Origin Point: The alley near a Taco Bell
Key Artists: Iodine, Alpine Thrift, Paranoid Alice, Content Provider, Octavia Wakes, Decade & A Day, The Addiction
Fast, Chugging, wah guitars, reverb and demented vocals with wigs, guitar smashing and plenty cheap glitter. Also bringing something new to the table: candy cane props.
This shtick went viral almost instantly, as other groups embraced this anti-corporate rock mentality. Favoring a sneakier, more subversive approach marked by wry lyrics and cheapo equipment —proof, perhaps, that living weird is the best revenge. The scene’s stone-faced cool and record-collector obsessiveness of all genres has helped set it apart from others.
These eerie sounds from music’s fringes kicked off a 21st century revival of outsider-rock renaissance. The lo-fi tag, presumably, came from their shared fondness for dusty, vaguely tape-warped sounds—scuzzy, line-noise-riddled sound, as low-fidelity as it gets, the product of a few frayed patch cords, duct tape, and chewing gum. Nottingham has no doubt gone cuckoo.
A compilation album will be available in August.
