

I could be considered a bit of an indie nerd:

- Franz Ferdinand
- Kaiser Chiefs
- Spoon
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Supergrass
- Blur (circa-1999)
- Placebo
- The Vines
- The Strokes
- Kings of Leon
- The Libertines
- Arcade Fire
- Muse (New prog kings)
- MGMT
- LCD Soundsystem

[emoloz]

Placebo are NOT indie rock, there like alternative/prog rock and neither are Muse have said that above. There musics more complex so doesn't really fit in there. Some old Muse might though first album possibly.

Indie write really basic as if you were to speak it out to a person and the beat can be sort of easy/ dancey sounding which is taking clubs by storm. All very basic sounding and programming and the people are usually on cheap labels unless like now a lot have been signed. Also the vocals are very highly accented as well.

How i seem to see it being exposed to quite a lot now big scene over in the UK atmo. Like Brit pop was and its now its Brit indie xD

[cornflakes]

Hell yeaz! I've been listening regularly to The Arcade Fire for well over a year now. Rebellion (Lies) and No Cars Go never fails to rouse me. Funeral is by far my favourite album. One of my aims in life is to see The Arcade Fire live at least once. (Hopefully they'll still be active when I can actually afford to go to Montreal.)

I used to listen to Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand a lot, but I gravitated towards Bloc Party and Belle & Sebastian. Been listening to a lot of White Stripes and Loss of a Child lately.

I never 'got' some of the bands that people rave about though, like Flaming Lips or Radiohead. They just didn't click for me.

[emoloz]

Don't get me started on Bloc Party and White Stripes. I hate those bands, i wouldn't say White Stripes are indie either i'd say there Experimental alternative. Bloc Party are shit indie.

Glad you got rid of franz there horrid, shame about Kaisers love that band xD

[imamess]

Indie's really a *very* broad genre. The thing with indie is that there's like a million different sub-genres, and indie's kinda the big container for all these little sub-genres. It's really a little ridiculous at times, because the whole genre has grown a ton in the maybe 20 years its been around. I'd say 15 years ago it had a definite sound, but now it's just kind of sprouted out too much to have a certain "indie" sound.

I've also never really loved Radiohead like people I think expect me to. Whenever someone asks me what kind of music I like and I say indie rock, generally the first thing I get asked is something that has to do with Radiohead. When I tell them that I'm not a big fan (but that I still like them. OK Computer is an amazing album.), they look at me like I have three heads.

But indie rock kids are like that. It's about "getting" something that most people don't, and it makes you better for some inane reason. I mean, I "get" Animal Collective, but I just think it means I'm strange too.

[cornflakes]

Don't get me started on Bloc Party and White Stripes. I hate those bands, i wouldn't say White Stripes are indie either i'd say there Experimental alternative. Bloc Party are shit indie.

Glad you got rid of franz there horrid, shame about Kaisers love that band xD
I haven't exactly 'gotten rid' of them, I just haven't listened to them a lot in a while.

What's wrong with those bands? :devestated I'll give that Icky Thump is not the best album ever, but Get Behind Me Satan is an excellent album. I've actually only listened to one Bloc Party album (Silent Alarm), but I've found it to be pretty cool.


I've also never really loved Radiohead like people I think expect me to. Whenever someone asks me what kind of music I like and I say indie rock, generally the first thing I get asked is something that has to do with Radiohead. When I tell them that I'm not a big fan (but that I still like them. OK Computer is an amazing album.), they look at me like I have three heads.

But indie rock kids are like that. It's about "getting" something that most people don't, and it makes you better for some inane reason. I mean, I "get" Animal Collective, but I just think it means I'm strange too.
Ditto. I like indie music, but my musical taste is not defined by the boundaries of the genre. It's not just music, people who're into the independant movie scene are also like that: "But it was produced by Michael Bay and/or has big explosions, therefore it must be crap!"

It's the one gripe I have with anything "indie". I thought being indie was about defying established conventions, not following an alternate set of them.

/rant

[emoloz]

I just don't like Bloc Partys lead singers vocals and the guitar is usually horribly written in there songs. Lyrics aren't up my street either.


I wouldn't class Radiohead indie either there more experiemental rock :S thats because his voice is all like strange in it and the musics nuts. The new album is a tad but i would never say they are indie at all.

Indie rock is a sub genre of rock it doesn't have genres within itself. Branch marked genres don't have more genres tied in with them generally. This is because it is a part of the rock genre. Indie rocks easy going music, maybe with a dancey edge with accented vocals and simple guitar, drum and bass. A lot these days is either alternative and experimental which gets mixed up a lot with indie, pop does as well.

