Indie Pop Music Resurgence in London

Labels and Bands Making Tunes Underground

London is a centre for millions of musical hopefuls trying desperately to be the "next big thing," but with indie pop, there's a subtle movement against widespread distribution deals, major media exposure, and major labels.

This stance against that iconic status of "credibility" means some people eschew Coldplay and love Radiohead, are over U2 and love The Wedding Present.

This is a generation of teenagers, youngsters and 30-something popsters who have been shown the "light" and direction of what Sarah Records and C86 achieved in1980s London. They wouldn't admit that these were only relevant for the "chosen few" involved in that movement 20 years ago.

Indie Bands and Labels Unknown

The Campesinos!, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Gresham Flyers, The Hillfields, Town Bike, The Postcards, The Pigeon Detectives, Tender Trap, are examples of up-and-comers who are making their own way in the indie music biz with exposure on both sides of the Atlantic.

In London and elsewhere there are a few independent labels - Rough Trade is too obvious, but they can be found - including Cloudberry Records, Fortuna Pop!, OddBox Records, and underused records. If you haven't heard of them, that's deliberate.

Their means of exposure is through very subtle viral marketing through social networks, through electronic fanzines or via the blogosphere. The discussion forums heave with mouth-to-mouth recommendations of cool new bands and off-radar venues to see them. There are occasional festivals where fans vote their favourite bands to play - e.g. IndieTracks.

The tag is indie pop. Not twee or shoegaze, please. It means nothing to the untrained or uninitiated. Generalizations are not good - not all bands consist of cardigans, jangling guitars and girl-led vocals, but that is what they'd want you to believe. This is the start of something special, look for it coming soon to the underground near you.