British or American?

Jonny Arson

Well I think the title says it all. Which tickles your fancy more.... British or American indie/alt?

Its a debate that could rage on for ages but I personally feel British is indie is far superior. There is a much better vibe in general and I feel that there is a bit more soul with British bands.

Doctor J

Good music is evaluated on a band by band basis using ones ears. Nationality/Gender/Sexuality/Hair Colour/Shoe Size/Favourite Food or whatever other nonsense NME decrees to be relevant in distributing it's hype fuelled tripe don't really matter if you actually listen to music.

mentalimplosion

of what my favourite bands right now:
American: broken social scene, the arcade fire, tegan and sara, interpol, gravy train!!!!, rilo kiley, bright eyes, metric
british: babyshambles, the libertines, bloc party, kaiser chiefs,

i think i know who wins

Creamy Goodness

as long as the band are good to listen to they can be from anywhere to be honest,

but some of my favourites are listed below...

american: weezer, saves the day, jimmy eat world, ben kweller, elliot smith.
scottish: biffy clyro, idlewild, snow patrol, oceansize.

Doctor J

Doctor J wrote:

Good music is evaluated on a band by band basis using ones ears. Nationality/Gender/Sexuality/Hair Colour/Shoe Size/Favourite Food or whatever other nonsense NME decrees to be relevant in distributing it's hype fuelled tripe don't really matter if you actually listen to music.

Doctor J,
While I don't neccessarily disagree with you, I do wonder, "Why do you have to make such a meal of things?" If you are interested in the guys point, reply, if not. Don't. Simple.

There is/always has been an American/English "feel" to music and to try and ignore and just say, "Its all about the music, maaan..." is nonsense. The op asked a perfectly valid question.

In my opinion, I would veer towards the American side of music. I love Sonic Youth, YYY's, Pavement, Violent Femmes. They seem to be freer of a lot of constraints that British indie has.
(Although saying that, I love the Tindersticks, The Cure, The Stone Roses and many more!)

magpie

At the moment the US has it hands down: The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, Radio 4

Having said that the Brits are sneaking back in there with The Futureheads.

Much of the current crop of British Indie is pretty woeful. The Kaiser Chiefs? Purrlease. They're on a par with luminaries such as The Farm. Libertines? They're ok, but a trifle reliant on Tabloid antics to sell their records.

Looking forward to Wednesday night to see NYCs second finest at the Olympia.

eskimo

I think I'm totally divided on this.... it would seem the brits are copying the americans, or vice versa, thats how little a difference i see between them! There's some pretty cool music being released by both sides of the atlantic at the moment, and most of it is very similar. I'm still not that sure where the Killers are from! I wanna say Las Vegas...... Oh right yeah, I think its Las Vegas....

Doctor J

Papa Smut wrote:

Doctor J,
While I don't neccessarily disagree with you, I do wonder, "Why do you have to make such a meal of things?" If you are interested in the guys point, reply, if not. Don't. Simple.

There is/always has been an American/English "feel" to music and to try and ignore and just say, "Its all about the music, maaan..." is nonsense. The op asked a perfectly valid question.

Some things are not black and white, I felt there was room for discussion on the subject beyond yes/no. I still do. I don't think a blanket "English bands are better than American bands" statement is valid, there are good English bands, there are bad English bands, same goes for the American bands, being from a particular piece of earth has little bearing on a bands quality, style maybe, but not quality. Besides, boards with merely lists are dull and have been done before. What is wrong with discussion and debate?

honru

I prefer more American alternative/indie bands to what the UK has to offer, so I'd be leering towards the US. Still, considering its size in comparison, the UK has still done excellent in terms of producing great bands, alternative/indie or not.

TheMonster

magpie wrote:

At the moment the US has it hands down: The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, Radio 4

Having said that the Brits are sneaking back in there with The Futureheads.

Much of the current crop of British Indie is pretty woeful. The Kaiser Chiefs? Purrlease. They're on a par with luminaries such as The Farm. Libertines? They're ok, but a trifle reliant on Tabloid antics to sell their records.

