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Indie Pop is a broad style of Pop. Is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. Characterized by lighthearted melodies, general rock instrumentation and its overall “authentic” approach and although it shares many characteristics with its stylistic counterpart Indie Rock, Indie Pop differs in that it features a more melodic and accessible sound with catchier production and does not strictly confine itself from rock idioms.
The genre originated from British Post-Punk and developed in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the rise of Post-Punk. Subsequently generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. The major tradition within that is based around guitars and personal lyrics, and this style has been adopted by many groups signed to major labels as well. Compared to its counterpart, Indie Rock, the genre is more melodic, less abrasive and relatively angst-free.
The term Indie Pop was coined to describe bands on independent labels that embraced a more melodic, less abrasive and pop-oriented sound inspired by the 1960s while still retaining the DIY and stripped-back approach of Punk. These early branches of overtly melodic Indie Pop would subsequently become known as Twee Pop and C86, which was a categorization of early Indie Pop named after the 1986 NME compilation cassette of the same name, C86.
Early Indie Pop pioneers include Television Personalities, Dolly Mixture and the Australian band The Go-Betweens. Labels such as Rough Trade Records, Cherry Red Records and 4AD Records all played a key role in the development of Indie Pop. The Smiths would become one of indie pop’s most important and successful bands and helped popularize the genre.
In the 1990s, Indie Pop further adopted alternative rock influences and slowly deviated from its initial post-punk influences. However, some artists would be against these stylistic changes and instead reincorporated the lush and polished sounds of 1960s Lounge, Sunshine Pop and Baroque Pop, creating the sound known as Chamber Pop.
In the 2000s, Indie Pop would continue to embrace more influences and would peak in mainstream success. Bands such as The Postal Service and of Montreal expanded the genre’s influences as they combined the melodicism of indie pop with Indietronica. In the 2010s and onwards, online-based indie artists such as Mac DeMarco and Sidney Gish would record their music outside of a traditional studio environment which has created the subsequent Bedroom Pop genre and online subculture.
In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings.
sources: discogs, wikipedia, rateyourmusic
