3 posts tagged “indie”
On the heels of my last blog post, I think the media has already come up with a name for the recent wave of Brit invasion bands over the past year. Thanks to our pals at NME, we now have a music genre collectively known as new rave (or nu rave). However, you'd be hard pressed to find any of the musical elements in the orignal rave scene present in this genre. Indeed, new rave basically combines elements of punk and disco, and seems to rely on a synthesizer as a tie-in. In fact, one should really be calling the genre new new wave. Also, though the movement is largely perceived as a British phenomenon, new rave can be applied to any indie band with an electronic influence.
Unwillingly at the forefront of this movement is the British band Klaxons, who have described new rave as "a joke that's gotten out of hand" and that "the whole idea of [talking about] new rave was to take the piss out of the media by making them talk about something that didn't exist, just for our own amusement." Later, they announced regret for 'creating' the term, and that they view the genre with approval. Bands around the globe generally associated with the new rave phenomenon include Hot Chip, Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS), New Young Pony Club, Holy Hail, Shitdisco, Datarock, etc. The genre is most closely related to the dance-punk movement in the US.
The fashions associated with the new rave movement closely resemble street fashions of the mid to late '80s including neon, flourescent, and day glow colors, super skinny jeans, multi-colored sneakers, fanny packs, etc. In fact the only thing that seems to resemble the original rave scene is the collective interest in psychedelic visual effects, glow sticks, happy faces, etc. found in their favorite new rave parties. Of course, all of this has come with a backlash from the original rave scene, as well as the current incarnation of the breakbeat and hardcore cultures. In fact, NME shot itself in the foot by calling traditional ravers "twats with baggy trousers," instigating a rivalry between the two subcultures.
Personally, if everything I've discussed above is what we are defining as new rave, then spritely Sri Lankan MIA would've been the pioneer. We'll see how long this current trend lasts. If it's anything like electroclash, we could already be nearing the end.
You know, I just can't put my finger on it, but I've always held a bizarre fascination with Brit-rock. It all began with my exposure to the early days of MTV at a very young age. Before this new medium shaped the music landscape for the 1980's, America was living in a post-disco and classic rock depression. There was a lack of excitement and innovation in Top 40 radio at the time. MTV changed all of that by giving exposure to British new wave bands who had little to no exposure on American Top 40 radio at the time. As a result, bands like Duran Duran capitalized on the new medium with edgy, arty, special effects driven music videos that captivated American audiences with the unsual sounds of the synthesizer and the outlandish fashions. Needless to say, I was hooked and the rest is history.
The First Brit Invasion: The Mods (1959-1964)
Without the Mods, The Beatles wouldn't have been half as successful. The Mod subculture grew out of post WWII Britain as the economy in the late '50s began to boom. Mod (short for modern) was a youth movement characterized by teenagers on the cutting edge of fashion and music most noted for their progressive attitudes, lifestyles, and androgynous ways of dressing (both boys and girls). Boys wore suits with narrow trousers and pointed toe shoes, while girls cut their short and darkened their eyes to portay a more "boyish" image. They were all-night pariters (fueled by amphetamines) at obscure underground London nightclubs. The music of choice were bands influenced by everything from American jazz and R&B to Jamaican bluebeat and ska. Bands like The Yardbirds, The Small Faces, The Kinks, The Pretty Things, The Downliners, and The High Numbers (later to achieve success as The Who) were immensely popular. By 1966, Mod was a mainstream phenomenon in England popularized by designers like Mary Quant, models like Twiggy, and TV shows like Ready, Steady, Go!, filtering its way into American culture by extensive media coverage. By the late '60s, Mod fell into decline and gave way to the burgeoning hippy culture that had taken hold of America, as well as the beginnings of glam.
