I enjoy Indie Rock music. I don't know what else to call non-mainstream alternative-country-atmospheric-rock music. Essentially though, indie rock just means that an artist/band is signed to an independent label. That's it. It doesn't always refer to a varietal of hippie music, it doesn't necessarily make you a hipster, it doesn't mean you wear pants so tight you can see the quarters in your pocket or wear your sunglasses at night - it just refers to the label (but go on, indulge yourself in the Hipster Olympics video below).
Driving along in our automobile the other day, Gandalf asked, "does Indie Hard Rock exist?" I laughed out loud, how silly I thought, Indie Hard Rock, but in my head I was thinking, the man's got a solid question there. As I began to spew hogwash I realized the term "indie rock" was being mis-used too much by the public, myself included. Of course Indie Hard Rock exists. So does Indie Country, Indie Folk, Indie Jazz, but for whatever reason the term "indie rock" has been associated so deeply in my mind with bands like Belle and Sebastian, The Postal Service and the ever-rocking Silversun Pickups that I cannot accept the indie association with other genres. How dare indie cheat on me!
Band of Horses, seems to me the wooly beard, sadly, is here to stay.
Photo: Jason Persse
Here is my conundrum: so if I want to call Band of Horses Indie Rock, because I lump them in with the same sounds as the aforementioned bands, should I not? Because they are signed with Sony, which is definitely not an independent label. I guess I will call them Folk Rock or Alternative Country - I don't know. This Indie Rock term has really been driving me crazy for years. Since when did we start describing music based on record labels?!
