VARIOUS ARTISTS: Rough Trade Indiepop ’09

If the ‘indie’ in the title is making you think of the watered down likes of The Kooks or even of Arctic Monkeys and other modern rockers, then you’re getting the wrong end of the stick, for the band here hark back to the early days of indie as practiced by pastie faced youths in hand me down clothes in their bedrooms throughout the early 80s.
From London upstarts Veronica Falls and their mix of saccharine sweet backing vocals and a jagged, insistent guitar on ‘Beachy Head’ to the USA and the rather wonderful Girls who bring hints of classic 80’s alternative pop that comes all the way from San Francisco. Slightly better known perhaps are Los Campesinos! They may be a pretty well known touring outfit, but although they’re a little more polished the Welsh popsters fit in nicely alongside all these young upstarts. Lastly, we have to mention the fierce, aggressively paced, but still sweet and rather lovely ‘David Cassidy’ by Betty and the Werewolves.
All in all this is a great mix of lo-fi, simple tunes that are ‘indie’ in the traditional sense of the word, reminding us that it used to be a badge that bands wore with pride, rather than a shorthand way of saying ‘band that wants to be Oasis’, and thank god we have groups like these to remind us!