For me, indie rock's golden era was the 90s. I see 00s more as a decade of the revival of post punk & new wave even though that's when indie rock really came popular. Although I guess you could and should see a continuum between these decades with lofi aesthetics and the attitude towards singing and playing. On the other hand, 00s indie was much more danceable than in the 90s. But still 00s was more recycling than finding new ideas compared to 90s if u ask me. For me, the most original artists of 00s were Ariel Pink, Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors who really came up with something new. But would you call them indie? I don't know.
And by the way, there is one band that to me seems like a sort of forerunner of how things turned out in the 00s. The Make-Up. A truely awesome DC band (released by K Records & Dischord) that's somehow been almost forgotten. They were active in the latter half of the 90s and really present all the best qualities of what indie rock has been in the new millenium: danceable, retro, dirty, funky, crazy, fun. I wonder if they were a big influence for the Strokes. I wouldn't be surprised.
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