"Indie Rock"

"Indie rock" genre of music

Indie rock (or alternative rock) is a genre of alternative rock which originally started in the UK & US in the 80’s . It’s style is very diverse, and comes in many varieties and sub-genres, for example indie pop (Indie pop was inspired by punk's DIY ethic and generated a thriving fanzine (fan magazine), label, and club and gig circuit. Indie pop differs from indie rock to the extent that it is more melodic, less abrasive – grindy & metalic, and relatively angst-free), jangle pop (Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones", with psychedelic influences & uses raw and immediate sounding melodic guitar-bands) , C86 (a guitar-based musical genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures) and lo-fi (a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response). 

When grunge (a subgenre of alternative rock which started in the US in the 80’s, it was inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, and is commonly characterised by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song dynamics, and apathetic (showing of feeling no interest) or angst-filled lyrics) and punk revival ( more mainstream 90’s punk) bands in the US & Britpop bands in the UK (The movement developed as a reaction against various musical & cultural trends in the late 80’s & early 90’s. Britpop groups brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the backbone of a larger British cultural movement called Cool Britannia & Britpop groups were defined by being focused on bands rather than solo artists; having drums/bass/guitar/vocals) ,broke into the mainstream music industry  (in the 90’s it was used to identify those acts that still retained an “outsider” & “underground” (less testosterone-driven) perspective.

 In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet and sights such as youtube which allowed them to freely market and brand their groups on a much larger scale that ever before (and more people find out about their style & beliefs) a number of indie rock acts began to emerge more publicly and enjoy their share of commercial success. Indie rock came from the term "independent" & is basically a musical wave which is made up of a relatively small and quite low-budget group of labels, who’s artists & bands have a generally have a do-it-yourself attitude. 

Even though most of their distribution deals are often made with major companies these labels and the bands they manage still try and attempt to maintain some of their autonomy, self government & individuality. Meaning they are usually left to freely explore sounds, emotions & subjects  which are probably of limited appeal to a large the mass market audience.   Indie rock is influenced by styles such as extremely diverse, including punk, psychedelia (influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs.), rock (a popular music genre which centres around the electric guitar, usually ‘rock’ artists are in groups and include the instrumental use of bass guitar & drums as well as of course vocals) and country (It takes its roots from southeastern American folk music, Western cowboy, and often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjoes, electric and acoustic guitars, fiddles, and harmonicas.) Indie rock has been identified as a reaction against the "macho" culture & came into it’s own after the major success of Nirvana. 

It has been described as "too sensitive and melancholy; too soft and delicate; too dreamy and hypnotic; too personal and intimately revealing in its lyrics; too low-fidelity and low-budget in its production; too angular in its melodies and riffs; too raw, skronky and abrasive, wrapped in too many sheets of Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr./Pixies/Jesus & Mary Chain-style guitar noise; too oblique and fractured in its song structures; too influenced by experimental or otherwise unpopular musical styles." (by all music an online music guide website)