What does it take to create the perfect indie pop song?
Well, I suppose you first need to decide what constitutes an indie pop song. There have been many great 'indie' songs over the years - rocking ones; epic, emotional ones; slightly weird ones; heavy ones; dreamy, 'shoe-gaze' ones - but we are talking about straight up, power pop songs.
And what makes them 'indie' rather than just regular pop songs? Well, once upon a time, it strictly would have had to be released on an independent record label, but I think we can argue that now, to be indie is more about the sound and the attitude. As it happens, of the five songs that I have picked out for you, all bar one were released on smaller / independent labels.
You will, of course, have your own versions of what makes a classic indie pop tune, and indeed which examples you would use, but for me the perfect indie pop song needs:
A catchy as heck hook.
Bright, upbeat tempo.
Some great guitar riffing.
Ideally, some snazzy drum fills.
Singalong chorus - goes to another level when played live.
Most importantly - it must leave you grinning broadly during throughout the song (and for quite a while afterwards).
Big Star: September Gurls
For this, you really have to go back to the beginning, before the concept of 'indie' or 'indie pop' really existed.
Alex Chilton had been something of a teen sensation, singing lead vocals on The Box Tops global 1967 hit, The Letter (#1 US, #5 UK), at the tender age of sixteen. That would be his commercial peak, although what he would do next would pave the way for countless US new wave, post-punk and indie bands in the 70s and 80s.
He formed Big Star with his friend Chris Bell in 1971, and Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. Their work across three 1970s albums would define the power pop genre and influence a wide range of bands, as diverse as Kiss, Cheap Trick, REM and The Replacements. Rolling Stone noted that they "created a seminal body of work that never stopped inspiring succeeding generations of rockers, from the power-pop revivalists of the late 70s to alternative rockers at the end of the century, to the indie rock nation in the new millennium."
September Gurls is considered one of their defining tunes - a nod to The Beach Boys California Girls, focusing on the fact that several of the girls in Chilton's complicated personal life had September birthdays. Journalist, John M. Barack said that it was "a glittering jewel with every facet cut and shined to perfection.... September Gurls may not actually be the greatest song ever recorded, but for the duration of its 2:47 running time, you can be forgiven for believing it is." Ken Barnes, writing in Rolling Stone, put it much more simply - "[it is] virtually a perfect pop number."
Big Star: September Gurls (Audio only - three minutes of sheer beauty)
The Replacements: Alex Chilton
It seems only right to segue straight from Alex Chilton to Alex Chilton, the song inspired and awash with his influence.
The Replacements, from Minneapolis, were one of America's most creative, and self-destructive, post-punk bands. By the time of 1987s fifth album, Pleased To Meet Me, they had finally gotten a move to a major label (Sire) whilst losing the services of founding guitarist Bob Stinson. He had featured on all of the initial demo sessions after the previous album, Tim, but his over indulgence was catching up with him, and he only showed up for one actual recording session and was fired.
The new album was recorded in Memphis (in Ardent Studios, used by Big Star), and perhaps some of that atmosphere was rubbing off, as the band's post-punk sound was now rounded out by sounds of soul, jazz and pop. Chilton himself showed up from time to time, having been acquainted with the band for several years (and the preferred producer for Tim) - and ended up adding some guitar to the other big tune on the record, Can't Hardly Wait.
Lead singer Paul Westerberg had become a little nervous when first chatting to Chilton, that he reputedly said, "I'm in love with that one song of yours - what's that song?" temporarily forgetting the name of Big Star's Watch The Sunrise. This would later become the big hook in the homage to Alex Chilton - "I'm in love / With that song."
Alex Chilton provides us with a flight of fancy narrative based around Westerberg's love of Chilton's music, providing as American Songwriter noted, a cowbell infused "marauding rampage through the land." That ticks my drum fill box, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic pretty much wraps all of the other necessities I require, when he says that the song is "brilliant, shining power pop." To complete the circle with Big Star, the New Yorker says that the song basically "sounds like all of Chilton's songs smushed together."
Pop Matters got a bit more in-depth, saying the song is "instilled with an exuberance and conviction that overwhelms the band's penchant for self-sabotage.... The Replacements practically charge through Alex Chilton in an effort to reach the promised land of the song's infectious chorus. And what a chorus! Setting it up with a surging pre-chorus where Westerberg contemplates a world in which the underappreciated Chilton's music was heard by far more souls than had ever actually picked up a Box Tops or Big Star record... sounds like it wouldn't want to be anywhere else when it hits those chorus hooks."