The Second Brit Invasion: The New Romantics (1979-1982)
By the late '70s, the punk scene which exploded just a few years earlier in America, Australia, and Britain began to fracture and implode creating new subgenres and subcultures, most notably new wave (a music genre which fused elements of punk, funk, glam, ska, and disco). By 1980, a new movement in fashion and music was in full swing throughout Britain. The New Romantic movement was a reaction to punk (inspired by glam), and was characterized by effeminate clothing (frilly "fop" styled tops, cosmetics for men, jack boots, pirate-inspired regalia, and post-Edwardian designs). The New Romantics were nightlife scenesters spotted at various nightlcubs throughout the UK. Two clubs in particular were The Rum Runner in Birmingham and The Blitz in London which were both extremely important during the movement (The Rum Runner was home to Duran Duran, while The Blitz was home to Steve Strange of Visage and Boy George of Culture Club). Anthems of the movement included "Fashion" and "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie, as well as "Fade to Gray" by Visage. The synthesizer was an essential element in music for the New Romantics. By the early '80s, the New Romantics were exposed to America by a new music medium called MTV, which catapulted acts like Duran Duran, Human League, and Spandau Ballet to mainstream success. The video for "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran personifies the movement. By the mid '80s, the New Romantics themselves had fractured into new subcultures.
The Third Brit Invasion: Cool Britannia (1994-1999)
Britpop is a subgenre in the alternative rock scene of the 1990's characterized by its nostalgia for British garage-rock and pop bands of the 1960's. Britpop was also a partial reaction the the heavy rock-laden grunge scene in the US. Unlike previous British subcultural movements, Britpop was not really unified as a single 'scene,' but rather as a lumping together of multiple artists by the media. With both the British and US press claiming a third Mod revival in the UK, the hype served as a springboard for immediate attention to bands like Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Elastica, The Stone Roses, Suede, Kula Shaker, The Charlatans, The Verve, and Shed Seven. According to British jounalist John Harris, Britpop began with the release of Blur's "Popscene" and Suede's "The Drowners" in spring of 1992. However, by 1994, Britpop turned the tide back on grunge dominance. The release of the albums Parklife by Blur and Definitely Maybe by Oasis created a sensational media firestorm and instigated the already existing rivalry between the two bands. The fashion of the period was characterized by a very bohemian look with retro styles from the '60s and '70s. Indeed Britpop received so much international exposure, that it generated an interest in British culture in general, spawning the term "Cool Britannia." However, by 1999, much of the interest had waned, and the movement was considered officially over.
The Fourth Brit Invasion? (2006-Present)
In late 2004, rustlings of a revived British rock scene fluttered about. Bands like Kasabian, The Libertenes, Franz Ferdinand, and Kaiser Chiefs lay at the forefront of a new movement. By 2005, The Dead 60s (with their classic Mod music elements) and The Rakes (with a heavy post-punk influence) began to gain attention. It is even rumored that Hedi Slimane (former designer for Dior Homme) designed a whole collection around The Rakes. By 2006, a huge influx of Brit bands poured over stateside including Razorlight, The Futureheads, The Kooks, Klaxons, New Young Pony Club, The Horrors, Friendly Fires, etc. In this latest Brit invasion, the medium of choice has been the Internet, particularly social networking sites like Myspace.com (which in itself has been instrumental in generating downloads from the web and sales to the iTunes Online Music Store by giving relatively unknown bands massive exposure). Brit bands of today are generally considered to be affiliated with the indie rock scene (which as a genre has been around since the 1980's, but has become its own subculture in the 2000's). Indie rock as we know it today was born out the early '00s new wave revivalist and electoclash scenes. It has a heavy influence in post-punk and new wave aesthetics. The fashion is a melding of subculture retro looks from the past fourty years with emphasis on Mod and new wave styles (super skinny pants and jeans, mop-top straight hairstyles, pointed toe shoes, headbands, '80s-inspired regalia, etc.).
After the past four years of revived slip-on VANS in an array of patterns and colors (most notably the signature checkerboard design - now mainstream and commonplace), another VANS staple has begun to reemerge over the past year. The lace-up version that began as a '60s trend, and became a huge fad among early '90s hipster teens, has made quite a comeback.
For me personally, it marks the first full revolution in fashion from my teen years. I owned a pair of the lace-up style in 1992 (I was 17). Of course, back then only solid colored designs were available, and one wore them with stovepipe styled jeans (as a reaction to fitted '80s denim), or vintage wide bottom trousers from the late '60s and early '70s. These days, they are being worn with super skinny jeans (which are available in a range of colors including black, white, gray, cream, teal, lime, and red - another early '90s trend minus the skinniness). Also, today's version of the lace-up comes in a variety of patterns and color-block designs.
WARNING - Just because it's a current trend, doesn't mean you need to go out and jump on the bandwagon. With most everything, it has about a three-year shelf life, so by 2010, it will be mainstream and undoubtedly DONE.
