Indie Rock | Musicosity

Indie Rock

You Am I

You Am I is a four-piece Australian power pop/alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums consecutively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts and are renowned for their energetic live shows.

Tim Rogers formed the first version of the band in Sydney, Australia, with his school friend Nick Tischler and his older brother Jaimme in December 1989. This initial line-up was short lived and by the end of 1990 both Nick and Jaimme had left the band. They were replaced by the group's one-time sound mixer Andy Kent on bass and Mark Tunaley on drums.

The band released several EPs and singles in the early 90s, though the real breakthrough came when Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth caught the band performing at 1993's Big Day Out festival and was impressed enough to produce their fourth EP, Coprolalia, and later the debut album, Sound as Ever, which went on to win the 1993 ARIA Award for Best Alternative Release.

After the release of their first album, Mark and the band parted company. He was replaced by the charismatic Russell Hopkinson (formerly of Nursery Crimes) creating the core line-up to this day. Since then, the band has been augmented by Davey Lane of The Pictures on guitar.

You Am I had toured the US extensively during the mid 90s, including playing with Soundgarden on the Lollapalooza festival, Red Kross, The Strokes and Smoking Popes to name a few. Despite little success overseas, the band became well known throughout Australia for their Pete Townshend-esque guitar windmills and their upbeat "ponce and thuggery" take on Rock 'n' Roll.

Further success came with the albums Hi Fi Way and Hourly Daily, with both picking up ARIA Awards. Hourly Daily was the first album released on the Shock label to go to number one in the ARIA charts upon launch. For many, the suburban inspired, 60s bop and folky 12 string melodies were a welcome departure from ever pervasive 70s rock sounds, or even grunge rock.

Subtle country influences became apparent on their 1998 Number 4 Record, which included the poignant Heavy Heart. A heart wrenching, almost karaoke inspired ballad about being 'dropped' by your girlfriend. Evidently each subsequent album has had a few countryish twang which have polarised some fans, who idolise the band's earlier warts and all rock beginnings.

1999 saw frontman Tim Rogers release his first solo album What Rhymes With Cars And Girls, followed up in 2004 by the record Spit Polish. In 2005 he released the critically acclaimed double-LP 'Ghost Songs' and 'Dirty Ron'.

After an album absence prolonged by touring and record label interference, Dress Me Slowly was released April 2001. Arguably containing some of the bands' best work including Damage and Kick a Hole in the Sky there were also some stellar b-Sides on the commercial singles that accompanied the album. These include a song called Older Guys which is track 2 on the Get Up single. Older Guys was one of the stand out songs on Gram Parsons' group The Flying Burrito Brothers album Burrito Deluxe and although the You Am I b-side is an original, Rogers is recognised as a keen student of music history and some connection can be assumed.

Dress Me Slowly was second guitarist, Davey Lane's first bona fide appearance on a studio record. Lane had come to the band's attention from his own work with The Pictures and transcribing, with almost scary accuracy, the band's guitar tabs on the You Am I web site. The band's last collective studio effort was Deliverance in 2002.

The likes of Nic Cester of Jet have mentioned that You Am I, at the very least, reminded them that you don't have to be American to be a successful rock band. Iconic references to Australian everyday suburban life remain a constant theme of Roger's material. The Vines also credit You Am I as a major influence and Silverchair take their name, in part, from You Am I's song Berlin Chair.

Their seventh album "Convicts" was released in May 2006. An about face on the previous two albums, Convicts rocks hard all of the way through with much more straight forward production and higher energy that makes you jump.

Their eighth album "Dilettantes" was released in September 2008. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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Stock Exchange

STOCK EXCHANGE (formerly The Cameramen) are a four piece band, three members are from the Adelaide Hills. One isn't. They have been described as a young and enthusiastic group of multi-instrumentalists, who craft a surprising emotion evoking sound blending post-punk, baroque pop, jazz, folk and experimental influences. In the past year Stock Exchange have performed with artists such as Stonefield, Bearded Gypsy Band, The Warsaw Pact, Son of Dad, Jack Radford and Saturday's Army. Venues performed in include Fowlers Live, Higher Ground theater, The Promethean and Jade Monkey.

