Free Pony Theory ~ History of indie

Joined: 23 Sep 2006 Posts: 1088

1979: Sub Pop Records is born in Olympia, Wash., initially as a fanzine called Subterranean Pop.

1981: Guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo hook up with bass player Kim Gordon and call themselves Sonic Youth.

1984: Minneapolis post-punk band Hüsker Dü releases the "Zen Arcade" double LP, providing a creative blueprint for ambitious underground bands from the Replacements to the Pixies.

1987: Former Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou Barlow releases "Weed Forestin," a lo-fi collection of home recordings, under the curious name Sentridoh (a percursor to Sebadoh).

1989: Merge Records is formed in Chapel Hill, N.C.

1991: Sebadoh releases the 7-inch single "Gimme Indie Rock!" The tongue-in-cheek title ironically helps cement the term in the underground-music community.

1993: Liz Phair's (left) seminal "Exile in Guyville," a post-feminist response to the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main St.," hits the shelves. That same year, Isaac Brock and two friends form Modest Mouse.

1994: Guided by Voices releases "Bee Thousand," a proudly messy, amateurish album of brilliant, '60s-influenced melodies and surreal lyrics.

1997: Death Cab for Cutie starts as a solo project for Ben Gibbard. That same year, the Shins are formed in New Mexico as a side project to frontman James Mercer's other band, Flake.

2003: "The O.C." first airs, and Adam Brody is suddenly forever connected with Death Cab. The soundtrack was mostly indie rock. The Fox show runs through February 2007.

2004: "Garden State" is released in theaters, and the Shins, the song "New Slang" and Natalie Portman in a pair of giant headphones expose moviegoers to a big dose of indie rock.

2007: The Arcade Fire releases its second record on Merge, "The Neon Bible."

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_5920752