What, exactly, was indie sleaze?
Even as a six-year-old, I can distinctly remember the buzz surrounding The Strokes’ debut album Is This It, and I have a pretty strong memory of bouncing around the living room every time ‘Last Nite’ would get replayed on MTV – which was a lot. Yes, a child of that age should have been more preoccupied with trading Pokémon cards, but I’ve frankly always been more about guitar noise than Blastoise.
While I was enjoying the products of the scene, what I might not have been aware of at the time was the wider phenomenon of ‘indie sleaze’, the ways in which it would go on to impact music industry trends at the time, or what it even meant. It’s remained in the rock lexicon since the early 2000s, and currently appears to be undergoing something of a resurgence at the moment, but the definitions of the term have never really been clear or tangible. For a phrase that sounds so pejorative, it’s used as a label when discussing the most distinguished acts as well as those that people might consider to be a flash in the pan – so what exactly is it referring to?
It’s evident that ‘indie sleaze’ covers more than just the music, though often there is a certain scuzziness to the sound that the most noteworthy acts under its broad umbrella create. Vocalists from the early period often sang with a nonplussed drawl that screamed, ‘I am too cool to even be doing this’, and the guitars were simply lifted from the slacker rock of the previous decade but with a little more peppiness sprinkled on top.
But it wasn’t just guitar bands like The Strokes, The Libertines or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs who were being labelled as such. LCD Soundsystem were ‘indie sleaze’. Crystal Castles were ‘indie sleaze’. Even day-glo-clad nu-ravers, the Klaxons, were ‘indie sleaze’. It became unclear after the initial wave of post-punk revival (another gloriously loose catch-all) what it meant to be identified by the term, and a whole host of artists were beginning to get the derogatory-sounding description levelled at them.
So, where did indie sleaze come from?
Since its appeal went beyond the realms of the music itself, one thing that did appear to be a common bond between the disparate acts was the fashion sense. It wasn’t uniform, and it wasn’t trying to be – it simply had an attitude that appeared to prioritise putting on the first item of clothing found in one’s wardrobe rather than carefully cultivating a specific look. Yet, the look was intentional and was carefully thought out by many who followed the trend. It was almost celebrating individualism in the most unceremonious of ways – both wishing to preserve a sense of anonymity while craving attention at the same time.
It’s probably fair to say that the phrase ‘indie sleaze’ represents a movement rather than the actual sound of the acts that were categorised as such, much like ‘punk’ had its own malleable parameters set for it in prior generations. The desire to present in a way that shows defiance of the cultural zeitgeist and generate an alternative subculture was perhaps the bigger driving force behind the term rather than there being any necessity to operate under one musical umbrella. However, much like punk did before, its anti-mainstream ethos evaporated as the indie sleaze style became commonplace. You knew it was becoming a big deal when every fucker that started a band in the mid-2000s thought they were Julian Casablancas.
While its presence began to dwindle around the same time as NME started to see its print circulation decline rapidly due to the cyclical nature of music and trends, it is now back in the public consciousness, and its boundaries are as blurry as ever. The most notable act having the ‘indie sleaze’ tag bestowed upon him in the present era is The Dare, whose charity shop suit and shades, electroclash worship and unabashedly horny lyrics seem to be striking a chord, particularly among impressionable and image-conscious youngsters.
In many ways, The Dare defines it more clearly than what came before because he’s collected and effectively parodied the key tropes. If the song sounds like it wouldn’t be averse to a Vodka Red Bull at lunch and the aesthetic of the artist follows suit, then it’s indie sleaze, regardless of the instrumentation. In short, there just has to be a sort of upbeat, drunken swagger and angular carelessness to it. Roxy Music, for instance, might be sleazy and may well have established indie as we know it, but Bryan Ferry is far too classy and refined to be considered the progenitor.
When was indie sleaze first coined?
The concept and style may have existed from the start of the 2000s, but the term ‘indie sleaze’ is a neologism that only came into widespread usage in 2021. Like many trends popular among Gen Z and Alpha individuals, the style began to make a comeback through TikTokers, becoming fascinated by its distinctive aesthetic and replicating it with a modern twist. Subsequently, an Instagram account called @indiesleaze started to gain traction for its dedication to posting images and reels of the style, with both examples from the original era and the ‘20s incarnation being featured.
And, like all trends, it will inevitably run its course in the near future when the next interpretation of an older style gets exhumed from the cultural graveyard to have another moment in the limelight. It’s unclear how long it will have a stranglehold on the music industry on its second go, but ‘indie sleaze’ does appear to be back for now, whatever it is.
Which artists would be considered quintessential indie sleaze?
- The Strokes
- The Libertines
- The White Stripes
- Interpol
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- MGMT
- Klaxons
- LCD Soundsystem
- Franz Ferdinand
- The Rapture
- The Dandy Warhols
- CSS
- Bloc Party
- Justice
- Crystal Castles
- Peaches
