What Kind Of Music Is Indie Rock



One of the changes that web-based music has brought about in Russia is a dramatic subversion of once-stable genres. Not only is anyone with a recording device able to use (and abuse) any feasible combination of styles – to then make them public – but the very notion of a respected, influential “center” is undermined. Notions of what’s pretty and proper have fallen away. One could no doubt argue that radio and television still constitute a core influence, guiding styles and sales, but two facts present themselves as counterweights to that theory. Firstly, piracy has decimated sales nationwide and secondly, the choice of genres available on Russian television, for is example, is risible. “Bubblegum” and “MOR” would, at the risk of being dismissive, capture most of what’s on show. Any other aesthetic finds itself relegated to maximum “freedom” – and equally high degrees of insignificance. Musicians are free to write and promote whatever they please (because nobody cares – and they’re certainly not going to buy it).

In the meanwhile, sales figures and music charts mean little.

This situation creates an interesting problem when it comes to defining “independence” in terms, let’s say, of a rock-pop genre, operating (with its preference for melody over menace) on the edge of possible primetime interest. The question, therefore, of “Independent from what?” automatically poses itself. If access to the tools of publication is no longer an issue, and the term does not relate to business practices – since none of them are currently viable – then the adjective doesn’t really denote anything except a style that is unlikely to be heard on television.

All manner of possibilities suggest themselves.

The term “independent,” at the end of the day, is not really used in Russia as a definition of local freedoms (from “the state,” or “TV,” say), so much as a kinship with British and American guitar-based pop-rock. Yet here, too, some conundrums emerge. The abbreviated term “indie” never really took root in the UK – and, being a rather unfashionable/unpopular label, is often the subject of slight mockery; its use, allegedly, indicates a speaker who knows little about minor, peripheral genres. It’s a term, in other words, employed by people posing as champions of small, experimental bands. This lampooning of alleged “experts” emerges from one aspect of the British broadcasting industry. The general tolerance on the BBC, say, for more adventurous music has always meant that British youth need not try hard (at all!) if they wish to give their ears a little thrill. Creating an aura of hard-won, “radical” liberty – or claiming to champion it – just sounds silly.

In the United States, though, where radio is neither truly national in its sweep, nor terribly willing to experiment with unknown musicians, the designation “indie” is employed more widely. As a result, what results in Russia is a label or tag that makes more sense in the American context, yet is often used to describe young Slavic ensembles fashioned explicitly after the likes of British combos, such as Arctic Monkeys, Keane, or Coldplay.

And there’s more. In the US, the generic tag in question is employed to categorize music in the tradition of the Velvet Underground or the Beach Boys (circa “Pet Sounds“); put differently, this could be the soundtrack of social drop-outs, of those who prefer bohemian escapism or drug-addled, childlike fantasy. Neither tendency is seen terribly often in the music scene of Britain’s cold and windswept shores. Some specificity is needed among all these options and misinterpretations. Let’s take three jangly, “guitarocentric” bands from different towns around Russia, all with new releases. Each one of them actively defines their work as “indie.”

The question is “How?” A thoughtful gaze turns skyward.

The first band under consideration is/are Sweetheart Surgery from Moscow, in fact from Podol’sk – on the city’s southern edge. They date back to 2007, when – as they put it – “the rising tide of indie-music in Russia was just starting. This was the time when the band’s members began their first experiments together. Having recorded some tracks at home with great speed, they put the material online, and started playing some concerts around the capital.”

And the audience response to these noises, far from a TV set? “The people who came to those initial gigs were surprised at the levels of unbelievably positive energy sounding from the stage. It didn’t matter what kind of music the band played – be it fast, dance-oriented, even slow and beautifully sad stuff – it was all full of positive emotion. People likened the ensemble to pop-rock, indie-rock, britpop, and even some kind of Gothic R&B chanson.” That last reference, we suspect, is a little ironic. It is, however, still telling in that “indie” in and of itself is not delineating anything specific; it’s not even helping the audience members predict what they’ll hear. More important than generic convention is the level of social valency – the amount of wordless, heartfelt, and social contact, even during miserable ballads.

This summer on their site at the social network Vkontake, the ensemble asked fans how they’d define the style of Sweetheart Surgery. One of the answers was especially representative and helpful: “It’s the kind of britpop that’ll really get you going. It’s some kind of rock ‘n’ roll, lo-fi pop-rock… I don’t even know how else to say it. The main thing is that it all sounds cool! And veeeery positive!”

Precisely.

The St Petersburg group “Twices” (no definite article needed…) have also released three new songs and use the same terms of reference when tagging their material. Here, too, when speaking of their efforts, any mention of independence or anxious influences is downplayed in terms of the same valency. Not, this time, within an audience or other massed admirers, but among other bands from overseas. At their MySpace page, for example, these musicians fill the “Sounds Like” box with the following phrase: “[I] heard this [before]… but can’t remember the name of the band.” The group’s very identity – their uniqueness – is made of vaguely remembered, half-absent names, sounds, and other “foreign bodies.” They need, allegedly, to be assembled if the group is to be understood or have any meaning.