The Replacements: Alex Chilton (Live footage from the reformed tour, with soundboard audio - glorious!)
Split Single: (Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love
There was no way that I wasn't going to shoe-horn this glorious power pop nugget into this feature - it's not the first time I will bang on about this Jason Narducy led band from Evanston, Illinois, and it certainly won't be the last.
While he might not be a household name, Narducy has built a reputation on the US indie scene as a session player, touring musician and songwriter. In fact, his musical chops started in fifth grade, when his punk band Verboten appeared on a local cable channel. One of his bandmates also happened to be the cousin of one Dave Grohl - who has maintained that seeing them play ignited his desire to play music. In the 90s, there was Verbow, who were unusual for having a cello front and centre. He is also a integral member of Bob Mould's band and has toured with Superchunk for many years.
His main project these days is Split Single, who have released three albums in around a decade, each including Superchunk / Bob Mould colleague Jon Wurster on drums. First album Fragmented World featured Spoon's Britt Daniel on bass, while follow up Metal Frames included John Stirratt of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo - but for the third one, 2021's Amplificado, he secured the services of the legendary Mike Mills (REM).
(Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love brings to bear all of Narducy's experience from three decades of indie and post-punk, with the added bonus of Mills' distinctive backing vocals providing yet another layer. This is his LGBTQ+ ally song, with a video shot as we were coming out of lockdown restrictions, with Narducy noting at the time, "I hope it makes people smile and I hope it makes people feel less lonely."
Brooklyn Vegan are as enthusiastic as me, saying that it is "a record overflowing with energetic, roaring power-pop, fuelled by joy and anger, and big hooks." Narducy felt that "the chords and melody for this song sounded like defiance to me."
Split Single: (Nothing You Can Do) To End This Love (Official music video - watch this and honestly tell me this isn't one of the catchiest songs you've heard in ages)
Alvvays: Archie, Marry Me
Molly Rankin and partner Alec O'Hanley recruited her neighbour from Nova Scotia, Kerri MacLellan to form Alvvays and put out their debut eponymously titled album in 2014.
It is an album blessed with at least three absolute pop bangers, and my daughter will argue that I have picked the least best of them (Adult Diversion and Next Of Kin are the other two if you feel the urge to check them out). I've gone with Archie, Marry Me, the lead single from the album, because it totally hits all of my key criteria and delivers a feel-good audience singalong when played live.
It might sound feel-good, but the subject matter is a somewhat tongue in cheek look at the expectations placed on people as they reach adulthood and are expected to conform to the traditions of quickly getting married. having children, getting a mortgage etc.
It is anchored by a driving beat from the drums, backed by jangly guitars and large quantities of reverb. Ilana Kaplan, in Spin, said it is "superlatively catchy", while NPR noted its "crisp guitars, effervescent melodies", and Simon Vozick-Levinson in Rolling Stone going as far as to say that it is "the kind of song some acts spend careers trying to write."
Let's have a last note about those drums some more - it might be the music nerd in me, but I particularly love the pause and double beat going into the chorus's! There are some other nice drum fills in this one too.
Alvvays: Archie, Marry Me (Live at the CBC Festival, 2016 - there are about a hundred people at the front who seem to know the song well and look in raptures as they sing along)
Throwing Muses: Not Too Soon
Throwing Muses were formed in Providence, Rhode Island in 1981, around step sisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly. They became anchors of legendary British indie label 4AD, and by the time of fifth album, Real Ramona in 1991, they had replaced some of their experimental edge with a more poppy sound.
And none were more pop-tastic than this Donnelly penned tune. It shimmers from start to finish, with Pop Matters stating that "the band lays down a supercharged Top40 contender, anchored by Donnelly's juxtaposition between a sing-song chanting in the verse and voicebox acrobatics in the chorus."
It also fulfils my desire for great drum parts - Pop Matters commented that "Narcizo's fills are pulled to the forefront of the mix during the breaks, driving the breaks into each chorus."
Throwing Muses: Not Too Soon (Official music video - nothing less than indie pop perfection...)
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