The 10 greatest riffs of the indie boom
In the days of classic rock, when bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Black Sabbath dominated the airwaves, a riff was a call to arms. A genre born out of rebellion, drenched in noise, energy and chaos, the riff at the beginning of a rock song was an immediate identifier for fans, something to let them know they’re in safe hands and are about to experience great music.
Don’t be mistaken—rock lives on, but it’s no longer the prominent genre that it once was. While at one point it was the biggest style of music in the world, it’s now divided into various subsections, creating an array of guitar music that appeals to different people. Even in the dissection of rock music, though, the riff lives on.
In the 2000s and 2010s, we experienced the indie boom. Much like the Big Bang, no one really knows where it came from, how it happened, or when we will stop experiencing its effects, but it happened. The result was an emergence of bands with a very distinctive tone, the stuff of singalong dominating the charts and, kicking every track off, more iconic riffs.
The riffs of the indie boom feel slightly different to those experienced in rock, as they’re a bit more gentle, with much more of a reliance on clean melody, but that doesn’t make them any less important. The indie boom gave us a lot of great guitarists and a lot of great guitar music; here are some of the very best.
The best riffs from the indie boom
The Hives – ‘Walk Idiot Walk’
If you’re ever feeling cold and need a palm to nestle in, you’ll find it at a Hives gig. The entire band has you scooped up from the moment they hit the stage, as their high performance, energetic gigs are enough to make you understand why people devote their lives to rockstars. The plethora of iconic riffs that make up their discography contribute massively to their overall sound, and it’s hard to choose between likes of ‘Bogus Opperendi’, ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ and ‘Tick Tick Boom’, but there is one opening riff that stands out among the rest.
‘Walk Idiot Walk’ is a prime example of a song that uses simplicity to its advantage. The opening riff comprises six chords played within about four seconds. That riff is then repeated and repeated, and while some periods of music could become bland after so long, that doesn’t happen with The Hives. ‘Walk Idiot Walk’ is one of the most exciting indie riffs available and almost seems timeless in its unrelenting appeal.
Franz Ferdinand – ‘Take Me Out’
The real test to know whether a riff works or not is to see how it does in a crowd. Some riffs that sound great on a recording might fall flat in a crowd, and if this is the case, then you don’t have a great riff on your hands. They need to spark emotion, joy and euphoria in those listening, and no song does that better than Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’.
The band have been going from venue to venue, festival to festival, with an array of different songs available that people can listen to; however, the one that shakes every room exposed to it to its foundations is the indie banger ‘Take Me Out’. The simple guitar line and the jumping chords, it’s hard to find anything better.
Bloc Party – ‘Helicopter’
Bloc Party was never a band renowned for doing things conventionally. Their music, despite playing into the indie boom sound incredibly well, was more sporadic. The structure of their songs was unpredictable, and their use of layering and harmony was unlike anyone else on the scene.
Their unconventional nature is best reflected in one of their most-loved tracks, ‘Helicopter’. The opening riff for the song refuses to stay in one place, jumping up and down the fretboard and refusing to stay in one octave. It sounds wild, but it’s the perfect representation of the song to come and the band playing it.
The Courteeners – ‘Next Time You Call’
The Courteeners aren’t short of big songs when it comes to the indie boom. Some of their earliest numbers, such as ‘No You Didn’t, No You Don’t’, ‘Fallowfield Hillbilly’ and ‘Not Nineteen Forever’, are engrained into the hearts of Harrington wearers and Chelsea cut rockers forever. However, when it comes to riffs, it’s one of their later songs that stands out above the rest: ‘Next Time You Call’.
From their album Concrete Love, ‘Next Time You Call’ shows listeners a different side to Courteeners, a side that is a lot more rock-heavy and guitar-orientated. The solo-like opening of the intro has your ears on end the moment it’s played, and the track is easily one of the band’s catchiest. Without a doubt, it’s an underrated tune.