So which UK/US bands do Twices recall?

As we compile a list, the general picture will come slowly into focus.

“On one hand,” say materials published by the group (about themselves in the third person), “they play a kind of mathematical disco-punk… it’s almost like Foals. Or, on the other hand, there’s the 8-bit electronica you’d associate with Crystal Castles. And on top of all that, there are the fuzzy vocals you’d recall, for example, from the Jesus and Mary Chain. What results is something rather peculiar. People will no doubt say that Twices are still looking for their own sound, but they’re not working according to any preset formula, either.” That slowly-garnered sense of uniqueness is made from a large number of connections with existing elements.

The resulting sense of selfhood – made socially – is a musical or generic equivalent of the aforementioned PR text from Sweetheart Surgery. The goal is a publicly constructed movement into an acceptance by – or connection with – others. In actual fact, “Heard This… but Can’t Remember the Name of the Band” will purportedly be the name of their next EP. The process of “connecting” -  in order to endure – is still ongoing.

The dots, so to speak, are slowly coming together, and the brush strokes converging.

In order to avoid accusations of locally specific practice, of outlooks found only in Moscow or St Petersburg, let’s take a third and final outfit from far away – such as Turns, who are from Novosibirsk. Yes, they have also published a small collection of songs, just like Sweetheart Surgery and Twices. They also show a marked dislike for definite articles.

At the time of writing, their MySpace page has a whopping 149 visitors. Independence is clearly not an issue; the band’s current ties are minimal. In characterizing the new EP (two thirds of which are here), the band’s lead singer Roma Zimarev asked for the public’s opinions on his Live Journal page.  The first comment came from a young woman who noted approvingly: “Mmmm. I like it! You can kinda hear that the EP comes from a Russian band ” Zimarev – shown below – asked whether this was a matter of his accent when singing in English. The fan replied: “I don’t really know… It’s just that every now and then I can sense it [i.e., that "Russian" aspect]. But the music is really good! It’s cool stuff!”

A nonchalant pose was adopted after such praise.

Zimarev thanked her. As these opinions and outlooks moved back and forth, sometimes contradicting one another, he posted a small, but telling admission. “I’m just trying to find out what people want to hear.” Zimarev’s musical goal with Turns, in that case, is to give these people what they want; to meet their demands and desires. He does so in order to complete the process of valency we see with our other two bands. Such is the main intention of these Russian “independent” ensembles. They seek neither the bohemian, elitist sulkiness of the Velvets’ heritage, nor the druggy redoing of a sunny SoCal childhood.

Despite the fact that the word “shoegazing” has made its way into the online vocabulary of many Russian music sites, that core element of much UK “independent” music is also completely absent here. Liberty or self-sufficiency comes instead from the choice to join a multitude, to do so happily – with “positive emotion” and thus acquiesce to the whim and whim of one’s audience. It’s an intention to become that which “people want to hear.”

If freedom or voluntary forms of self-reliance are being exercised through that extreme degree of happy, heartfelt dependence, it suggests that the glossy, moneyed songs of love, laughter, and life on primetime TV are depressing lots of people – and satisfying none.

The frozen streets of Novosibirsk are full of people yearning to give themselves to someone else. And thus gain independence. Maybe it’s an issue of heat exchange.

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Stereotypes involving the carefree indulgences of a Californian summer have been circulating since surf-rock originated in the ’60s. Its inception was largely brought on by the development and popularization of the spring reverb, which at the time was said to mimic the sound of waves along one of these sunny beaches. Mickey Deora described surf music nicely by calling it “a syndrome — a cluster of symptoms, no single one of which is necessary or sufficient for the diagnosis.” The main symptoms include a limited instrumental arsenal, prominent use of either reverb or the guitar’s vibrato, and a short song length that appealed to the abundantly used metaphor of catching a wave. Similar to that accomplishment, the conventional surf-rock tracks were short, infectious, and brimming with components like reverb or picked staccatos. This action-audio analogy may sound pretentious by today’s independent standards, but back then it was simply incorporating a popular form of youthful expression into another popular form of youthful expression. Music and surfing were unveiled by these groups to have more in common than one would think.

