The British Indie canon is in rude health atm, let's celebrate
A lot of bands/producers seemingly in their creative peak around, I thought I'd do an excitable summary; firstly the more established acts:
Foals new album is reportedly a successful continuation of TLF; Wild Beasts have a new album on the way and are kings of all they survey; The xx actually managed to add something to their debut with coexist; Arc by Everything Everything made me warm to them; the Dutch Uncles album is their best yet, Villagers seem to be developing their sound strongly...
The of course you have bands with just a debut so far...
Alt-j showed flashes of genuine songwriting class on An Awesome Wave; Islet's noise is genuinely exhilirating (even though they rub some DiSsers up the wrong way); Zun Zun Egui will run the underground with their chaotic eclecticism; Django Django are an exhilirating singles band (but need more album cohesion next time); Still Corners are masters of smokey atmosphere; Egyptian Hip Hop got overlooked but made wonderfully strange pop on Good Don't Sleep...
Then the bands without an album...
Trophy Wife are slow-building but already masters of yearning pop; Hookworms are both indulgent and fascinating; Look, Stranger have songs sharper and sleeker than almost anyone...
Then of course a healthy list of producers; Burial, James Blake, Holy Other, Gold Panda, Forest Swords, Vondelpark... plus bands I already know I've forgotten (erm... Post War Years, Mitchell Museum). I thought we could have a thread for talking about these bands and suggesting new ones. Compared to 8-10 years ago, its extraordinary
- Relevant artist taggings:
- None
Thread not appearing correctly? Click here to rebuild | Report this
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
SoundCloud
MySpace
Friendster
RSS
Ah yes, also;
the bands that have learned more from Belle & Sebastien than Radiohead: Veronica Falls and Slow Club.
(talking of Radiohead...The Invisible)
Villagers aren't British.
Cheers.
British and Irish then
Mercury Prize eligible in any case
The History of Apple Pie's debut album is out this week and sounds great from a first listen
new Los Campesinos! this year I imagine
new Calories for sure
Haiku Salut's debut album out next month
so is Hookworms'!!!!!!!
and Gold Grrrls!!!!!!!
probably another Wave Pictures album this year that I have no doubt will be up to their fine standard
hopefully LPs from Honeyblood, Keel Her, Best Friends, hopefully more those sorta Art is Hard / Critical Heights / Upset the Rhythm type bands
hopefully a new Johnny Foreigner LP as well
basically, yeah. so much good stuff. the idea perpetuated that we only do dance music well is such utter bs.
...
Darkstar, Mount Kimbie, James Blake, Forest Swords...
Are about the only UK indie I've felt inspired by for a few years now and I'm not even sure most people would call it indie. The xx are prob the best of the bunch of what most people would call indie tho, but they're not even close to what those people I just mentioned above are. I've heard quite a few of the ones suggested above and they're pretty terrible to my ears. UK indie well all indie has a lot to do to get back into the swing of things for me.
It does appear you have a taste for electronic...
I dunno but...liking all those producers but dismissing all the indie bands it just seems so...rigid.
it's ok, he likes Deerhunter
they've been quite for a bit
any one know if they have anything on the way? p.s. I kinda like Hookworms from your list, kinda waiting for them to step up a little tho, not quite there for me bu tons of potential.
Very true
I just hope they are given time to grow (this is more what I was hoping for from this thread).
curating/headlining ATP in may or june, I forget which
the only Hookworms thing so far is a 12" that came out late 2011 so not really representative anymore. their proper LP is out next month, I'm pretty excited.
oh sweet
I'd kinda forgoton about Hookworms since it was so long ago with that EP. I'll check the LP out for sure.
I think its really easy to see UK indie as stale when it takes so long for bands to come out with stuff. There isn't that much going on compared to other areas. When I use to gig more often I'd see the same bands months on end supporting diffrent people doing the same sets, it puts you off when things dont shift that quick and it takes years for a band to go from EP to album. So even when there are good ideas out there its all so slow paced that its so easy to call it stale.
