Things I should've listened to already (Indie? edition)

Right, so I have confusion regarding why indie is considered a genre. I figure it should mean that the artist is "independent" and publishes their music with no help from a label. So I don't understand at what point did we collectively decide it should define a certain type of sound. Never understood that. In addition some "indie" musicians actually have labels. Just don't get it. Not that I dislike any of it. Just putting that out there. Anyway here are a bunch of things I really should've listened to before now, all of I have heard referred to as indie.

Arcade Fire - Funeral

            See here's an example, these guys are referred to as indie but are HUGE now. Hell the song above hs been popular for awhile and it came off of their FIRST album. But more to the point HOW HAVE I NOT LISTENED TO THIS YET WHAT AM I DOING. Oh well. To be honest I wasn't a huge fan of it, maybe it was just al of the hype or maybe it's just because I haven't listened to it enough times yet. There just wasn't anything in particular to draw me in. I would almost call it bland. Hopefully I'll come around to it eventually so I can see what the fuss is. But so far everything just sounds very average to me.




Andrew Jackson Jihad - People Who Can Eat People are the Luckiest People in the World

           These guys are more folky I'd say, but I rather liked this album. Had a pretty unique sound, was rather short which is actually something I liked. Not every album needs to be an hour long. The lyrics were enjoyable and were quite clever in some parts. The singer had a very unique voice, which clearly cuts out on purpose at some points, which actually helps the emotional aspects of the songs. Overall I really enjoyed these guys.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not

       Also described as indie but I would say they're more punk rock. I heard their sound changes as you go through the albums so maybe they get more indie. Irrelevant though, I loved this stuff. I haven't heard a good, interesting punk sound in awhile. It's just pure punk sounding, aggressive and whatnot, and the lyrics are catchy as hell. Now as an indie band and what they typically stand for, somber artistic lyrics and an experimental alt rock feel, not quite good. But as a punk rock album with a few twists here and there with a great vocalist and instrumentation as well, it exceeds most punk bands. It takes whats fun about punk, cuts the boring crap, and fills it with their own touches of crazy sounds and vocals. Few punk albums make me want to dance.

Remember when I talked about zombies?