Why are all great rock/indie bands.....

[slippyknees]

.....British? Really. Think about it and try making a list. There's a million of them from the '60s til now.

The reason for this thread is to mention just how unbelievably great these three bands are. If you like Steve Reich, XTC, Steely Dan, and more importantly perhaps, intelligent "indie rock", check them out:

The Week That Was - amazing listen. Listening as I type. Start with "The Airport Line".

Field Music - start with Tones of Town.

School of Language - start with "Poor Boy". This guy played everything I believe (for the most part). Makes me want to put my instruments away.

All 3 bands consist of the same 2 brothers that have so much talent / creative ideas that it's honestly a little sickening.

Fan boy you say? Sure am. These records are just amazing. Saw them live a year or so ago and they sound exactly the same live.

Any other good bands in this vein you guys/gals are listening to?

[loudboy]

You need to check out the Finn Brothers.

Altho they're Kiwis, there's not really a better "Brit-pop" talent than Neil, working in the past decade or two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWDlwo8uI5E

Even Paul McCartney agrees...

Tim is cool, too. More quirky.

[kludge]

Don't make me list off 100 great and important AMERICAN indie bands.

I think I'll just say "Velvet Underground", since you want to start in the 60s...

[JazzHessian]

Originally Posted by kludge

Don't make me list off 100 great and important AMERICAN indie bands.

I think I'll just say "Velvet Underground", since you want to start in the 60s...

This.

[Ulysses]

I've always felt the British have run circles around us with creativity in modern rock. Great stuff from over there, especially in the past 6 years.

[hw2nw]

Originally Posted by kludge

Don't make me list off 100 great and important AMERICAN indie bands.

I think I'll just say "Velvet Underground", since you want to start in the 60s...

agreed!

what letter of the alphabet should I start at? :RoCkIn

[PosterBoy]

I like so many more US bands than UK bands.

[ben_allison]

...I think many of the best "Indie" acts are Canadian!

Broken Social Scene, Holy F&@K, Do Say Make Think, Arcade Fire, Stars, The Stills, New Pornographers, Godspeed You Black Emperor, etc...

There's great indie music to be found everywhere!

Sufjan Stevens tops the list for me.

[slippyknees]

Guys,
I was in no way saying there aren't great bands from all around the globe....my original post was meant to be more of a, "Isn't it insane to think of all the great musicians we all love and are influenced by....and the majority are British." Just a weird coincidence. Sort of a Seinfeld, "Who...are...these...people?" Of course there are other bands from other areas but when you think of the most influential, heavy hitters, they tend to all be British.

I think America has really offered Blues and Jazz to the world (which is huge and largely influential) and that's our big claim to fame but when it comes to groundbreaking, time tested artists in rock - on average - they all seem to come from overseas. While I love the Velvet Underground too, you mean to tell me they are as influential as the Beatles, early Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Yes, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Clapton, The Who, Pink Floyd, insert other great artist/band/guitar player here________, etc..., etc...., etc....? They seem to have a narrower appeal.

That's all I'm saying. This is just a general observation, not meant to be a pissing contest about who's the all time best!

Oh, and all the bands mentioned by other posters I love as well! Neil Finn is one of my all time heros and "One All" (or "One Nil" depending on where you live) is in my top 5 favorite records of all time. Arcade Fire, etc..all amazing bands.

Word.

[shane88]

Originally Posted by kludge

Don't make me list off 100 great and important AMERICAN indie bands.

I think I'll just say "Velvet Underground", since you want to start in the 60s...

+ add the stooges, doors, mc5, new york dolls, patti smith, ramones, talking heads, blondie, dead kennedys, pixies, nirvana............ (a few off the top of my head)

[slippyknees]

Guys,
Again I'll say, I'm not trying to turn this into a pissing contest about how great American or Canadian bands are - of course there are good bands from everywhere. It's more of a simple observation of, wow, aren't there a lot of British musicians who are good. Period. Simple as that. (Yet, there will still be 5 new posts today arguing that, "Now wait a minute, there's this band from Mars and this band from Nova Scotia who rock, and don't forget about ______." I get it and am in full agreement with you. That said, I'm only noting that there seems to be a disproportionate amount of amazing British musicians over the course of pop music's history. I don't think anyone could seriously argue that over the course of pop/rock/indie music history ('60s til now) that there have been tons and tons of Canadian artists worth noting (until about the past 5 years) - am I wrong?

I guess I've should known better on a site where folks will argue to the death about which amp, guitar, pedal, etc... is the ultimate, best, most amazing thing ever, better than yours.....

[blood5150]

When I hear the words Indie Rock I think of Fugazi.

What does Indie Rock even mean anymore?

[jcground]

Originally Posted by slippyknees

It's more of a simple observation of, wow, aren't there a lot of British musicians who are good. Period....

That's a fair statement, which I agree with fully. In fact, many of my favorite bands ever (eg: The Beatles, The Who, and on and on) are from the UK.

However, your original post said, "Why are all great rock/indie bands British?" That's exactly the sort of statement designed to start arguments. People have simply taken the bait and argued that your original statement is incorrect.

[blood5150]

Oh... and Pavement is a great american indie rock band!

[bostonwal]

I totally agree with the OP that MOST of the POPULAR/ICONIC rock bands over time clearly have come from the UK - The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, etc. But the OP's OP was not about the iconic bands, it was about new bands that aren't household names. That's where an argument can be made.

The US blows away everyone with Jazz, Blues, R&B, and Soul icons. I disagree with the poster that Jazz and Blues are "largely influential." Jazz and Blues are the evolutionary precursor to Rock - that's a hell of a lot more than "largely influential." The 2 and 4 beat went from the hihat in Jazz to the snare in Rock. And believe me, the evolution occurred through drums and the beat, certainly not guitar.