That's how I feel about what is branded "Indie" in today's age. 2010. And Jimmi don't like. Yes, other people like but I sure don't. I don't like what it's become. It's not refreshing. It's not clean. It's not anything.
I remember back in a time of 5 or 6 years ago when Indie was thriving. It was Independent Rock that caught me. Indie now feels more like Indie Pop. Indie rock was awesome. We had Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, The Fratellis, Snow Patrol, Kasabian and Kings of Leon to name but a few. Now as of 2010, we can see that most, if not all of the bands, have changed their formula (except for The Fratellis, who are no longer with us). These bands are nothing like the ones we have today. They have the eccentric frontmen, pounding distorted guitars, clever, thought-provoking and poetic lyrics - It really is an art form. A canvas oil-painting of a French Riviera or Mediterranean sunset. Something anyone could enjoy just a little bit. Now, Indie is exactly that, but painted with only one colour. Grey. It's still the same quirky 3 and half minute tune but it's boring. It's lacking depth. No wonder Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers use these big anthemic synths and Snow Patrol have the singalongability (yes, I just made up a word). You do get the bands that delve into the Rock and pop like Florence and the Machine but that's pop. That's fully acceptable. And then Franz Ferdinand who describe themselves as 'Dirty Pop' have hard driven guitars, grinding synth stabs and these liquidy basslines. And then you go mad half way through a song with an acid trance solo, which is exactly what they did with Lucid Dreams from Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.
And what of today? Listed next are some bands that have been getting airplay for the past year or so. I don't see why...Starting off with The Drums.
The Drums are an Indie outfit from New York. They have a lead singer, a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. And that's it. No lead guitarist. No synths. No extra instruments. "Ah, but you don't need all them instruments, do you? Look at Muse. There's only 3 of them and they cover them basis." Yes, that is correct. But Muse have this massive sound. And they do delve into other areas of the spectrum. The Drums are just weedy. Clean guitars, tiny drumkits and a lead singer who looks like a reject from the 80's. As for their songs, you can't really do much with it, just listen and think "well that's another 3 minutes of silence I'll never have again." "I want to go surfing" they boldly claim in their song Let's Go Surfing. Starting with whistling and, wait, is that even a bass guitar? Why is it not pounding my eardrums? And as soon as another member of the band joined the lead singer guy, Jonathan Pierce (Not to be confused with the shouty Robot Wars commentator Jonathan Pearce, although it easy to see why you would be confused. They have nearly the same name), I immediately stopped the video because it got boring and switched my attention to Best Friend. No, not my best friend, their song Best Friend. Have a listen...
Some people call that a music video. I don't know what it is. And the dancing! Our old washing machine, which decided to become possessed by the devil and try to escape when it broke, moved out of the cupboard it's housed in with more grace. There isn't any artistic flair. There's nothing funky that catches your eye. At least paint the walls. Put a curtain up! Heck, save on that and just hang a picture on the wall. And then...All hell breaks loose! For The Drums decide to better whatever they've been doing the past 2 and a bit minutes by...putting the stuff away! The band then just leave poor Jonathan by himself, dancing. I've seen people dancing by themselves and it's not a good sight. Especially when they don't know they look like a fool. And then there's the endless amount of credits at the end. How many people do you need to shoot 3 and a-half minutes of one shot consisting of putting away your instruments and some dad dancing? At the most, 1. 1 guy can press play on the tape player, record, make tea, edit and publish. Not ten bazillion! And 1 guy can also put the gain up on the amplifier. Give it more drive!
And don't even get me started on Vampire Weekend...
Sounds like a couple of girly nights in watching Twilight. Ergo, not a very good one. Vampire Weekend reside in New York. You may have heard a Vampire Weekend song. A-punk goes Eh-eh-eh-eh.
