What was the first indie rock band

Subsequently, independent labels are historically and aesthetically aligned to niche genre, as the earlier examples of Sun and Motown illustrate. The label became synonymous with grunge music, largely due to the raw, distortion-laden sound of its most famous signing, Nirvana. The ways in which indie artists negotiate the commercial mainstream, while simultaneously retaining their authenticity, are as varied as they are challenging.

Blur Food , Pulp Island and, particularly, Oasis Creation , transcended their independent roots and achieved global success on an unprecedented scale. Oasis alone sold more than 70 million albums. Post-Britpop, major labels viewed indie as viable music for the commercial mainstream. In recent times, indie culture has been criticised as homogenised, snobby and decidedly lacking in the strong socio-political messages it was once renowned for.

Musically, what used to be termed indie is now a multitude of subgenres. Corey Deiterman January 22, AM. Legendary guitarist Johnny Marr is set to release his first ever solo record next month after years of being a sideman for other bands, some rather important.

In anticipation, he's had some choice words to say that one would have expected more from his less level-headed ex-Smiths compatriot Morrissey. Specifically, Marr claimed in a recent interview with the UK's The Guardian that the Smiths invented indie-rock as we know it today. While I won't argue with Mr. Marr on the Smiths' being massively influential on indie-rock, I do have to pipe up and say that he may be taking a bit too much credit by saying they "invented" the modern indie-rock sound, a conglomerate culled from a myriad of sources, from Phil Spector to Phil Collins.

Even some of the Smiths' contemporaries had just as big of an influence on the scene, and today I'd like to point out some of the biggest and best of those names to remind Marr that he's not the only pioneer of jangly guitars and haunting, pained vocal melodies. Full text. Join the Houston Press community and help support independent local journalism in Houston.

Yet a wealth of contradictory evidence abounds. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Search uDiscover Music. Click to comment. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.