[imamess]

It's the one gripe I have with anything "indie". I thought being indie was about defying established conventions, not following an alternate set of them.

Everything kind of gets made into that. Being "punk" is about following a different subset of ideals that are contrary to what normal society has. I got tired of the whole indie scene for that exact reason. All these hipsters hate conforming, but yet they're all wearing the hipster uniform. I went to art school, so I saw a ton of it (and I do admit to following it for some time as well). A lot of them also have a few mainstream acts that they like to make them not seem so pretentious. Like how Pitchfork will have a rap album or two in their "best new music" listing.

I generally find indie rock classified as sub-genre of alternative rock, and bands like Interpol are not just indie but post-punk. I'd have a hard time saying that they share a sound with a band like Spoon. The wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_rock) has a pretty good breakup on the genres within indie rock going back from when it started in the late 70's/early 80's.

[kiera2]

Wow, I totally forgot about this thread! I do already know a lot of the bands that've been mentioned, didn't realise Canada was such a good source of music though. I've got a nice big list to look into now, thanks so much for everyone who recommended stuff - should keep me busy for at least a month or two checking it all out. I forsee a lot of trips to Tower Records...
Muse are not Indie rock there more Alternative progressive rock to me.I really like progressive rock stuff like Muse and Porcupine Tree...As I said, my tastes get a little eclectic - Muse might not be 'indie' but I'm always up for hearing more stuff like theirs.
Indie's really a *very* broad genre. The thing with indie is that there's like a million different sub-genres, and indie's kinda the big container for all these little sub-genres. It's really a little ridiculous at times, because the whole genre has grown a ton in the maybe 20 years its been around. I'd say 15 years ago it had a definite sound, but now it's just kind of sprouted out too much to have a certain "indie" sound.
This is why I try to avoid discussions of what is and isn't "indie" music, at all costs :p Apart from the technical difficulty of categorising a continuum of different sounds, the elitist in-the-know attitude of kids that go around saying whether or not different bands are indie enough to be cool kinda bugs me. This is why I also try to avoid saying whether I think music is 'good' and just talk about whether I like it or not. (And yeah, I don't mind Radiohead, but I've never been massively into them either.)

XD Wow. I live in Austin, Texas- we have a huge rock scene, inclusive of all forms. To not be in touch with it is a wierd concept for me.
Take a look at what's popular in Japan sometime :| In England I found it was almost effortless to keep up with interesting new music, but over here I have to actively search. And I'm lazy. But on the plus side, it's way easier to get tickets to see foreign bands - I'm seeing The Kooks next week and MGMT in December, and I'd be surprised if either of those are actually sold out. Hell, I got Foo Fighters tickets a fortnight before they played in April, even though they'd been on sale since January.

[Carrotsandroses]

Don't get me started on Bloc Party and White Stripes. I hate those bands, i wouldn't say White Stripes are indie either i'd say there Experimental alternative. Bloc Party are shit indie.

Glad you got rid of franz there horrid, shame about Kaisers love that band xD

I'm glad someone agrees with me about Bloc Party :wha
The only album I've liked was their first. The rest just seemed really dull.
I was kind of expecting something better with the new album, but judging from what I've heard so far, it isn't really much better. I fail to see all the fuss over Mercury :headscratch

The Kaiser's new album is pretty catchy (thanks to Mark Ronson, I'm supposing) but the only songs I was really drawn to were Spanish Metal and Never Miss a Beat. And Never Miss a Beat is a bit lackluster, really. It never really hits a peak.

I fail to see why Indie is considered a genre, since Indie is basically any band that decides to work with an independant label. Indie bands have too varied a sound to be classed under one genre, IMO.

[EX|pada #0]

Wow, nice bands you mentioned guys, thanks! XD

Indie is my favorite "style" (To me indie is not a style. Like Carrotsandroses said, indie is basically any band that decides to work with an independent label), so I'm little biased to talk about it XD

Well, I'm impressed that no one mentioned She Wants Revenge, which is my favorite band <3 Oh, and I love Cansei de Ser Sexy (a brazilian indie band that sings in english), too. That's my suggestions.

[Dizzy]

Enormous fan of indie here, especially the Canadian and British stuff :wha

Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Athlete, Belle and Sebastien, Death Cab, Dresden Dolls, Muse, Imogen, Feist, Snow Patrol, Lightspeed Champion, and The Wombats are probably my faves right now, though I'm starting to get into Mew, The Mars Volta, The Bouncing Souls, The Hush Sound, and actually a load of things. Lots of my genres overlap though, so my definition of indie is pretty much as broad as anyone's :lmao