Who fuck coined the phrase “Indie Anthem”?
I want to meet that guy and shake them by the throat.
Searching Google groups there’s no mention of the phrase prior to 2000 in regards to “The Best Indie Anthems Ever”. Which makes me thing it sprang from those Virgin EMI “Best Anthems, In The World, Ever!” albums. It certainly irked me the first time I saw one of those compilations. I mean, what sort of country has a Fun Loving Criminals song as their anthem.
Back when I was an indie kid in excelsis, we certainly never called anything an anthem. Not even the Stone Roses or any number of space scraping poe faced shoegazers. And this is why it riles me so, it feels like a marketing term that has taken on a life of it’s own, and now you have bands – SNOW FUCKING PATROL – who seem to exist solely to make records to be included on compilations of indie anthems. Indie has become the modern day middle of the road soft rock in an attempt to fit into a marketing slogan. And I hate it so.
It’s be easy to blame yer Coldplay, or yer Oasis, but I feel blame must be laid elsewhere.
I’M LOOKING AT YOU TIM BOOTH.
The band known as James (a terrible indie name if there ever was one) had a massive hit in “Sit Down”, and that song allowed them to forge the archtypal stadium indie career blueprint that so many other dullards have sinced followed. It’s one of those terrible lighters in the air, hivemind shared experience/mob mentality bullshit songs that was so easy to buy into.
Right, now to wash away the taste of curly haired mediocrity with this: