Music Banter - View Single Post - Young alternative/indie bands that sound similar to bands from the 80s/90s/00s

RJDG14 · 06-17-2017, 04:56 PM

I chose to have a browse around iTunes to see what current alternative/indie music I like, and couldn't find much, even though I like most equivalent music from the 90s and early 00s. I'll highlight the differences between typical songs by bands from the 90s/00s and bands from now:

Typical 80s, 90s and Early 00s alternative: (think of The Smiths, R.E.M., early Foo Fighters, Oasis, Ride and Idlewild)

Utilises hooks and fairly conventional chord progression and a steady rhythm, reminant of more melodic punk and post-punk
In most cases utilises guitars, drums and bass, with keyboard on some songs. You can usually hear what's what
Most songs have a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/instrumental/bridge or verse/chorus stucture
Vocals are typically sung in an American or British accent with a varying tone; double-tracking is fairly common, and on post-1997 stuff, subtle pitch correction is fairly common too, though neither are used heavily
Almost all albums will have subtle instrument performance errors occasionally, such as an instrument being a split second out

Typical 2017 alternative: (think of Imagine Dragons, Arcade Fire, newer Kaiser Chiefs, Queens Of The Stone Age)

Hooks are less common, chord progression tends to be more unusual and less predictable, and many songs utilise an unsteady rhythm that changes throughout the song
Still utilises guitar, drums and bass, but they've become more toned down and blended in the mix, making it hard to tell what's an instrument and what's a synth
Like melodies, song structure has become more unusual, which I don't like - it makes songs a lot harder to follow
Vocals have become more heavily doctored, often being quite nazel or dribbly and abruptly changing between whatever note the song is on. I don't mind subtle AutoTune, like what was common in the early 00s, but it's become a lot more obvious on most stuff (or have singing accents simply evolved like regular accents do?)
Instrument errors are much rarer, probably due to correction technology that is now employed

So what I'd like to know is what some modern, fairly young, bands are that sound more like the 80s/90s/00s examples I gave (the bullet points, not the band examples)? There was one I encountered called Total Babes (in particular their song We'll Come Around), but any others? I'd just like to know because most of the current bands do nothing for me, and I want to know some modern music that I can relate to.

06-17-2017, 04:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
RJDG14 Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 157	Young alternative/indie bands that sound similar to bands from the 80s/90s/00s I chose to have a browse around iTunes to see what current alternative/indie music I like, and couldn't find much, even though I like most equivalent music from the 90s and early 00s. I'll highlight the differences between typical songs by bands from the 90s/00s and bands from now: Typical 80s, 90s and Early 00s alternative: (think of The Smiths, R.E.M., early Foo Fighters, Oasis, Ride and Idlewild) Utilises hooks and fairly conventional chord progression and a steady rhythm, reminant of more melodic punk and post-punk In most cases utilises guitars, drums and bass, with keyboard on some songs. You can usually hear what's what Most songs have a verse/chorus/verse/chorus/instrumental/bridge or verse/chorus stucture Vocals are typically sung in an American or British accent with a varying tone; double-tracking is fairly common, and on post-1997 stuff, subtle pitch correction is fairly common too, though neither are used heavily Almost all albums will have subtle instrument performance errors occasionally, such as an instrument being a split second out Typical 2017 alternative: (think of Imagine Dragons, Arcade Fire, newer Kaiser Chiefs, Queens Of The Stone Age) Hooks are less common, chord progression tends to be more unusual and less predictable, and many songs utilise an unsteady rhythm that changes throughout the song Still utilises guitar, drums and bass, but they've become more toned down and blended in the mix, making it hard to tell what's an instrument and what's a synth Like melodies, song structure has become more unusual, which I don't like - it makes songs a lot harder to follow Vocals have become more heavily doctored, often being quite nazel or dribbly and abruptly changing between whatever note the song is on. I don't mind subtle AutoTune, like what was common in the early 00s, but it's become a lot more obvious on most stuff (or have singing accents simply evolved like regular accents do?) Instrument errors are much rarer, probably due to correction technology that is now employed So what I'd like to know is what some modern, fairly young, bands are that sound more like the 80s/90s/00s examples I gave (the bullet points, not the band examples)? There was one I encountered called Total Babes (in particular their song We'll Come Around), but any others? I'd just like to know because most of the current bands do nothing for me, and I want to know some modern music that I can relate to. Last edited by RJDG14; 06-17-2017 at 05:22 PM.