# I Pit INDIE MUSIC. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622 "2003-12-03T01:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/41 "2003-12-05T22:15:07Z")
My summary of the recording industry: It’s cheaper to promote one simple band than five complicated ones. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/42 "2003-12-05T23:42:20Z")
That “SoYouWanna…” link was alright, but they misspelled “Galax_ie_ 500”. Which is ironic, considering that the article kept reminding the reader to not come off as a poseur. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/43 "2003-12-06T05:12:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll put in another plug for Ted Leo. Most of my friends listen to stuff like Death Cab for Cutie and Yo La Tengo, and thats ok, but a lot of Indie Music sounds like pretencious whiners instead of people who know how to rock the fuck off. Ted Leo and the pharmacists most certainly rock the fuck off. I’ll third that. There was this dude on another message board that was an mean-spirited scenester fuckhead. He kept singing the praises of Ted Leo, but I despised him so much I never listened. Also, the name “Ted Leo and the Pharmacists” kinda made them sound like some tediously ironic too-cool-for-school bunch of hipsters. But eventually I got around to listening to them, and now? I am in love. Even my Top 40-music loving teenybopper sister likes their music. It’s so catchy. And clever. And _interesting._ Y’know, the rock on the radio is just so boring. Not all of it, of course–there’s some standouts, every once in a while. But so much of it sounds identical. You know just when the singer will break into a scream, or when the triumphant chorus will reach its peak, and all the boring-ass power chords with the steady rock backbeat make me want to scream. Sing about something besides how your girlfriend dumped you, or how much you want to fuck that one chick, or how angry you are at The Man. Do something NEW! Please. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/44 "2003-12-06T14:46:15Z")
**DeaganTheWolf** , I like indie music. That means I’m better than you. Your opinions don’t matter because I’m better than you. Actually, I may be better than you (because I’m an indie kid), but I don’t understand why you’re pitting indie rock. It isn’t mainstream, it doesn’t blast out of every radio station and supermarket sound system every second of the day. How on earth do you find a band like Modest Mouse unless you like the sprt of music they play and specifically hunt them down? Surely you must be a fan to have any reasonable familiarity with indie rock? That said, I’d just like to remind you that I’m better than you, because I listen to indie rock. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/45 "2003-12-06T14:57:33Z")
Modest Mouse kicks ass, but there’s a serious timeline effect going on. The White Stripes vary wildly. They have a few songs that are pointless crap (Let’s Build A Home), and some that are utter, utter genius (You’re Pretty Good Looking). And that’s on the same album. Ted Leo kicks ass. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/46 "2003-12-07T05:55:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Your malnourished vegan stick-boy arms don’t exactly inspire fear of your emotional wrath in me. Despite thinking the rant lame, I have to say this cracked me up. All the 90 lb emo boys in women’s jeans I see at concerts make baby Jesus cry. We already have one gender full of eating disorders, do we really need another? [sub]I’m a total hypocrite though, because deep down? I looooove the freakishly skinny emo boys[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Marlow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Marlow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlow)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/47 "2003-12-11T09:01:32Z")
Different people have… different opinions. More news on this breaking story at 10. ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/48 "2003-12-11T21:59:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by CaptBushido \* > \*\* I think the backlash against the Stripes might have something to do with that infamous indie “attitude”. They’re too popular. Rolling Stone actually likes them. They must suck, then._\* [rant] You know, I was happy just lurking along and reading everyones’ posts until you said this. It really irks me that some people think that because someone hates their favorite band or whatever there must be some kind of grand conspiracy because the band got too popular. Can’t people just hate something simply because it sucks? Thanks to my husband I have been exposed to lots of indie music that I like. Actually, that’s pretty much all I listen to these days. I’m also keen on some of the more mainstream stuff you hear every day on the radio. Some bands that I like are popular, some are not. By the same token, some bands that make me want to rip off their testicles and pour sulfuric acid on the open wound are all the rage. Which brings me to… The White Stripes, Modest Mouse, and other bands that are touted as the saviors of modern rock. Personally, I don’t like these bands because the make the baby Jesus’ ears bleed. To me, most of these dudes are whiny bastards and their atonal crap gives me a headache if I listen to it for more than 2 seconds. [/rant] ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/49 "2003-12-11T23:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > How on earth do you find a band like Modest Mouse unless you like the sprt of music they play and specifically hunt them down? Surely you must be a fan to have any reasonable familiarity with indie rock? It happens when friends who think they’re better than me come over with this shit in hand, thinking I’ll like it. I usually have to throw them out of the house. Plus, it’s not like it’s really all that underground. The revolution’s over, emo kid. It’s time for something else. