Arctic Monkeys set to release new single

Following the release of their fourth studio album Suck It And See, acclaimed British rock and roll group Arctic Monkeys are set to release a new single 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'. The single will be released by Domino Records on the 15 of August.

The band will also be headlining numerous festivals in the UK these coming few months including V Festival and performing at the O2 Arena in London.
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Is Indie Rock Really Indie?

With its roots in the 80’s, the term Indie was first used as a synonym of alternative rock as well as to describe music produced by post punk labels such as Fresh Records and 4AD.   

Pearl Jam

The 90’s saw the dawning of a new era. Indeed, the mainstream success of a sub-division of alternative rock, dubbed grunge rock, due to bands such as Nirvana or Pearl Jam in the United States and Blur as well as Oasis in the United Kingdom caused a rift between indie and alternative. The mainstream record labels acquired the term alternative rock and as such it lost all ties it originally had with the underground and counter-culture movement. Indie on the other hand was still used to describe bands that still retained that underground d counter-cultural aspect in its music.

By the end of the 90’s, the term indie was used  to encompass different genres in the musical spectrum from baroque pop (Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes) to emo (The Get Up Kids) all of which gained substantial mainstream attention.

Arctic Monkeys

In the new millennia, the proliferation of the internet as a means to promote music by bands such as Arctic Monkeys clearly set the tone for indie rock to go fully mainstream so much so that some commentators reject the use of the word indie.      

So is indie rock really indie? In today’s profit driven world, young aspiring indie bands are faced with a dilemma. Should they bow to the music industry’s relentless search for the next big thing and risk losing total control of the creative process or should they stay true to their roots but risk not gaining mainstream attention?