What Is Indie Rock?

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with underground music as a whole, though more specifically implies that the music meets the criterion of being rock, as opposed to indie pop or other possible match-ups. These criteria vary from an emphasis on rock instrumentation (electric guitars, bass guitar, live drums, and vocals) to more abstract (and debatable) rockist constructions of authenticity.
"Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", which stems from the fact the artists are generally signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. They may also be on no label at all. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands such as Pavement and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, and (usually) describable as rock music. Genres or subgenres often associated with indie rock include lo-fi, post-rock, garage punk, emo, sadcore, C86, twee pop, and math rock, to list but a few; other related (and sometimes overlapping) categories include shoegazing and indie pop.
Typically, indie artists place a premium on maintaining complete control of their music and careers, releasing albums on their independent record labels (sometimes their own) and relying on touring, word-of-mouth, and airplay on independent or college radio stations for promotion. Some of its more popular artists, however, may end up moving to major labels, though often on favorable terms won by their prior independent success.

In the United Kingdom, indie music charts have been compiled since the early 1980s. Initially, the charts featured bands that emerged from punk, post-punk, and other forms of music; these bands were categorized solely by having their records released by small labels, independently of the major record companies. However, the term "indie" became primarily associated with a form of guitar-based alternative rock that dominated the indie charts, particularly indie pop artists such as Aztec Camera and Orange Juice, the C86 jangle-pop movement and the twee pop of Sarah Records artists. Probably the definitive British indie rock bands of the 80s were The Smiths, The Stone Roses and The Jesus and Mary Chain, whose music directly influenced 1990s alternative movements such as shoegazing and Britpop. In fact, it is quite common in Britain for all alternative music to be referred to as "indie" instead of "alternative".

In the United States, the music commonly regarded as indie rock is descended from an alternative rock scene largely influenced by the punk rock and hardcore punk movements of the 1970s and early 1980s and their DIY ethos. In the 80's the term "indie rock" was particularly associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr (who coincidently are often mentioned as an influence on the shoegazing movement), Sonic Youth, Big Black, and others that populated American indie labels, separating them from jangly college rock bands like R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs, who by the end of the decade were signed to major labels. During the first half of the 1990s, alternative music, led by grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success and widespread exposure. Shortly thereafter the alternative genre became commercialized as mainstream success attracted major-label investment and commercially-oriented or manufactured acts with a formulaic, conservative approach. With this, the meaning of the
Iabel "alternative" changed away from its original, more counter-cultural meaning to refer to alternative music that achieved mainstream success and the term "indie rock" was used to refer to the bands and genres that remained underground. One of the defining movements of 90s American indie rock was the lo-fi movement spearheaded by Pavement, Sebadoh, Liz Phair, and others, which placed a premium on rough recording techniques, ironic detachment, and disinterest in "selling out" to the mainstream alternative rock scene.