Oh yeah Micachu & The Shapes shes kinda underated, and prob indie.
Actually I think you're hitting on a pretty solid issue here
It's not really just that UK bands take a while (I don't think 15 months from a debut release that was ~30 minutes to an album is unreasonable) whereas American bands tend to arrive fully formed and you don't seem them so much at those early stages when they're jobbing musicians taking any gig they can get.
but, at the same time, it is exponentially harder to maintain any kind of a musical career here, especially if you doing nosier/weirder stuff. fewer places to play, it's so much harder to get attention as most of the big indies are american labels and the larger british ones don't take much interest in homegrown stuff, and people just aren't as willing to dig as they are with foreign stuff.
Its tough
in such a small place yeah. Its also engrande in the indie culture to take things slow tho I think. Its fine to take that long on an album but you can still do lots of diffrent tracks and keep a nice stream of fresh stuff coming out. A more singles based culture would do UK indie a world of good I think. It keeps you in peoples minds. A lot of other genres do that already and it works. Stepping away from albums for longer might not be a bad thing. You can't build a scene if nothing happens with the bands involved for years on end between releases, it just goes stale. You've got to give the impression of things moving for people to get involved. More indiependent radio/pirate/internet/specialist stations would help a lot too, works really well for dance music, but the culture isn't there for indie as much. Oh yeah and there is too much of a culture in indie to look to the US, not enough labels coming thru cultivating anything, mainly because they want to do albums with years inbetween instead of keeping things rolling with singles until the opertunity arises to spread a little. I dunno I dont think many people have been building good foundations for UK indie for a while now, its a bummer.
there really is no shortage of labels or blogs or small radio stations in this country
covering this kind of stuff. trust me on that one. it's just that, as I said, it doesn't get taken as seriously, it's much more fractured and compartmentalised, the economies of scale don't stake up for doing a lot of things, and the bigger labels put almost no investment in like they do in the US. 4AD is ostensibly still a British label, but the British part of its roster accounts for maybe 15%.
it's sad but there you go. but people sitting there going "hurrrr the xx are rubbish" don't really help or achieve thing.
Yeah its all a bit fragmented
Not enough people talk about the good stuff either. You hardly hear about any of the good radio shows, small labels, blogs on here anymore. Hell you dont even see people offering other suggestions for bands in here other than you.
Not strictly true
But I get your point, sometimes the board is fallow. But I find good recommendations for small bands in festival threads, as well as that "best artist in your local scene" thread.
I'm not dismissing anything, my ears are open, it just happens that they're open to a lot of swill with those examples you mention. I don't think I'm alone in thinking the bands you suggested are boring, I mean check the thisis out by people way more indie loving than me. I'm not gonna dissmis a band cos they're a band, now that would be rigid.
I'd say the best indie bands of recent times have come from the electronic genres. Darkstar, Mount Kimbie, James Blake... They're all bands with full on instrumental live setups, they're about as indie as you get in 2013.
Okay
I think your eyes are too tuned towards electronic music but then again, there your ears.
Your argument lacks weight as most of the bands you mention aren't very good.
*all of the bands
With the exception of Wild Beasts and Django unchained
Just blatant this-whoring
or
people find Jools Holland Mercury-MOWO Prize HMV front of store "indie" like the XX, Villagers and Everything Everything kind of dull
I think the problem is lumping all together
Like you just did. Even I don't actually like some of them, but what happened to listening to each artist alone? I find it very dismissive for people to say they're all boring. If you didn't like a few of them, why have you heard them all?
you lumped them all together as being good first
and besides, they're the kind of artists who get on Jools or 6Music or even Radio2 so if one chooses to occasionally watch or listen to those things you get to here how they sound.
And how boring they are.