Looking forward to Wednesday night to see NYCs second finest at the Olympia.

Spartacus is one of my favourite albums of all time - different strokes for different folks.

Karl Hungus

Doctor J wrote:

What is wrong with discussion and debate?

It's already been established that any sort of debate whatsoever is considered a "flame war" round these parts now. :rolleyes:

I'd wholeheartedly agree with you though, but of course offering any kind of opinion besides what's prosed in the poll just isn't playing by the rules now, is it. I don't want to "Flame" anyone by having an opinion.

Maybe if it was a question of whether or not a certain country cultivates better music or not, then it could be an interesting thread.

PersonalJesus

Funny thing is the vast majority of the american bands listed are taking british influences and rehashing them i.e. the killers, interpol et al

Currently rocking my world are...

Ambulance LTD (dont know where their from not that it really matters)
Arcade Fire (from montreal so technically canadian)
The Stills (again canadian, and one of my favourite albums of the last few years)

Oh and snow patrol are technically irish, but maintain that they are a scotish band to remove the stigma of being associated with n.ireland.

mentalimplosion

aren't the arcade fire half haitian or am i completely wrong

PersonalJesus

pretty sure they are from montreal... but in these crazy days who knows!

Anyway music is universal man!

i take it this whole debate is refering to current music, cos other wise it would be just too close to call... just too many great bands each side of the atlantic... tho my penchant for french disco may scew any opinions.

Likely Lad

Alright, first look at the population of the two countries, Britain has about 1/5 of the population that America does so America should have a larger range of well... everything really. Im by no means bagging American Indie (god help the RnB scene lol wata joke) its awsome, i love The Strokes, Interpol, Killers, Stripes, Queens of the Stoneage etc but the British scene is just booming at the moment with bands like The Bravery, Kasabian, Libertines, Thrills, Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs (whoever said they were crap before... i dont know what you've been sniffing son), Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Razorlight (though a third American)

Its not just all this modern stuff but the arguement can be taken back 50 years at least, to the early sixties where I believe Britain (England in particular) gave birth to the early forms of Indie in the way of Mod Rock. I think Britain on the whole have produced more quality that the States in the way of rock/alternative music. If each country had the same population then there wouldnt be any question about it but even so i think Britain has the edge.

Of course this is a biased view as i am English and the tides may well shift in favour of the states, there is some wonderful stuff comin out of America atm. But its gotta be the British style for me.

radiospan

Likely Lad wrote:

the British scene is just booming at the moment with bands like The Bravery, Kasabian, Libertines, Thrills, Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs (whoever said they were crap before... i dont know what you've been sniffing son), Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Razorlight (though a third American)

The Bravery are American I think?. America wins by a mile here anyway in my book (Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire...). England just has The Futureheads and Bloc Party really, IMHO. M.I.A. wins a few more points for England too.

John

I'm with Doctor J on this, why limit yourself to the UK and USA? Both have some amazing bands and both are responsible for crimes against music. Personally I don't think either country has produced many decent bands in recent years (I don't like all these New New Wave bands). Both countries seem to be stuck in a retro rut and are going no where fast. Just looking through my recent purchases and all the British/American purchases are metal, electronica and experimental things. All the indie stuff I've bought has been Canadian/Austrailian/European.

Although in line with this thread, my current favourite bands from both happenstantial geographic locations are:

USA: Queens of the Stone Age, Windsor For The Derby, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Low, Michael Gira, The Flaming Lips, !!!

UK: Tindersticks, Franz Ferdinand, PJ Harvey

So from my above list it would appear America is winning.

mr_angry

I don't think the question "do you generally prefer English or American indie" necessarily means that you're restricting yourself to one or the other. Its just asking if you have a vague preference, which I think is perfectly valid.

Personally, I'd say I listen to more American artists than British, but I think I relate more to bands like Placebo, so I'm gonna go for British.

Likely Lad

Tis true, agree to disagree i guess, both have their unique qualities in the music world. Im living in Australia at the mo and there are some really good bands here revolving around the Indie/Mod rock scene... check it out people.