Queens of the Stone Age – ‘No One Knows’
Forget the indie boom; the Queens of the Stone Age classic ‘No One Knows’ might be one of the best riffs ever. Once again, it’s a great example of doing a lot with a little, as the chord sequence doesn’t change too much, but the energy with which the song is played makes it an absolute joy to listen to throughout.
Queens of the Stone Age have surpassed the indie boom and are now one of the biggest bands on the planet. The way their albums and sound have changed shows change and maturity within the band, but there is no escaping the fact that this song, particularly this riff, is one of their very best.
Le Tigre – ‘Deceptacon’
A couple of years before the indie rock genre hit its peak in the 2000s, Le Tigre released their self-titled debut album, an enchanting collection of danceable punk, shouty vocals, and killer riffs. From the moody twangs of ‘Eau D’Bedroom Dancing’ to the noisier ‘The the Empty’, Le Tigre immediately asserted themselves as one of the most exciting guitar bands around, but there was one song that stood out from the rest.
‘Deceptacon’, which opened the record, opened with the question, “Who took the bomp?” before falling into a pairing of iconic guitar riffs, neither of them made up of more than four notes. Enhanced by Kathleen Hanna’s punky vocals and the occasional handclaps, i’s effortlessly cool, and simple enough that even the most amateur guitarist could probably pick it up within minutes.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘R U Mine’
Led by a slick frontman, Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys quickly became one of the leading bands in the so-called post-punk revival, pairing tales of Sheffield dancefloors and dreams of naughtiness with a raw indie rock sound. Their songs often featured iconic riffs, but perhaps the most referenced and replicated of all is ‘R U Mine’ from their Tumblr-beloved 2013 record, AM.
If you own a guitar and you claim not to have googled the tab for ‘R U Mine’ with the instrument in hand, you’re probably lying. The memorable riff opens the song, underscoring Turner’s increasingly romantic lyrics as he longs for his lover to be by his side, and continues through almost the entirety of the track. Over a decade after ‘R U Mine’ was first released, the central riff remains timeless.
The Strokes – ‘Reptilia’
If Arctic Monkeys ruled the indie rock scene in the United Kingdom, it was The Strokes who reigned supreme on the other side of the Atlantic. Led by an equally iconic frontman in Julian Casablancas, the New York City-born band embodied the sound and style of the era, remaining our reference point for indie sleaze in the Big Apple even now. They also concocted some truly infectious riffs.
Countless songs from across The Strokes’ catalogue could qualify for a place on this list, from the catchy ‘Last Nite’ to the slightly more laid-back ‘You Only Live Once’, but ‘Reptilia’ stands out as one of the best riffs crafted by guitarist Albert Louis Hammond Jr. Once again, it’s a riff that thrives on its simplicity, emboldened by Casablancas’ frantic words and Gordon Raphael’s production.
Tame Impala – ‘The Less I Know The Better’
Fast-forward a decade or so and the post-punk revival had given way to a new age of psychedelia, spearheaded by an Australian producer called Kevin Parker. Under the name Tame Impala, as well as through his work with Pond, Parker became one of the most important names in the modern indie scene, pushing guitar music into more unearthly realms.
In 2015, he delivered the most fully formed version of this sound with Currents, an album as entrancing and psychedelic as its cover art. The record spawned one of Parker’s signature hits as Tame Impala, ‘The Less I Know the Better’, which is undeniably one of the most memorable riffs of the modern indie age. Groovy and drenched in psychedelia, it’s easy to see why.
Wolf Alice – ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’
The 2010s indie boom wouldn’t have been complete without London-born band Wolf Alice, who created some of the most cathartic entries into the genre with tracks like ‘Bros’ and ‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’. Their sound pulled from a wide range of influences, melding distorted, shoegazey guitars with Ellie Rowsell’s soft, introspective tales of romance and self-reflection.
Their music wasn’t always based around riffs, often focusing on atmosphere instead, but ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ featured a blistering guitar line. The track opened with gorgeous strums that quickly give way to a raucous riff, sitting somewhere between shoegazing fuzz and the ethos of 1990s grunge. It might not be as iconic as some other entries on the list, but Wolf Alice sure are.