Plus they're all current(ish) hype bands on sites like DiS so as someone who likes to check out new music from time to time I tracked down some of their songs and gave them a shot to see whether they were worth the hype or just a new Horrors-style false dawn.
Listening to a few songs isn't necessarily a good barometer
"The kind of artists who get on Jools..." and "they're all current(ish) hype bands" to me sounds like generalisation. Yes there are a few bands I mentioned that haven't convinced me yet, but I know people who do like them and we have similar tastes. That lumping together is a world away from dismissing bands because they could be something BBC playlist makers like. Heck, even Sean's one of them now.
the latter isn't a generalisation
because it refers to the fact that that is a collection of artists who are featured (hyped) at the moment (currently) or at least recently (currentish).
Also several of them have appeared on Jools Holland and/or received Mercury approval. So those artists are very much that kind of artist.
But even those statements weren't so defensible it doesn't change the fact that I find the songs I have heard by them really boring.
and in what way is listening to a bands music not a good barometer of whether I will enjoy them or not you stupid fashionconsciousfuck
As opposed to a whole album I mea...
I'm sorry, I can't answer properly, what the hell is that last word?
i called you a fashion conscious fuck
at the suggestion that listening to the music a band makes is not enough to be able to judge whether they are good or not
presumably meaning that if the music isn't the thing then the trendy haircuts are
it wasn't entirely serious
but then you like the xx so you may not have noticed that
I'm struggling a little here
You're slating bands because they've had a vestige of mainstream approval and you're calling someone else a "fashion conscious fuck"?
no
i'm slating those bands for being boring, they'd be boring whether they were on tv or not, the other bit was being lightly trolly because wonton said i couldn't judge a band by listening to their songs
Given the arguments I'd made before
It would be a bit strange if all I cared about was haircuts. It was just poorly worded.
fair enough
so why bring it up over and over again?
because thats what genre they are
obviously
maybe you're an xx fan
you seem awfully precious and humourless
i thought you used to be cool guntrip
Humourless?
Get off your high horse
never
your bands are all fucking dreary and it undermines the rest of your argument completely - go find some better bands then maybe i'll be convinced
I've no doubt that some other bands I listen to would meet you criteria
But it's beside the point, saying someone is humourless is pretty much on a par with calling someone needlessly defensive, it's just a cop out.
thats pretty defensive of you
fair enough if you don't like them (and I said that already - taste is relative and personal and that's the best thing about music) but criticising them based on having some level of mainstream success is at best counterproductive towards British music and at worst extremely shallow.
i think you missed the point
but i'll forgive you
Button it badmanreturns
You haven't posted yourself and you like the last Strokes album...
Haha didn't think there was much more to be said
The only bands in the UK I give a shit about right now are Crash Of Rhinos, Vessels, TTNG... That's about it. I remember a time from about 2005-2008 where there we so many great small up and coming bands. There are so many bands getting so much press who are so fucking boring, just being peddled by publications like the Guardian to people who don't really like music but want to seem like they do (i.e. most Radiohead fans), these bands are not remotely interesting or original but apparently being a bit 'weird' and eccentric is more important than writing good songs these days.
p.s. The Strokes are still amazing :)
I dunno though
I've never really bought the whole 'emperor's new clothes' line of thought with music. I think you're being a bit ignorant by saying these bands are peddled to people who don't like music. Nor is a bit of weirdness deemed enough, these acts are popular because their songs are appreciated too. Fair enough if you don't like them, but in addition you're being smug about how clueless you deem their fans to be (or words to that effect).
Nah I just genuinely think there are more interesting things happening outside of 'guitar music' in the UK at the moment
Bands like Alt-J genuinely make people think they're some sort of 'muso' just cos the guy has a 'difficult' (i.e. a bit shit and annoying) voice. The new xx is painfully dull, the first album was nice musically but the vocals and lyrics are excruciating. Villagers are the most unbelievably shameless rip off of Bright Eyes ever (he's called Conor ffs!). The list of 'producers' in the OP is a thousand times more interesting than the bands mentioned.
