Why 2009’s Top Hipster Bands Look Like S… euh Not That Cool?
January 13th, 2010
Photo by Marisa Page
They are ruling the new music space but most of them would probably not get into the Dark Room on a Monday night. 2009’s top 3 breakthrough indie bands have made it a memorable year. But don’t expect to see them in Nylon’s next fashion issue.
Let’s take a look at AnCo for example – also sometimes known in the real world as Animal Collective. The Brooklyn band has become the cool kids’ (and Pitchfork’s) favorite new thing in the world. But it’s sometimes hard to know if the AnCo kids are on their way to play at Pete’s Candy Store or to geek out at Blogworld – and the Spaceman shirts / oversized hoodies are not really helping. Well the truth is when you’re called (or call yourself) Panda Bear and Avey Tare that does compensate for not looking like you vintage shop by the pound.
Another good example is SF’s new music sensation: Girls. 2010 is looking promising for the Mission band and they will most likely not only play at the Bottom of the Hill this year. But it also looks like they forgot to stop at Therapy on 16th and Valencia before they started their national tour last month. We know the 1990’s are making a strong come back and the long hair / River Phoenix-ish style of the avant-garde Girls members are probably not a coincidence.
And finally Vampire Weekend. Let’s see… who do they remind you of? Is it your annoying classmate who always turns in his assignments early? Or that d-bag who reads The Economist in the 30X bus? Or maybe your co-worker who wears a “Stanford” shirt every Friday to let the whole world knows he fucking went there? Well a little of everything… and that’s the beauty of it.
Yep, not every band in 2009 looked like Nylon’s Plastiscines. And that’s probably why it was such a good year…
