Indie Pop Genre

Where it all began:


Indie Pop is a sub-genre of Alternative Rock, and is also similar to the Post Punk genre.  It originated in the United Kingdom in the 1980’s. The most dominant alternative rock/indie pop band of the 80’s was The Smiths, who recorded their debut album ‘The Smiths’ in 1984. 

From this music video, ‘This Charming Man’ it is clear of the traditional (and modern day) characteristics of the indie pop genre. The musical and instrumental components of the indie pop genre are strongly highlighted in this video. There are several close ups of the instruments that the band uses; guitars, drums and lead vocals. Their style seems very cool, collected and individual. This was the birth of the Indie Pop genre.

    
21st Century:

Most Indie Pop bands today are; young, fresh and more experimental than the 80’s. But this doesn’t mean to say that they have completely changed from the traditional conventions of 80’s indie pop. The general image of indie pop today is; bold, bright, individual, colourful and very experimental.

This music video ‘The Kooks - She moves in her own way’ is a prime example of the indie pop genre, plus how it has adapted from the 80’s. The band looks very individual with their style, and there are several shots of the instruments used in the band; guitars, drums, vocals. Very similar to the instruments that The Smiths used, which shows how influential they were for the genre. The Kooks also follow the typical conventions of the indie pop genre of being playful, youthful, fun and quite innocent.           

From this research I have learnt the different elements of indie pop such as; individual style has a big part to play in this genre, and that their attitudes like being playful and energetic are also influential. This is something to focus on when producing our own music video as it will help us to understand certain aspects to the indie pop genre which we will need to include in our video.