It's funny that you accuse other people of thinking they're some sort of muso...
You just reiterated your point there, I'm not disputing your opinion (I just disagree) but saying people only enjoy a band because it makes them cool is arrogant
Well it's definitely something that people do.
Where's TBO when you need him?
but most of those bands
are pretty boring
Factory Floor are my favourite at the moment
Fall Back is ridiculously good, havent been this excited for an album in ages. I saw Egyptian Hip Hop the other week and they were utter shite though, they have no place in this canon.
I've heard good things about FF live
You just hope they can transfer that to record. By contrast, I like the EHH album, but live they may be terrible, as you said.
Wild Beasts, Dutch Uncles, Django are all class
Two Dancers is now completely cemented in my top 10 albums of all time. Suck it
not a big fan of the new Villagers album though... yet. Also don't think much of Everything Everything.
New one this year
They've been talking about sampling a bit...
Compared to 8-10 years ago, its extraordinary
really? trying to remember what Brit "indie" I was listening to 8-10 years ago. Probably Electrelane, Broadcast, BSP, Arab Strap, B&S. You know, bands that actually had a bit of a career rather than a lot of the one album wonders the web has fostered. Yeah it's great that there is more access to music but take Still Corners out of your list. Really good first album that had good reviews. Two months later I saw them in Brighton playing to about 40 people, many of whom were mates of the supports bands.
Actually I think your argument is pretty much tosh. Most decent 'indie' is still American and Canadian which is a shame. At last year's Great Escape Fest the majority of the Brit 'bands' were either bog standard indie/shmindie or some bloke arse-ing about on a laptop. Best "indie" was French, Spanish, Canadian, Skandinavian, even Australian and New Zealand.
take Still Corners out of your list. Really good first album that had good reviews. Two months later I saw them in Brighton playing to about 40 people, many of whom were mates of the supports bands
Sorry, but when has popularity anything to do with quality?
i'd take still corners over any other band mentioned in that first post
probably
dutch uncles, alt-j & islet all up there
microlight was a great song, but yet to hear anything from trophy wife that backs it up quality wise
I think Bruxism was very good
It just happens that Microlite is the best debut single I've heard for a long time. Wild Beasts not a band you like? Tbh if I thought there'd be one band everyone liked on my list, I'd assume it was them.
It's all about Trophy Wife for me this year.
Really hoping they capitalise on the brilliance shown so far. Everything's been good to great, including Bruxism, and when the album rears it's head I imagine it will be top quality. Although I felt the exact same way about Memoryhouse, and when they finally released an album they had had all their greatness amputated. And had the gall to re-record Heirloom and ruin it!
I can put the Memoryhouse record on
and enjoy it, but yeah I had such high hopes. Regularly listen to the rerecorded Years EP.
More related to the thread, any date for the Trophy Wife album?
It's nothing to do with quality
but that album got quite a bit of positive press, came out on Sub Pop so it's pretty disappointing to see them play to so few people. They aren't some band that has just stuck a few tracks out on Bandcamp. Odd if you don't think that is a poor turnout.
So it was a poor turnout. Did it mean you enjoyed the album any less?
I'm obviously missing your point. An album gets good reviews but the band are seen only by a few people on the tour.
That doesn't mean the album isn't any good. If you like it, then that's all that matters Mate. Music is subjective.
You've given an example I don't know
So I can't argue against it. But the bands you mention from 8 years ago are good, just there is wider quality now, so much so Britain is competing with America.
Having proper careers is of course essential, so although many of the bands I listed are new, what excites me more is the potential they have to grow album on album. Many of them didn't receive much hype to begin with (like Still Corners) so can probably only stay together through improving as a band. Back around 2005, too many British bands peaked with a debut (Bloc Party). I'd say that, these days, bedroom pop artists are more responsible for one album wonders, a culture largely based in America.
can't imagine the best British bands would be playing The Great Escape tbh
Alt-J and Django Django played it last year
whether they are the best British bands or not. Why wouldn't the best British bands want to play it?
