Genre Extravaganza: Indie Pop

[SuedeSwede]

Don't know if I was supposed to stick to some schedule or whatever, but anyways...

Indie Pop is characterised by pop melodies and structures, often blended with standard rock instrumentation (guitars and drums) in early examples. The original ethos was influenced by punk's DIY nature, though moving into the mid-90s and onwards, indie pop bands started to implement more influences and a more refined sound.

Early Influences

Many early examples of indie pop was influenced by early post-punk & punk rock and 60s girl groups.

Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las
Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals
Be My Baby by The Ronettes
Psycho Killer by Talking Heads
Oh Bondage! Up Yours! by X-Ray Spex
Judy is a Punk by The Ramones
Fairytale in the Supermarket by The Raincoats
Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies

Early Examples

Many of the earliest examples were by post-punk groups that had made a transition into more poppy territory, thus pioneering the indie pop "sound". By the early 1980s, as indie pop started to become a movement, twee pop - a form of indie pop with its cuteness and "quaint" nature turned up to maximum - was also being pioneered.

Lee Remick by The Go-Betweens (1978)
Silly Girl by Television Personalities (1981)
Anything Could Happen by The Clean (1981)
In Love by Marine Girls (twee pop, 1981)
Pleasure by Girls At Our Best! (twee pop, 1981)
Felicity by Orange Juice (1982)
Invisible Boyfriend by Trixie's Big Red Motorbike (twee pop, 1982)
How Come You're Such A Hit With The Boys, Jane? by Dolly Mixture (twee pop, 1983)
This Charming Man by The Smiths (1983)
Our Secret by Beat Happening (twee pop, 1984)
Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow by Felt (1984)

The Golden Era: Popularisation and Development

Towards the mid-80s, a movement of indie pop called C86 - named after the 1986 NME cassette of the same name - came into fruition. This movement was characterised by bands who typically blended indie pop with jangle pop and indie rock, though it is a vague term used to describe bands around the time who were being noticed by NME and placed on its cassette. Not all bands around this time were described as "C86", though.

Million Tears by The Pastels (1984)
Fuckin' 'Ell, It's Fred Timus by Half Man Half Biscuit (1985)
Järvellä by Noitalinna Huraa! (1985)
My Guy by Chin Chin (1985)
When All's Well by Everything But The Girl (1985)
My Biggest Thrill by The Mighty Lemon Drops (1986)
Some Candy Talking by The Jesus and Mary Chain (1986)
Please Don't Play 'A Rainy Night in Georgia' by Twa Toots (1986)
I Don't Want To Be Friends With You by Shop Assistants (1986)
Beatnik Boy by Talulah Gosh (1986)
I Could Be In Heaven by The Flatmates (1986)
Happy Hour by The Housemartins (1986)
Rules and Regulations by Fuzzbox (1986)
Love's Going Out of Fashion by Biff Bang Pow! (1986)
My Favourite Dress by The Wedding Present (1987)
I Kiss the Flower in Bloom by Close Lobsters (1987)
Block of Wood by The Bats (1987)
Son of a Gun by The Vaselines (1987)
Gentle Tuesday by Primal Scream (1987)
Sunny Sundae Smile by My Bloody Valentine (1987)
Pristine Christine by The Sea Urchins (1987)
Somebody Up There Likes Me by The Brilliant Corners (1988)
Crash by The Primitives (1988)
Come Get Me by 14 Iced Bears (1988)
Anorak City by Another Sunny Day (1988)

A Fey Future

By late 1988, indie pop started to move away from the "DIY" sound made popular by C86 and into more dreamy, demure, sensitive territory, with more expressive lyrical themes, influenced more by jangle pop and dream pop (amongst a broader range of influences including chamber pop, lounge, electronic, etc.) than of post-punk and indie rock. These bands were often part of the seminal label, Sarah Records.