Before even listening to them, it is readily apparent that Surfer Blood are a bit enamored with the style and period of surf music. Their name alone possesses an obvious reference, while expositions of personality on their MySpace site flash glimpses of ocean-themed tracks, references to fun things like weed and Condoleeza Rice, and a bunch of promo photos that are either in front of the ocean or expressing serene artistic emission. This might sound normal enough if you are from West Palm Beach like Surfer Blood, but many fans of indie-rock may find themselves weary of such beach-bound associations. The differences between contemporary indie-rock and surf-rock are prominent for the most part, and to immediately align Surfer Blood with The Beach Boys or Dick Dale would be a premature impulse that would unfortunately result in missing out on a great band for those not attracted whatsoever to these past groups. Surfer Blood do not abide by Deora’s aforementioned symptoms of surf-rock on a strict basis, but by possessing a similar type of musical ideology to their surf-rock predecessors Surfer Rock have crafted an ingenious debut that reaps from an old-fashioned sort of intensity that only those powerful two-minute surf-rock epics from the ’60s brought to the table.

Although they serve exemplary of an artist influenced by an ideology instead of a precise audible style, Surfer Blood’s own unique style is something that should delight fans of modern indie-rock. The charming upbeat pop of The Shins is certainly present, as are groups like The Explorers Club that cling on to ’60s pop and surf-rock through overlapping vocal harmonies, picked tremolos, and lushly serene orchestration. Surfer Blood are a bit more modernistic than a group like The Explorers Club though, evidenced strongly by the variation in guitar tones and levels of distortion in addition to the lead vocals of John Paul Pitts. Amiable and accessible, Pitts always maintains a gleeful and whimsical croon that simultaneously recalls the sparkle-and-spit of James Mercer and versatility of Brian Wilson by aligning his vocal melodies with corresponding guitars. Like in surf-rock and power-pop alike, guitars are the driving force throughout Surfer Blood’s debut album, Astrocoast. These are precisely the two influences at work most consistently too; surf-rock is abundant through its production techniques while the hooks and song structures themselves are more reflective of power-pop.

Apart from “Slow Jabroni” and “Anchorage”, Astrocoast consists of tracks following below the four-minute mark but still achieving incredible growth and innovation during that time, beckoning a similar feeling to that of instrumental surf-rock when it emerged in the early ’60s. It helps that accessible efforts like “Floating Vibes” takes any related stereotypes by the throat to turn it into a gem with precise revision, even if the track’s simplicity and imminent radio time means it is not as durably enjoyable as the rest of this fantastic album. These aforementioned surf-rock instrumentals are even recalled on Astrocoast to a slight degree, which finds its own reworking on “Neighbor Riffs”. Perhaps it resembles post-punk or art-rock due to its selected melodic and tonal choices, but the structure is inherently that of how surf-rock instrumentals were. An initial bass line kicks off the effort and does not subside for the entire duration, instead serving as the source of opportunity for a multitude of dexterous guitar progressions that benefit from aspects like tremolo, reverb, and staccato that undoubtedly resemble conceptual surf-rock. This is a quite a departure from most of the efforts on Astrocoast, but it sits excellently in the middle of Astrocoast as the bridge between indie-pop-minded sensibilities and voraciously raw surf-rock.

“Twin Peaks” is also nicely demonstrative of this medium, seeing a verse that alternates between aptly implemented chirps of guitar and bursts of distortion before going into an exotic infusion of woodwinds and guitars backed by festival-like ambiance. The fact that Surfer Blood are able to involve both of these conceptual ideas within mere seconds of one another is very impressive and it is easily one of Astrocoast’s biggest strengths. “Fast Jabroni” recalls the fuzzy dance-punk of the late ’80s with its backing synths and excellent bridge, which uses cleverly engineered snippets of guitar arpeggios and strings to piece together a joyous chorus that exposes Pitts’ vocals in the best light possible. The guitar solo toward the end of the track brings us back to the days of quality ’90s power-pop, before the time Weezer transformed from indie-rock heroes to monetarily desperate cash cows taking advantage of their own status to release pathetic music and manipulate dedicated fans in the process. The prominent synths along with Pitts’ chirpy vocals would have allowed this to site well on Donnie Darko’s soundtrack, where influences like Echo & the Bunnymen and The Church showcased the precursor to an effort like this in the background of rebellious and misdirected youth. There is a sort of concurrent wisdom and youthfulness found in Surfer Blood’s work and it serves as a rare factor that will undoubtedly separate them from the masses.

Other highlights on Astrocoast include “Harmonix”, easily the best psychedelic-geared effort on the album with its droning guitars and reverbed harmonics (as one would assume by the name), and “Take It Easy”, which brilliantly infuses fiddles and plucked staccatos to introduce an ingeniously calming chorus that summarizes this group’s feel-good vibes in more ways than one. There are so many sheer successes on Astrocoast that it is hard not to chalk it down as one of 2009’s best debuts. Their fusion of surf-rock and indie-rock has been attempted recently by groups like The Drums and Holiday Shores with some degree of success, but Surfer Blood appear to be doing it the best so far.

RIYL: The Drums, The Explorers Club, Holiday Shores, Girls, Fool’s Gold, Little Joy, Weezer, The School

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Surfer Blood – Take It Easy

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Surfer Blood – Harmonix

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Surfer Blood – Fast Jabroni

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