...
Day 2 in this thread:
Hoping for less grumpy gits and more guntrip.
good luck with that
your problem is twofold:
first, you're being positive and enthusiastic which is going to invite being shot down.
second, the word 'indie' is rather a target word... it's a word that has different connotations for different people and often very negative ones.
Yeah you're right (re: the 2nd point in particular)
But my OP was long enough without explaining that whilst it may not be the perfect word, it is probably the best catch all term available.
Villagers have made a great second album
It could actually be better than their first one
Everything Everything
are really good example of something coming out at a time when nothing is going on and people being so desperate for soemthing to happen in that jan slump of hardly any releases coming out that they get airplay and more attention than they ever would have done. Some poeple will obv like it, but yeah... it happens all the time at this time of the year in pretty much every genre there are exampels of it, Evian Christ was a big one last year in electronic circles for this kinda thing.
You should check the thread on their album
Lots of people just liked it, and I wouldn't put that down to some kind of desperation. However, although I have "warmed" to them, they're nowhere near Wild Beasts/The xx level.
This is my favourite type of DiS thread!
"All the bands listed in the first post are mainstream and boring and predictable and shit and listened to by people who go to V Festival!"
*puts The National/Sonic Youth on ipod and sits back in the belief that i'm way more indie than everyone else on DiS*
This is my favourite type of CG response!
*sneering assumptions about other people's listening tastes, invariably including a reference to Sonic Youth or The National (double points for the ^, includes both)
*Complete inability to contribute a positive musical opinion of his own 'You know what I've really been enjoying recently guys? Well I'm not going to tell you because I'm FAR more concerned with ridiculing your assumed listening habits than I am in discussing mine!'
it's really not worth taking these posts seriously
he really likes Die Antwoord ffs
And he won't reply
Ever.
This thread is about British artists.
I know I shouldn't take them seriously
and I don't really.
But.... endless negativity and one-upmanship (even ironic) on THE INTERNET? Doesn't seem right somehow.
This must be directed at other people in this thread.
would posting a picture of sid vicious be appropriate here?
I'm excited about quite a bit of British stuff, but not The xx and Wild Beasts
I find them quite boring. I'm looking forward to more from King Krule, Chvrches, Mazes, Money, By The Sea, Belbury Poly/Ghost Box stuff (I know Ghost Box has been going for years but it's only recently that they've been putting out really brilliant stuff), Vondelpark, Darkstar (but their new song sounds like Animal Collective so I'm not so sure anymore).
I dunno, I think those artists have a spark to them that Everything Everything and Wild Beasts don't have. But then again, for many of them it's early days.
I was so gutted when I put the new Darkstar album on and it sounded exactly like Animal Collective. Almost cried : (
New stuff I've been enjoying recently.
Arrows Down
She Makes War
The new Exit Calm stuff (Holy War and Open Your Skies are immense!)
Public Service Broadcasting
Hookworms
Radar Men From The Moon
The Lost Rivers
The Fauns (new stuff is impressive)
The Computers (mainly their live shows)
Eaux
The Creatures Of Love
IO Echo
Nightmare Air
Dark Bells
Dark Horses
Just realised it's a British Bands thread
IO Echo & Nightmare Air are American
Radar Men are Dutch
The lost Rivers are German.
My bad!
My bad is American too.
Nice one!!! (Are they US too?)
DINGUS KHAN
Some excellent stuff
coming out on the gringo records / faux discx label
cold pumas, hookworms & sauna youth
also the 'beak > ->>' lp from last year was top drawer
"compared to 8-10 years ago" - that's a joke, right?
the Franz Bloc Maxïmo Futureheads Rakes lot may have all suffered career declines, but that was an absurdly strong time for British indie. the current cast don't even compare!
