A Chronological History Of Epic Indie Angst

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

One for each year pls. I feel this will lead to a socio-cultural roadmap of adolescent alienation from the late twentieth century to the present day, innit. Go back as far as you can. The word "indie" is not as important as the words "epic" or "angst" - bohemian, emo, freak, all these will do fine.

To start with:

1986 - The Smiths - "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
1992 - Manic Street Preachers - "Motorcycle Emptiness"
2006 - My Chemical Romance - "Welcome To The Black Parade"

GO!

(Inspired in a roundabout way by the latest Popular entry)

Comments

[cis.livejournal.com]

1995 - Radiohead - "Lucky"

(or, indeed, smashing pumpkins - "tonight, tonight" :D)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Legacy is a good call.

Do not underestimate scorned teenage girls

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

1996 also = Weak by Skunk Anansie!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

1997 - Verve - 'Druqks Don't Work'?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

My hunch is that this was too massive to qualify. I am wondering if something off of IF YR FEELING SINISTER would be better - but is that always epic enough HMM.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

1982 - The Associates - "Party Fears Two"

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

2001- Linkin Park, 'In The End' (a song I really quite dislike but it was bloody everywhere)

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

1984 - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (yes, I know you've done the Smiths once, but if any band deserves two slots here it's them)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think what I'm after is - if you were a sensitive but not obscurantist 15 year old in [year x], what might you have put on yr PENCIL CASE. (so in that case maybe the Verve 'works').

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Ohhhhhh why didn't you say! 1997 would be Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson, in that case.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

I had Hanson stickers on my pencil case, but I don't suppose they count. I Will Come To You is very epic though!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Something by Muse in 1999.

See my long-standing argument that Tori Amos is Not Indie is totally proven by this b/c nothing she's done would remotely qualify for this compilation. Ditto PJ Harvey!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

ie they are what I put on my pencilcase but no one else really.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Courtney shd probably make an appearance though.

Anyway all you're proving is that they're not epic enough.

[damnspynovels.livejournal.com]

I think Everything Must Go or A Design For Life is more epic than Motorcycle Emptiness. I think they were both 1996

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

BUT a lot less indie in a way - cf my verve argument.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

can i have "Inspiral Carpets - Two Worlds Collide"

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

1992

[epicharmus.livejournal.com]

I say John's Children's "Smashed Blocked" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vDOY8Ga9wc) (1966) counts retroactively.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

aw, was marc in them at that point, or not? he doesn't seem to be in that video...

[epicharmus.livejournal.com]

1990: Sebadoh, "As the World Dies, the Eyes of God Grow Bigger"

Not sure if this is angst so much as rank psychosis. Indie, though! (nb: not a "representative" Sebadoh song.)

[epicharmus.livejournal.com]

More sensitive option, same year:

1990: Sebadoh, "Spoiled"

[cis.livejournal.com]

my real actual 15-year-old (maybe sixteen?) epic indie angst record of choice is ALL of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's 'Madonna' album but maybe this is not strings-and-soaring enough?

that's 1999 - ...aywkubttod - "clair de lune"

[cis.livejournal.com]

or maybe this is too obscurantist? i can't really think of any soaring epic nu-metal tracks, not even heartwarming folksong 'wait and bleed' ('99) or lighters-aloft singalong 'spiders' ('98) have quite the right feel to them.

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

I hated it loads, and will gladly nominate The House of Love's Destroy The Heart for 1988, and REM's The One I Love from 1987 (the end of the time when they were considered indie). I'll also say that when it comes to EPIC angst, then the key Smiths track is surely I Know It's Over, no?
And then there's I'm Straight by The Modern Lovers, which I guess dates from around '72 in its various forms, but wasn't released until years later.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

GOOD SPOT on the One I Love. I thought of Destroy T'Heart too of course.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

spearmint, though indie cubed, didn't do proper angst in their succesful singles, but can i have Sweeping The Nation anyway. 1997

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

You might as well include HEFNER in that case.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

I bet there's lots of angst and adolescent alienation in '50s do-wop, but recording limits at the time probably prevented any true epics.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

1990: Inspiral Carpets - 'This Is How It Feels'
1993: Suede - 'Animal Nitrate'
1997: Placebo - 'Nancy Boy'
2000: JJ72 - 'October Swimmer'