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J Mascis

J Mascis (b. 1965) is an American musician and songwriter, probably best-known as the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr., though he has also occasionally worked as a producer and film composer. Born Joseph Mascis on 10th December 1965 in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the early 1980s he founded the short-lived hardcore group Deep Wound with his high school friends Lou Barlow and Scott Helland. He started out on drums, but moved to guitar when he went on to found Dinosaur Jr.

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Expatriate

Expatriate is a Sydney-based band consisting of Ben King (vocals, guitar), Chris Kollias (drums), Damian Press (keyboard, guitar, sound engineer) and Dave Molland (bass). Expatriate derive their name from the collective experiences of their youth. Front man Ben King grew up in the midst of Jakarta, behind the walls of a United Nations meets ‘Dazed and Confused’ international school - he was living the contradiction of isolation in a big city.

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The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats is the musical project of singer-songwriter and guitarist John Darnielle. The New Yorker magazine referred to him as "America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist". In its June 2006 issue, Paste magazine named Darnielle one of the "100 Best Living Songwriters". Darnielle’s lyrics are literate and filled with imagery that reference classic literature, religion and mythologies, pop culture, art and history. Others are vague references to his stepfather, and with the 2005 album The Sunset Tree Darnielle finally offers a more intimate account of his experience as an abused child.

Moth

There are three (3) artists by the name Moth. (1) MOTH was formed in a Cincinnati, OH garage in the early 90s by frontman and tune-smith Brad Stenz with guitarist "The Billionaire" joining shortly thereafter. Drummer Kevin Hogle made his appearance with the band shortly after Virgin Records fall-out and bassist Eli White followed in tow. The band has released five full length records including a major label release on Virgin records. They have also done live performances on Craig Kilborne, AOL, and Chicago's Man Cow Show, numerous national tours and a UK tour.

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The Drums

There is more than one group named The Drums. 1) Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham met at summer camp when they were children and have been best friends ever since. Soon after their initial meeting, they formed Goat Explosion and toured extensively in North America during their teenage years. Around 2003, Jonathan and Adam Kessler formed Elkland. In the meantime, Jacob formed a band called HORSE SHOES (Shelflife Records). Jonathan ultimately decided to take a few years off from writing music after becoming disillusioned with the music business and parted ways with Elkland in 2005.

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The Rapture

There are two bands sharing the name Rapture:
1. An American dance-punk group
2. A common mistake for a finnish death/doom band actually called "Rapture". 1)The Rapture are an American rock band formed in San Francisco. The band mixes influences of post-punk, dance-punk, acid house, disco, electronica, and more. The Rapture formed in 1998 by drummer Vito Roccoforte and guitarist/vocalist Luke Jenner. After relocating to New York, the original bassist left and was replaced by Matt Safer.

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Metric

Metric is an indie rock band formed in 1998 at Toronto, Canada and based at various times in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles. The band members are Emily Haines (vocals, synthesizers), James Shaw (guitars), Josh Winstead (bass) and Joules Scott-Key (drums). Initially Metric was a duo made up by Haines and Shaw, then in 2001 Winstead and Scott-Key joined the band. They took the name "Metric" in 1999 after a synthesizer beat that Shaw used on his sampler and as a reference to their musical precision. The group's music encompasses elements of indie rock, new wave and dance music.

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I Am Kloot

I Am Kloot are a band formed in Manchester, England in 1999 by John Bramwell (guitar/vocals), Peter Jobson (bass) and Andy Hargreaves (drums), notable for their twisted, witty lyrics. Their Debut single To You on Ugly Man Records was produced by and featured backing vocals by Guy Garvey, lead singer of Еlbow. Debut album Natural History was released in the United Kingdom in March 2001 on Wall of Sound offshoot We Love You, followed by I Am Kloot in September 2003 on the Echo label.

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