Maybe I should have stressed that it's more like Ay-ay-ay-ay. Hence the name, probably. Not just, 'a punk'. It's more up-beat than The Drums song. By up-beat, I do of course mean you could put a more dignified movement to it. Punching the air on the ay's. And that's as far as it goes. Many of their songs have these really quick repeated riffs that are only 2 seconds long but take the rest of the afternoon to think "what was that all about?" Okay, so what abouts their latest offering, huh? Well, a song that I've heard being played a lot on Radio One is White Sky. White Sky gets off to a promising start. There's some synth in there. There's the guitar. Tick them boxes! But then...everything changes for the...erm...chorus, I think it's supposed to be; to quote line one.
"Ayyyoooo, ayyyi-a-ooooo, ayyyooooo, oooooooh-oooh"
What? Erm...yes. Definitely a chorus in structural terms but what sounds like the noise you make when you've had all your teeth pulled out with a pair of industrial pliers by a blind man. Check it out. 1:06 in the brilliantly choreographed video.
I assume they don't have an official video yet. I only wanted it for the track. So could you believe my luck when I found dancing sumo's? It's in time and everything. That's brilliant. Oh, back onto the song...It started off so well and then there's this whining. Are they even lyrics? It sounds like pain. It is pain. To me. Hat's off to them though, they used a synthesizer. And pan pipes in A-punk. Wait...Pan pipes? Sounds a bit folky to me...
Oh no...
Not that, anything but that...
Folk...
Indie Folk...
I am of course referring to Mumford & Sons, who are British! Horray! But they are a Folk band. Boo! Folk originates from before the 13th Century. Music comes in and out of waves, but there must have been a reason why it took a very long time to get to become popular 2010. 600 years to be more precise. It's all about maidens and valleys and other things from the 1400's. We don't have maidens any more. We have women. We don't have valleys anymore. It's easier to call it a hill. Mumford use guitars, drums and keyboards, all acceptable in today's standards. Then there's an accordion. The most famous thing an accordion has done was the theme tune to 'Allo 'Allo and become a handy tool for the French busker. Mandolins, Dobro's (steel resonator guitars), doublebass and banjos are all used. Whistle for the Choir by The Fratellis used a Mandolin in the solo and Travis used a banjo in Sing. Perfect for one offs. Not if you sound like a removal company. Moving on, I've had enough of Mumford & Sons. I'm not even finding a video of dancing sumo's to accompany this bit of text. It's not worth it.
Deezal Dwee? Dweezal Dee? Dweezal Dwee? Denzil Dwee? Oh...no. Darwin Deez. The opening to Constellation by however many are in the band, cleverly starts with 'Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are?'
PLAGIARISM! Somebody tell Mozart!
Looking through my research, I've noticed one thing. The bands that I mentioned at the very beggining. Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, etc. all have on thing in common. They're all British. Apart from The Killers. They're from Las Vegas but they seem to be more popular over here. The same with Kings of Leon. Vampire Weekend are from America. The Drums are from America. Deisel Dweezal is/are from America. Mumford & Sons are from the past. It's America! America are taking our formula and trying to make it better. It hasn't worked. Sorry, America, but you can't do Indie like the Brits. We invented it after all. Independent rock started out from Britpop. You can't get any more British than Britpop. Whenever I've heard these on the radio without paying much attention to the announcement before the track, I would have thought the American bands sounded British. I looked into it more and found out that it's not our problem. But there is one band that I wish was ours. They are American. And they aren't too bad. Ladies and Gentlemen, White Rabbits with Percussion Gun...
And why do I find it good? They use pounding drums - Albeit they're only two floor toms but they work - distorted guitar, a melodic bass, upright piano and solid singing. It goes to show that they can do it without sounding weedy or looking geeky. More of this stuff please, America...because this is one of the songs that'll make 2010 memorable.
But, it does also go to show that with these selection of tunes, 2010 isn't for guitar based bands anymore. Guitar bands are going out of phase for now. Synth and pop are being revived. Which is why the top songs of this year for me are mostly pop songs. Guitars have been thriving for a good part of 10 years. Now I think it's time for them to subtly hang in the background and look cool. Unless they have something big and outrageous accompanying them. In which case they can stay at the front and yell about it!
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