Until just recently, I was under the impression that indie rock only became popular in the mainstream during the Early 2010s, not just in the US, but in other countries as well. Indie Rock is often regarded as being one of the defining music genres of the 2010s, despite the fact that EDM and trap are much more prevalent on the charts. While it may have only become a mainstream force in the US in 2010/11, around the time "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Somebody That I Used To Know" (which is ironically by an Australian artist) came out, it was actually well established in the UK, Australia and New Zealand several years prior to that.

In fact, you could argue that "indie rock" is one of the most defining genres of the 2000's in those respective countries. Many of the "'00s indie rock" songs were actually really successful and charted well. Here are a few examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQi8wEHMm5Y

Song: "Forever Young"
Band: Youth Group
Released: 2006
Charts: #1 in AUS, #7 in NZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd8tOAJMA8Q"

Song: "Little Lion Man"
Band: Mumford and Sons
Released: 2009
Charts: #3 in AUS, #4 in BEL,#9 in NZ

There are more songs, of course, but I just decided to use those two songs as examples. :P Indie rock was actually really popular in Australia, in particular. There are plenty of indie-rock songs which were released here that didn't even chart in other countries! It's strange that the US only really adopted indie rock around 2010/2011, but even then, it never became a complete mainstream force. Do you think that the backlash against post-grunge halted indie rock from becoming a more dominant genre this decade?

Welcome back to inthe00s!

I think so. From what I heard, there was too much Post-Grunge throughout the 00s and not enough of the other rock alternative genres. Plus, there is the hipster movement in which indie music is associated with causing it to backfire due to the cringy-ness of hipster fads.

There has been a lot of music called "indie" over the years that is not necessarily what we now associate with indie. As far back as the late 70s bands were called "indie" (or even "indy"), but back then it generally meant any band not associated with a major label (hence, being "independently" operated rather than being on the company payroll) and wasn't really a specific genre unto itself. As to when it coalesced into the dreck we now know as "indie", I will leave that up to you all to tell me. And while we are on the subject, there is one aspect of indie that I find particularly annoying. I see SO many indie bands do it that there must be a name for it. The band will be playing a song, and then all of a sudden one of the members will suddenly start playing some random instrument like a trumpet or a small synthesizer, or randomly pound on a drum, for about 10 seconds, and then everybody goes back to what they were doing. This momentary inserting of an incongruous instrument generally does nothing whatsoever to enhance the song. It's a rather pretentious practice.

What do you mean when you say indie? ??? If you mean stuff like Mumford & Sons, I think that style got popular in the late 2000s.

If, like Voiceofthe70s said, you mean indie as in independent record, then that's almost as old as modern rock itself. :)

What do you mean when you say indie? ??? If you mean stuff like Mumford & Sons, I think that style got popular in the late 2000s.

If, like Voiceofthe70s said, you mean indie as in independent record, then that's almost as old as modern rock itself. :)


I meant "indie rock" as in bands such as Foster the People and Mumford & Sons, like you mentioned. Maybe i'm wrong, but I don't remember indie rock being popular in the US during the Late 2000s? ??? I thought it was around 2010/2011 when it began to become popular in the mainstream?

I meant "indie rock" as in bands such as Foster the People and Mumford & Sons, like you mentioned. Maybe i'm wrong, but I don't remember indie rock being popular in the US during the Late 2000s? ??? I thought it was around 2010/2011 when it began to become popular in the mainstream?


Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc. off the top of my head

Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc. off the top of my head


I thought "The Strokes" and "Yeah Yeah Yeahs" were considered garage-rock?  ???

Also, correct me if i'm wrong, but I don't think the Arctic Monkeys have ever achieved success in the US either. They're massive in the UK, although I don't think any of their songs have charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

Indie Rock is a pretty hard genre to define, it definitely isn't independent from major labels as it used to be in its original form. What sets it apart from apart from other Rock genres is probably a more poppy approach but still more angular and unconventional than most Pop Rock, as well as a preference for a more lo-fi approach (although those kinds of band are in the minority it seems...)

The genre dates back to the alt rock scene of the mid 80s-90s, though it exploded in volume by the 2000s (especially thanks to the Garage Rock resurgence of the early 2000s). I remember a lot of hype around the genre back in the early 2010s, especially with bands like the Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys, but it never seemed to took off as it was thought.