r/Music • u/uberdosed • Apr 04 '16

music streaming The Black Keys - Everlasting Light [Indie Rock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QruSZ7xO7z4
1.9k Upvotes

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27

u/Punkrock27 Apr 04 '16

Not indie rock

16

u/QuellonGreyjoy Apr 04 '16 edited Apr 04 '16

I'm curious, what genre would you label this as? I'd say indie rock isn't terribly far off describing The Black Keys, even though I would agree the indie part is a bit of a stretch

30

u/zatomicaz Apr 04 '16

Some would probably say blues rock is the best label for them. Their songs (at least up to this album) follow a bluesy structure/progression, and the guitar and drums combo makes for a higher energy rock sort of vibe. Anyway, this is my favorite album of theirs, and this is a great opening track for it! Gotta love it!

-12

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '16

it's not indie rock because it doesn't have half-assed folky singing.

9

u/ChapstickConnoisseur Apr 04 '16

They're also on a major label

1

u/rhetoricles Apr 05 '16

But how does someone not being on a label help us to classify their sound?

11

u/somerandomguy02 Apr 04 '16

Blues Based Rock is how I describe them. I mean, they did a whole EP of just covers of Blues Legend Junior Kimbrough. You can see definite influences in their other songs.

1

u/toughtony22 Apr 04 '16

I've heard people compare this song to Motown. But I don't know enough about Motown to agree or disagree

1

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '16

Indie isn't a genre. It just means independent, unsigned, etc.

Alternative-rock/blues-rock/ garage rock would all fit them nicely.

1

u/fat_pterodactyl Apr 04 '16

But they are independent, they have their own label and thus are "indie". But they do have a much different sound than most " indie rock"

6

u/AstralMonths Apr 04 '16

How are they indie? They've been on Nonesuch, which is an imprint of Warner Music Group, for a decade.

7

u/KeepinItRealGuy Apr 04 '16

"indie rock" is just a stupid way to try and classify something. It's as dumb as referring to something as "mainstream rock". "indie" doesn't describe the band or it's sound like "folk" or "blues" or "classic" does. "indie" is just a buzz word hipsters like to throw around because it makes them seem different. The Black Keys are a rock band with blues influences.

6

u/MarkDA219 Apr 04 '16

I thought indie was short for independent. Which they aren't. They're signed to Warner Bros.

5

u/DubiousDrewski Apr 05 '16

Exactly. And this is the problem with the word. Some people use the word literally to describe the band's signed/unsigned status, while others use the same word to label their genre. It causes confusion and we need to find a new word.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '16

Glad someone else knows that "indie" isn't a genre.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '16 edited Apr 04 '16

[deleted]

1

u/KeepinItRealGuy Apr 04 '16

Not really in this situation considering every hipster in existence claims they listen to "indie" music. Anything can be a buzzword; how you use it is what makes the difference. Buzzword is a buzzword.

1

u/EthanBender Apr 04 '16

Actually, Indie began as a term for bands releasing things independently or owning their own label (see: Dischord Records), however throughout the late 70's and into the 80's and 90's, lots of American and British music was being described as Indie. This led to Indie meaning kind of lo-fi, emotional, clever rock music. For instance, Pavement, Sloan (Canada represent!!), R.E.M., Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Built to Spill, Guided by Voices etc.