The only good indie song of the 2000s, according to Noel Gallagher: “That wins hands down”
The world of rock and roll has always thrived off of the underground. Even though many people claim that they are only looking to have their names in lights and be the centre of attention at all times, some of the greatest artists of their generation are those who kept a low profile and made sure to play down their celebrity status at every opportunity. While the most interesting artists of the modern era have come from the indie scene, Noel Gallagher always had a tough time trying to figure out what constituted a good underground band.
That is, if the “underground” band wasn’t named Oasis. As much as the Manchester legends didn’t sound like any type of left-of-the-dial group, they had still started on the same record label that had artists like Primal Scream on it, so it’s not like they were ready to take on the world on a major label the same way that The Beatles were on their first major releases.
But by the time that the late 1990s kicked in, it was clear that Noel had outgrown the label of an “indie” band. He had been playing in stadiums around the world, and even if he considered his group to be somewhat under the radar compared to everyone else, there was no way for him to have underground cred when he was playing massive stadiums like Knebworth at the same time.
Once the band eventually moved to Big Brother, though, the tone of Noel’s music started to shift as well. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants was always going to be a transitional album after the mad excess of Be Here Now, but listening to the rest of the indie scene going forward, the focus had started to shift from the stadium-rock that ‘The Chief’ was used to and more towards a simple garage-rock approach.
The White Stripes had already broken down that door in the late 1990s, but thanks to bands like The Strokes, the next phase of rock and roll was bringing out the same attitude of rock and roll with a punk-rock approach. If The Strokes was the equivalent of punk rock, though, Frans Ferdinand may as well have been Talking Heads, complete with the same stuttering guitar parts that made David Byrne’s first hits so good.
While Noel didn’t care for much of the other indie music coming out in the mid-2000s, he knew a good hit when he heard one once Franz Ferdinand ended up soaring up the charts, saying, “Within that realm of indie s***, Franz Ferdinand is about as good as it gets. ‘Take Me Out’ is a tune that wins hands down but, really, it’s f****** indie rubbish.”
But listening to that wave of rock and roll, it was clear that the window for that kind of indie rock was closing fast. The White Stripes would only be together for a few more years, and after discovering psychedelic textures, Noel would even find time to work on his own indie projects when making his solo records following Oasis’s split.
A lot of what was coming out may have been absolute trash to Noel’s ears, but it also might have to do with the different approaches to the genre. Indie music has always been about doing whatever you felt suited the song, but if bands like Kaiser Chiefs weren’t doing it for Noel, he knew the next best thing would be for him to make something that felt like looking through a musical kaleidoscope.
