The Death of Indie Rock

Indie Rock - short for Independent Rock Music
A genre of music and cult following of younger generation which is striving to be different from pop music followers. Music is often “underground”, not known to popular audiences because of independent record labels. The musical style combines british punk, rock and roll, and heavy metal. (urbandictionary.com)

The Indie Rock movement has attracted many people since it kicked off who knows how long ago. Fortunately for me, I jumped on the train just as it was leaving the station. I was tired of the whole "emo kid" thing since it became so popular and the saying overused and worn out. Screamo was beinging to hurt my ears, R&B, hip-hop, and rap never changed in style, and the whole John Mayer/Jason Mraz/Josh Kelly/Poppy-rocky music was getting old. It was a prime time for a change to something I had never heard before. The discovery of this completely new and undisturbed music genre was, for me, like discovering a whole new world right under my nose. Suddenly, I was thrust into an unending selection of new artists and varieties of music never before heard by my jaded ears. I was a little kid on Christmas morning.

My first Indie Rock band: well, the lines are a bit blurred here because I got into The Shins about a year before I even heard of the genre "Indie Rock", but I was first introduced to the genre of Indie Rock through The Postal Service. Now, this band (which isn't really a band at all because it's just Ben Gibbard...) is the epitome of Indie Rock and good music. Some Indie Rock sucks because the people feel as if they can do whatever they want and stick the genre name to their music, but the Postal Service CD, Give Up, is one of the few CDs that I can listen to straight through and not cringe. The Postal Service led me to Death Cab for Cutie, naturally. I was also introduced to Travis by another friend of mine, but then things slowed down until one fateful day.

I went to visit my former English teacher, and the second I stepped into her classroom, my ears pricked to the sound of the Postal Service emitting from the speakers of her laptop. I almost melted on the spot. We started talking about all the crappy music out there, and about Indie Rock, and before I knew it, I was leaving her room with Rilo Kiley CDs in hand. Over the next couple days, I was introduced to Keane, Elefant, Pete Yorn, American Analog Set, Notwist, and The Sea and Cake. I became a fanatic; obsession overtook me... I was starving for more. Pure Volume provided me with Daphne Loves Derby, the ultimate Indie Rock band: unsigned, unknown. The novelty of being a fan of them made me proud to be a listener of Indie Rock. And then, the dark cloud dawned upon me and my new found love.

"I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images, and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned..." The second I heard the start of this song while shopping at American Eagle, I knew it was going to be the end of Indie Rock as I had known it. So long, farewell... The next thing I know, Keane is on the radio and at the Nutcracker with all those pop-punk bands like Good Charlotte and New Found Glory. At this point, I was thinking, well, Keane... if they want to become popular, then so be it, but let the other bands stay indie. (A month later, Keane appears on Saturday Night Live. Definitely no longer indie...) Unfortunately, my wish didn't come true.

Driving to a friend's house one Friday night, I was in the car with a friend of mine who shares the same music tastes as I do, and he was flipping through the stations when he came upon "Let Go" by Frou Frou off the Garden State soundtrack. I almost cried. Indie rock died for me that day. The novelty of that precious term that I loved so dearly withered away with one song on the radio. How could Frou Frou possibly make it to the national radio? But then my friend graciously reminded me (and has ever since) that music is not to be kept to yourself; you have to share it with other people.

Despite this true fact, Indie Rock has lost all of it's notoriety and novelty. It's no longer a shiny new discovery that I can hold in my hand and cherish. It's been tainted and the varnish is going dull. Nonetheless, Indie Rock is still good music, just a little less special than before.