Psychedelic Indie
Also going hand in hand with previous genres mentioned, Psychedelic Indie takes a slightly different approach. While having a slightly more narrow sound, it gets the benefit of using elements from both Rock and Pop. Psychedelic Rock and Psychedelic Pop both exist under this umbrella. Psychedelic Indie Rock is like if you took Indie Rock and made it smooth rather than rigid. Groovier basslines and more audio effects make a hazy aesthetic. I find that artists in this realm often bring completely different sounds into their tracks. A band called ‘Idlework’ has a song titled ‘Biro’. This song has a jungle-adjacent chorus despite the band being primarily Psychedelic. Switch-ups like this make this genre a very engaging listen, as you’re not too sure where the artist is going to draw from. The influences of the genre can date back to the 60s from the Psychedelic Rock era, all the way up to the 2010s Lofi craze. It’s not as clear cut as many of the other categories, the ‘origin’ can be argued over when it truly began.
Origin artists
For the origin artists I assume you won’t need an introduction for any of them. Psych Rock from the 60s and onwards included ‘The Beatles’, ‘Pink Floyd’, ‘The Zombies’, and ‘The Doors’ to name a few. These artists have provided such an intense influence on music as a whole, that we can still see their DNA in Psychedelic Indie to this day.
Many sounds have developed and shifted since that era, but the footprints remain. The popularity of these bands show the pull this sound had at the time, and how well it still holds up. These artists alone have created some of the most respected albums in history, still praised to this day. Even though everyone is aware of these artists, I’ll still include the links on the right just in case you want to revisit an old favourite.
Modern Psychedelic Indie artists
In the present day, the artists aren’t anywhere near as prominent. Psychedelia as a tool is used quite often in broader popular music. Even in Hip-hop there are plenty of artists such as A$AP Rocky and Denzel Curry who use Psychedelic elements in their music. Unfortunately as a sole genre it does not garner the same success in the modern day.
The most popular artist in the genre currently is ‘Tame Impala’. Through the 2010s and into the 2020s he has made some of the biggest Psychedelic Rock tracks ever. ‘Currents’ is an album which saw immense success compared to other projects made within the niche. There isn’t another artist from the last 20 years who has seen success like this within the genre. Previously discussed artists like ‘Men I Trust’ and ‘Beach House’ do have a lot of Psychedelia influence in their music, but as more of an extra tool rather than a core element.
