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Dec 19, 2023 · December 19, 2023. The indie rock genre has evolved quite a bit over time, going from only referring to independent and underground artists to including most modern alternative rock bands. In this article, we’ll give you a little bit of everything, from huge artists that started out as indie groups to ones that are still independent today ...
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Mar 5, 2013 · 1. By Caitlin White. Indie rock has transmogrified into one of the hardest genres on earth to define. Bands trying to break through love to title themselves as "indie rock" as though it were a...
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- The Smiths. Morrissey (1982 to 1987) Manchester, England. 1982 to 1987. Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Alternative Rock. Known for their poetic lyricism, chiming guitar, and sensitive melancholia, The Smiths is one of the most prolific indie rock bands of all time.
- Pixies. Black Francis (1986 to 1993, 2004 to Present) Boston, Massachusetts. 1986 to 1993, 2004 to Present. Indie Rock, Alternative Rock, Noise Pop.
- Joy Division. Ian Curtis (1976 to 1980) Salford, England. 1976 to 1980. Post-Punk, New Wave, Gothic Rock, Indie Rock. Despite being a band for a mere four years, Joy Division was one of the most unique music groups to emerge during the latter half of the 1970s, helping define the post-punk sound.
- Sonic Youth. Kim Gordon (1981 to 2011) New York City, New York. 1981 to 2011. Indie Rock, Noise Rock, Experimental Rock, Post-Punk. Perhaps one of the earliest indie rock bands, Sonic Youth emerged from the New York City no-wave art and music scene, becoming one of the most influential noise-rock bands that truly experimented with classic rock guitar.
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- The Smiths. The Smiths became arguably the most influential British band since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones when they emerged in the early 80s, influencing and inspiring entire generations of fans and musicians alike.
- The Strokes. “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” So goes the first line of Arctic Monkeys’ latest album, a clear indication of just how influential the New York five-piece has been.
- Arctic Monkeys. Nothing less than a British phenomenon. Their swift ascent from an unknown four-piece to one of the biggest bands in the country in the mid-to-late 2000s was astounding.
- The Cure. The Cure’s sound is sprinkled with glitter and gloom, bridging euphoric pop highs with dark, gripping art rock. Listening to their back catalogue is like disappearing down the rabbit hole: there’s a wealth of musical ideas and forms to discover, from starker albums like Pornography to the technicolour indie pop of The Head On The Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
- Pavement. The most ineffably indie-rock band of all time, and not just because pretty much every indie band that picked up a guitar after 1992’s Slanted and Enchanted was copying them on some level.
- Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth was the coolest band when it emerged out of the noisy New York art-rock scene in the early ’80s—and it still was when the group broke up three decades later.
- Pixies. With their aggressively angular sound, grad-student looks, and frequent lyrical references to conspiracy theories and surrealist art films from the silent movie era, the Pixies were never going to be rock stars in their own time.
- Neutral Milk Hotel. In 1998, this Athens, Georgia, group released its second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, that wove together twee pop, archaic Appalachian folk music, thrift-store orchestral arrangements and dreamily hallucinatory lyrics about Jesus, Anne Frank and reincarnation.
Apr 1, 2024 · 1. The Cure. 2,602 votes. Emerging from the post-punk scene in the late 1970s, this influential group's unique blend of gloomy lyrics and melodic tunes has made them a staple in the world of indie music.
Aug 28, 2023 · Rock Rankings. 100 Greatest Indie Rock Bands of All Time Including Pavement, Belle & Sebastian, Pixies and More.