Emma's House by The Field Mice (1988)
Streets of Your Town by The Go-Betweens (1988)
Elephant Stone by The Stone Roses (1988)
There She Goes by The La's (1988)
The Centre of My Little World by Another Sunny Day (1988)
Goodnight England by Razorcuts (1989)
Blue Light by The Orchids (1989)
Vivienne by The Cannanes (1989)
Around the World in Eighty Days by Brighter (1989)
And I Wonder by St. Christopher (1990)
Here's Where The Story Ends by The Sundays (1990)
Our Love is Heavenly by Heavenly (1990)
100,000 Fireflies by The Magnetic Fields (1991)
Understand by Brian (1992)
Noise by Beat Happening (1992)
Throw Aggi Off The Bridge by Black Tambourine (1992)
Candy Bracelet by Blueboy (1992)
Truly Madly Deeply by Northern Picture Library (1993)
Go Fish by Cub (1993)
Supreme Nothing by Tiger Trap (1993)
Canción de si tú me quieres by Le Mans (1994)
Carnival by The Cardigans (1995)
I Hear You Say So by The Innocence Mission (1995)
Hello Rain by The Softies (1995)
She's Losing It by Belle and Sebastian (1996)
Hollow Inside by The Cat's Miaow (1996)
I Love You The Way I Used To by Rocketship (1996)
Together Forever in Love by Go Sailor (1996)
There's A Place by Holiday (1997)
Grass Skirt by All Girl Summer Fun Band (1999)
Yeah! Oh Yeah! by The Magnetic Fields (1999)

A Semantic Change

Towards the late 90s, the term "indie pop" was related less narrowly to C86/jangle pop influenced indie pop, but more to contemporary indie & singer/songwriter music. Though the consideration of these artists as "indie pop" is very arguable, many artists are still considered as such.

Waltz #2 by Elliott Smith (1998)
The Hymn for the Cigarettes by Hefner (1999)
Neat Little Domestic Life by of Montreal (1999)

This type of indie pop influenced a large amount of indie pop to come in the 21st century.

Essential Albums of the 80s/90s

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...And Don't The Kids Just Love It by T...sonalities (1981)

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You Can't Hide Your Love Forever by Orange Juice (1982)

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Demonstration Tapes by Dolly Mixture (1983)

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The Smiths by The Smiths (1984)


Beat Happening by Beat Happening (1985)

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The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986)

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Foxheads Stalk This Land by Close Lobsters (1987)

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George Best by The Wedding Present (1987)

Daddy's Highway by The Bats (1987)

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16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens (1988)

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Sittin' Pretty by The Pastels (1989)

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Snowball by The Field Mice (1989)

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Vehicle by The Clean (1990)

Reading, Writing & Arithmetic by The Sundays (1990)

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Heavenly Vs. Satan by Heavenly (1991)

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Distant Plastic Trees by The Magnetic Fields (1991)

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Understand by Brian (1992)

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The Wayward Bus by The Magnetic Fields (1992)

The Way Of The Vaselines by The Vaselines (1992)

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London Weekend by Another Sunny Day (1992)

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You Turn Me On by Beat Happening (1992)

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Tiger Trap by Tiger Trap (1993)

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Betti-Cola by Cub (1993)

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Backwash by Talulah Gosh (1996)

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A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness by Rocketship (1996)

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Tigermilk by Belle & Sebastian (1996)

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If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle & Sebastian (1996)

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The Fidelity Wars by Hefner (1999)

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69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields (1999)

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Huge thanks to SingingPeasant96, noWaxJim, and BrandonMiaow for endlessly influencing my taste in indie pop and thus basically making this genre extravaganza.

I only covered the 80s/90s stuff, and Precedent will continue in the next part with 21st century indie pop.
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[JMan]

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This is one of my favorites. A childhood memory. it goes very slow and soft, very upbeat and jumpy, and keeps the sound of the fun-loving Sia throughout.

"Day Too Soon" is the bomb.

[MrFrogger]

Brilliant, it's obvious you have a passion for this kind of stuff. I will now proceed to bookmark a bunch of stuff.


Also,

[JMan]

[quote="SuedeSwede"]Indie Pop is characterised by pop melodies and structures, often blended with standard rock instrumentation (guitars and drums) in early examples.[/qoute]

[SuedeSwede]

Sia is not akin to any of the artists I've put up here. Plus, it's a 2000s album and we're not even at that stage yet.
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[JMan]

[MrFrogger]

[SuedeSwede]

[JMan]

[MrFrogger]