Far Out 40: A 2000s indie nostalgia playlist – the songs you forgot you loved
Those halcyon days of our 2000s indie youth sometimes seem lightyears away amid pub chat about mortgage rates and other interminable ball aches. Then comes a blast from the past that snaps the synapses into a state of stupefied nostalgia. With the brain suddenly manufacturing the scent of Lynx Africa and smoke machines, you bask in the memories of your feet sticking to some sick-stained carpet like the wrapper of a warm Chewit. You sweep your draped fringe across your pimple-covered forehead and nod away to The Rakes as you gag your way through the latest of three treble vodkas that you purchased for a fiver.
Sometimes, these libertine days seem too carefree to even reconcile in our current stressed-out retrospect. This was an era when The View accidentally ousted themselves as the least rock ‘n’ roll band around for proclaiming to have worn the same jeans for a mere four days. All the while, you sweated into the same ‘Your Tent or Mine’ t-shirt from Topman for an endless, hazy lark without ever feeling the pang of banking app dread as £40 miraculously stretched out for a week, and your phone battery never once faltered.
The music of the era reflected this reverie. The genre of scatty indie tunes arrived before the economic crash of 2007, so it was fuelled by the booming cheap boozing party culture. People wanted to thrash about in the good times that lay ahead. Of course, there were some political issues, but in the UK, things seemed relatively summery to a factor of 50 degrees compared to today’s shivering winter of discontent. Bring on the tales of sleeping on sofas and to hell with spiritualism is what the songwriters of the day exclaimed.
That explains why it was so frenzied, but what about the sound itself? Well, in the 1990s, British bands rebelled against the synth sedation of the slick 1980s with a throwback to the past. Combining the swagger of emerging hip hop and its vivid sense of place, with The Beatles and other riffing rock bands, Britpop laid down the marker that glam and keytars were a futurist folly fit for the bin yuppies with no place in the beer-swigging reality of the grind. However, venturing into the past began to feel like a pastiche, and once that fizzled out, the kids wanted to inject something fresh into the regeneration of guitar music. They fell upon the jagged, punk riffing of fast guitars.
This created an explosion of new bands. Suddenly, there was a very singular and unified scene. Before the internet split this into little microcosms and moved them all into guarded corners of the internet, there was a need to fit into the zeitgeist around you. Therefore, a similar sound flourished in every indie bar around. Now, when you look back, there are simply certain notes and guitar tones that zap you right back to your youth.
Thus, we have compiled a list of the tracks you forgot you once loved. Lost somewhere on an old iPod Nano, these were the anthems of your youth that have been subsumed in the sands of time by changing tastes, deleted brain cells, and in some cases, a regrettable bit of embarrassment. We say there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Some of these songs might seem facile, but who really cared for whining spiritualism as you scuttled under smoking area barricades to evade bouncers and spilt luminous drinks down your shirt? These were simpler times with simpler songs, that’s all.
The 2000s indie nostalgia playlist:
- ‘An Honest Mistake’ – The Bravery
- ‘Amylase’ – Cajun Dance Party
- ‘Suzie’ – Boy Kill Boy
- ’22 Grand Job’ – The Rakes
- ‘No Tomorrow’ – Orson
- ‘You! Me! Dancing!’ – Los Campesinos!
- ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance’ – Black Kids
- ‘Your English is Good’ – Tokyo Police Club
- ‘Get Free’ – The Vines
- ‘Knots’ – Pete and the Pirates
- ‘The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth’ – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
- ‘Six Queens’ – Larakin Love
- ‘Panic Attack’ – The Paddingtons
- ‘Once & Never Again’ – The Long Blondes
- ‘Girls and Boys in Love’ – The Rumble Strips
- ‘Man I Hate Your Band’ – Little Man Tate
- ‘Generator’ – The Holloways
- ‘Too Late, Too Late’ – Mr Hudson
- ‘Borders’ – The Sunshine Underground
- ‘What Will You Do (When the Money Goes)’ – The Milburn
- ‘My Delirium’ – Ladyhawke
- ‘Men’s Needs’ – The Cribs
- ‘Hounds of Love’ – The Futureheads
- ‘Dry Lips’ – Lightspeed Champion
- ‘Sometimesitsbetter…’ – Hot Club de Paris
- ‘A New England’ – Jamie T
- ‘She’s Got You High’ – Mumm-ra
- ‘Golden Skans’ – Klaxons
- ‘Bandages’ – Hot Hot Heat
- ‘Pogo’ – Digitalism
- ‘Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above’ – CSS
- ‘Here It Goes Again’ – OK GO
- ‘Great DJ’ – The Ting Tings
- ‘Torn on the Platform’ – Jack Peñate
- ‘Terra Firma’ – Young Knives
- ‘This is our Emergency’ – Pretty Girls Make Graves
- ‘Ever So Shy’ – General Fiasco
- ‘The Great Escape’ – The Rifles
- ‘War of the Worlds’ – Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
- ‘Cash Machine’ – Hard-Fi