No, you must be joking
Sure you've mentioned some decent debuts there, but thats all. Their declines were entirely predictable. The lack of variety between some of them was almost astonishing.
I'm still surprised by this post, I just assume you're nostalgic.
Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Futureheads: "decent debuts"
Alt-J: "genuine flashes of songwriting class"
welp.
i think their declines were more due to the way the UK music industry is (was?) structured
If commercial pressure had been taken out of the equation then i think all of those bands could have easily been as good as Everything Everything, Dutch Uncles, Django Django and (the vastly overrated) Villagers. Perhaps even Wild Beasts, if British Sea Power had kept it together. And all those bands had about a million times more charisma than the British indie of today.
Futureheads debut is better than the Django Django album, and all of the Everything Everything & Dutch Uncles albums. These days it just sounds less contemporary in comparison, unfashionable i guess.
But still, you can say "what if" as much as you like i guess; those mid-2000s indie bands never managed to find depth beyond that initial debut album explosion, and at least British indie of today is showing some development.
Well put
The "unfashionable" argument is a valid one, so long as it refers to how record labels choose bands. I wouldn't say fashion plays much part in many music fans' thoughts.
What you're saying is correct though, that it is easier now for bands to sustain longer careers. I do love the franz debut (big fan of the other 2 as well) but there was less a sense of "what will they do next" which subsequently led to my interest waning. It was largely beyond their control, and mainly due to industry pressures, but that is exactly what makes today more interesting. It may be more a case of greater opportunity than greater talent, but I can't help it exciting me.
Perhaps a good comparison would be to imagine how Silent Alarm or Franz Ferdinand would have fared today. Or if Everything everything/Dutch Uncles would've been dropped circa 2005 following poor debuts. Foals are an interesting one, they sort of bridge the divide.
I was thinking the exact same thing about Foals
they appeared at a time where they could still get considerable NME hype/appear on Skins etc, yet when the whole indie thing fell away they were pretty much the last men standing, and used it to their advantage. They also managed to build a fanbase much less transient that those of indie bands from a couple of years earlier, but whether that's simply because they were one of the only bands left in that particular genre is up for debate. I think The Maccabees have succeeded in a similar way (though are less critically acclaimed than Foals, although I personally much prefer The Maccabees).
how can you point at the declines of bands from 10 years ago
and say that todays are in much better shape when most of those bands declines were on 2nd, 3rd or 4th albums and the bands you cite in the opening post only have 1, 2 or 0 albums to their names?
I think you lack perspective
Perhaps
But I am still going to remain excited, since I believe the current crop have aspirations to carve out longer, more progressive careers. Of course it might not happen, but there seems to be less of a preference to overhype debuts these days. Plus I think there is a greater appreciation for the pop song in these bands, which appeals to me.
I dunno people bummed the XX debut pretty hard and you couldn't move for people wanking over the Horrors second album
Exceptions as opposed to the rule I'd say
I'm still not convinced by your argument
these bands might not have the same level of mainstream coverage that a Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party or Kaiser Chiefs might have ten years ago but most of the bands in the opening post get all kinds of ridiculous hyperbole written and believed about them
On the flip side
There may be hype but there is also enough people/publications saying 'this is promising, let's see what they do next' ...but I can see we disagree, so there may be no point in pursuing it. It just saddens me that few people share my enthusiasm on this point. I probably shouldn't have compared it to an early era, as there were excellent bands then, as there will always be.
i think there is plenty of stuff around to get excited by*
just not the sort of bands you think are forming some sort of mini-golden era of british indie. in fact, the bands you're so excited by are just the sort of acts who show this as a down period for british indie type rock in which nothing particularly spectacular or very interesting or fun is happening.
*mainly a resurgence of fun british punk and all kinds of interesting and experimental takes of doom and black metal from around the world.