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the DIY ethic. I practice it myself, as do all my biggest musical influences. But there’s a fundamental difference between “indie music,” which is characterized by whiny post-post-post-post punk emo scenesters like Modest Mouse and the other usual suspects, and musicians who are interested in making their music on their terms **only**. By the way…Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as indie rock? What the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/50 "2003-12-12T01:17:53Z")
Okay, **Ogre** , I promise I won’t ask if my friends have heard certain bands that certain people classify as “emo” because they might think that I think I am trying to be cool. How much more convoluted can your thinking be, man? ---
**Author:** ![DeaganTheWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DeaganTheWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeaganTheWolf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/51 "2003-12-12T01:31:39Z")
Ogre: Don’t even ask about Cave and seeds. I was into that before the indie exposure, and it nearly made me weep to them included on a comp disc. ---
**Author:** ![DeaganTheWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DeaganTheWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeaganTheWolf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/52 "2003-12-12T01:33:10Z")
\…sorry. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/53 "2003-12-13T13:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Ogre_ > By the way…Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as indie rock? What the fuck? Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds grew out of post-punk group The Birthday Party. Hard to see how it isn’t indie rock. As to the rest of the post, I can’t comment. I’m not one of those indie rock mormons. In fact, I’m often so unconvinced that other people could possibly like the music I like that I’ll shield them from it unless I know they do like it. ---
**Author:** ![Hiretsukan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47774/32.png) [@Hiretsukan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiretsukan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622/54 "2003-12-13T13:30:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ubermensch \* > \*\*I’ll raise you an “indie music sucks” and see you an “any band (with rare exception) not on a major label blows”. > Here comes the science: > > 1. Record labels want to make money. > 2. Good bands are appreciated by audiences. > 3. Audiences spend money on good bands. > 4. Good bands make money for record labels. > Exceptions: 1st albums (which bring attention to band from major labels) and bands with a “cause” (almost as annoying as sucky indie bands). \*\* What a bunch of shit this is. If you enjoy lowest common denominator tripe with plenty of insidious hooks that can be sold to advertisers, I suppose your synopsis is accurate. Point 1 is correct. Record labels, as businesses, do want to make money. Point 2 is not correct at all. Think about all of the amazing music that has gone completely unappreciated until there is some decades (centuries, even)-late revival of interest. Think about all of the great musicians who are playing to tens of complacent people night after night in bars, clubs, DIY show spaces, basements, etc. every night. Point 3 is completely fucked. Top 40 radio is not exactly good shit. This also pretty well eviscerates point 4. In addition, to the people bitching about “emo.” Learn what it is: [www.fourfa.com](http://www.fourfa.com) And please stop fucking saying “screamo.” (note that the “fashion tips” on that site are a joke before you start rolling your eyes and jerking your knees) “Indie” (read: independent) music is such a sonically broad spectrum. How anyone could dismiss it entirely (the only argument that makes sense is the “caring about music is hard” argument above, which is totally fine if you’re content to consume whatever media and art [or lack thereof] comes your way through the homogenized product stream of mainstream media outlets rather than seeking out things that might actually be interesting or compelling in some way) There is nothing inherently wrong with non-independent music (dependent music?), however it is a rarity that a band or artist can combine artistry well enough with mass popular appeal and succeed on their own terms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-indie-music/216622.md?page=2)