![]() ![]() God bless Karen O, Alison Mosshart, Meg White and Beth Ditto but really the music industry side, production and bands were male-dominated,” says Raphael. “Especially compared to international music scenes of the 2010s, it was still pretty much a boy’s club. It’s an uncomfortable mirror to our current society, where Andrew Tate amasses billions of views on TikTok and anti-woke rhetoric rubs shoulders with traditionalist values, creating a sinister strain of conservatism that Vanity Fair writer James Pogue has recently referred to as the New Right. Set against an era of peak media misogyny, the bands dominating the circuit were mostly men and white, sexism was rife and queer representation was almost nonexistent. Going out to a club or a party was therapeutic in a lot of ways.”īut there was a more sinister side to the indie scene. Olivia adds, “The recession made things feel impossible, people were partying for their lives as a break from what we were being bombarded with in our day-to-day. Imperfection, with all its aesthetic quirks, has become the new status quo. They don maximalist and ironic outfits and smear on black mascara. Nowadays, young people are choosing chaos, trading in the sleek, austere image of That Girl in exchange for a messier, goblin mode existence. ![]() Olivia points to the parallels between the debauched atmosphere that birthed the scene and our post-pandemic lives. The little guy had power over their artistry and the record labels were left scratching their heads,” she explains. ![]() ![]() “The wild west of the online world and mp3 sharing led to unlimited possibilities and heightened creativity. “People want something that’s going to wake them up, shake things up, and make them feel alive and present” – Olivia, the sound of a new generation at the time, indie music was the next step along from 90s new wave and alt-rock the growing presence of the internet meant that anyone (usually a young middle-class-looking white guy with a haircut) could pick up a guitar and start a band – and do away with the industry middleman for the first time. It was a very community-driven time in the music scene, and I think that’s something people are craving after years of lockdown.” “The music was so fun, lively, experimental, fluid, and collaborative. “People want something that’s going to wake them up, shake things up, and make them feel alive and present,” agrees Olivia, the admin behind the Instagram account. It makes sense that we’re seeing a return to DIY culture post-pandemic. Indie music, its DIY approach and (intentionally?) shit production is a response to this. Having grown up in a decade where the accessibility of music tech has made even the most grassroots bedroom pop hi-fi, punctuated by blaring 808s and sleek production, everything doubles as club music – even pop. A younger generation of ravers are ironically repurposing samples of “Mr Brightside” in between deconstructed club edits, while Two Shell drops “Sex Is On Fire” during a Boiler Room set, its anthemic hooks serving as a memey antidote to the overly serious club culture prevalent across European cities pre-pandemic. In the underground, last generation’s cringe is fast becoming this generation’s treasure. “I saw the Strokes in Glasgow last month (TRNSMIT) and it shocked me to see 50,000 people – many super young fans in fact, singing every guitar riff, solo and lyric at the top of their lungs.” “I think the fever has just come back,” agrees Gordon Raphael, producer for The Strokes and author of The World Is Going To Love This. I think that in the age of such a leaning towards social and online presence people are really digging how raw it was back then and all the live party music that was rife at the time,“ says The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard. It’s amazing that a new generation is discovering it, and actually embracing it. “It’s been enough time where we can see the era as a whole. As it stands, we’re just one Razorlight “America” cover away from all full-on indie music nostalgia revival. Not to mention the maximalist mashups popularised by Girl Talk, which are similar to the sprawling pop remixes on TikTok today. Artists who originally came up in the 00s such as The Arctic Monkeys, Uffie, M.I.A., Santigold, and Hotchip have all released new music this year, while new acts like Pixel Grip, Bad Waitress, Jockstrap and Static Dress are making music that takes inspiration from the electroclash and bloghouse, where pinwheeling guitars and woozy synths evoke the era’s distinct, danceable sound. What has returned, however, is the er a’s trippy electronic pop and snappy guitar bands. ![]()
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