*who show me
opnion etc
I used the term indie canon
But really I refer to the pop side of things, without necessarily delving into the charts. As such, the more experimental styles you mention are separate of this and, from what I know, there usually something interesting underground anyway.
But you shouldn't be sniffy about these poppies acts, for all the talk of more left field music on here, Alt-j did well in the DiS poll for 2012. It just seems these voters didn't come out of the woodwork for this thread.
nothing against poppy artists
just this lot suck
What about Islet/Zune Zune Egui
Slighty more noisy (we're not talking harsh though)
they're a bit widdly for me now
but i'd have loved them a couple of years ago - not saying that they're altj boring or xx bad, just not my cup of tea anymore.
Capture/Release - 10/10 still
How come you guys all talk like football pundits but about music?
As in, rarely do people actually analyse the music and its context. Most of the time talk is reserved for predicting 'big things' from bands, being 'disappointed' by their 'latest effort' etc etc.
Is it because indie music is a hobby like playing football manager? People seem to enjoy collecting knowledge about indie bands, predicting their success then saying 'I told you so' when they don't do so well. But they never talk about the music itself.
Is it because people now have access to much more 'new music' than ever before? This obsession with 'championing new music' is just mad.
Is it because the raw material really is that asinine that there is nothing to engage with? Perhaps this is so in terms of 'british indie'.
The last thing I can remember people really talking about was the kendrick lamar album, which probably was exceptional in that there really was a lot there to engage with. Though of course that was neither british nor indie.
Start a thread on an album you like then
Yeah of course its a hobby
What else would it be?
Indie cannon
i preferred the catapult
Zun Zun Egui totally rule
I do have to be in the mood for them though
When I am, they're amazing.
Definitely catch them live if you get the chance dude
They're tremendous
Lotsa bands should stay on your indie radar in 2013
Merchandise
Wolf Alice
Bastille
Exit Calm
Autoheart
... to name a few.
Just to echo what yes_ says above
(albeit in a way nobody is likely to agree with or give a shit about) We’re not giving these bands the benefit of discussing the value of their work - which might be because there isn’t any.
The exceptions are Everything Everything, whose latest record consists mostly of interesting if admittedly soundbite-centric social observations (male depression, middle-class complacency, media nonsense blah blah), and Wild Beasts with their gender/sexuality/sexual technique exploring stuff. A lot of people stick up for the xx, but what are their songs about? Being young and in love and quiet and confused, like they’re Green Day for sensitive kids or something.
(I’d also give bands like Islet and Zun Zun Egui a pass for a) existing outside the paradigm for boring complacent alt. pop/indie bands of the moment, and b) going about it in the same kind of furiously exciting and urgent manner that elevates EE.)
To me, lyrics (which is what your points are about) do not have to have much meaning
A good pop lyric should be delivered with genuine emotion and fit the song's aesthetic, but not necessarily be about anything "important". Don't get me wrong, interesting topics and wording is a great quality, but not essential to make decent pop music.
Yeah, that’s fair.
I probably made my point badly (not sure why Green Day are in discussion) but I still find it slightly bizarre that a thread devoted to rigorously tearing down other people’s musical preferences does so without involving what any of the bands are about. And I think that’s because most of the bands discussed only have one thing of any social relevance to convey, namely that popular bands today rarely convey anything of social relevance.
Not that lyrics are the be all and end all of what a band is ‘about’
but I think the sound of relatively mainstream stuff will always struggle to say more than ‘this is an homage to X’ or ‘this is a reaction to Y’.
It has been pointed out (by a number of posters)
that a number of the bands mentioned are just beginning their careers. Therefore, I would assume that a number of them may develop more a voice as they also develop musically. I think a lot of debut/sophomore records prioritise showcasing a sound rather than revealing the personalities behind the songs. Some bands are interesting in this regard (Wild Beasts, who seem to be the good example throughout this thread) but are few and far between.
interesting to begin with, I mean