Event

SoR Bellevue Adult Program Presents: A Tribute to Indie Rock

Indie Rock emerged as a genre in the 1980s as a response to the highly polished music of the '70s and '80s. The origin of the Indie movement can be traced back to the year of 1977 when the Buzzcocks self-published their Spiral Scratch EP. The bands rejection of the typically major label-generated approach to the recording and distribution of music earned them their independent, or indie, status. As other bands adopted the Buzzcocks DIY ethos, the movement grew, and Indie Rock came to describe a particular sound that came from small post-punk labels of the early 1980s. In the '80s, bands like REM, Pixies, and The Meat Puppets were known for putting musical experimentation before commercial goals, and gained popularity through college radio. In contrast with the synth-heavy pop music of the day, those Indie bands continued the emphasis on guitar that earlier Rock and Punk music popularized. In the '90s, the influence of Grunge helped usher in an era of commercialization in the Alternative genre. After many influential Indie acts achieved great commercial success, Indie soon began to describe artists who clung to their independent status and refused to sell-out. The music industry began to market any music that embraced a retro, guitar-centric sound as Indie as well. Through the 2000s, groups like the White Stripes, Jet, and The Strokes released garage-twinged music that received a massive amount of radioplay.