Remember the OC, Bitch

I'm a little behind in all things internet lately, but I did get a chance over the weekend to read Nitsuh Abebe's excellent overview of the decade in indie rock over at Pitchfork. It's a terrific read, surveying the various ebbs and flows of the decade in a fairly succinct yet broad (and entertaining) way. As I've tentatively dipped my toe into my own iTunes library in prepartion for some kind end-of-decade rundown (something I probably won't actually post until later in the fall), it really dawns on me what a challenge that really is. With that difficulty in mind, Abebe acquits himself quite well, not only reminding us of a few trends we might sooner forget (or wish to revive) but also illustrating how what's called indie rock these days has nuzzled up to more mainstream audiences. I'll spare you too much of my own assessment as I think Abebe gets it pretty much right.

The only thing I'd highlight that Abebe neglected is a little television show called The OC, which happened to debut in fall 2003, just before the boom year in indie rock that was 2004. The show was really a watershed for indie rock in the 00s—not because it brought indie to the mainstream, but because it brought the mainstream to the indie set. While it may not have been the first show to feature, subtly or not, musical acts either in the plot or on its soundtrack, The OC was the first to really embrace the indie sound of the era—Bloc Party, Death Cab for Cutie, the Walkmen, etc. Pitchfork would report it as news in a "gosh, wow, awesome!" kind of way—and it was, gosh, wow, kind of awesome to see the Walkmen make a bona fide appearance on a prime time TV show. It's not like MTV still had its pied-à-terre in the Alternative Nation, so where else were they supposed go?

For that matter, it's not like these bands' fans were necessarily buying their records. (Hello, dawn of the filesharing era.) Cries of sell-out in the last decade really dwindled to an occasional grunt—during The OC's commercial breaks, when that Outback commercial would come on—largely because fans and artists alike kinda figured out that the income options, slim as they already were for indie acts, were narrowing even more. So when Seth Cohen comes a-calling—he of the skinny frame and nice sweater, possessing an honorable awareness of manga and indie films, not to mention dashing out a self-deprecating charm and ego-less sarcasm—well, a lot of indie bands thought maybe it was about time they got in bed with this kind of thing.

Then they got paid. So when Grey's Anatomy dialed their number a couple years later, they picked up on the first ring.

But as an indie dick it's still easy to scoff at a show like Grey's Anatomy, which really only wants a ballad charmless enough to stay out of the way of the dialogue, or literal enough so that when the chorus comes in it narrates the action—"How to Save a Life!" Get it? They're medical interns! Then there's the groaner of the decade, that film set in New Jersey about vaguely depressed Shins fans. I don't even need to quote it—the point is it makes you angry; it almost makes you hate the Shins for being a part of some kind of cultural zeitgeist. That's a terrifically old-school indie rock reaction, one I admit I still let out every so often even when my maturity tells me I ought to can it. Yet The OC doesn't really elicit that reaction. Why not? Why was it basically okay for bands to have walk-ons on that show? Why did the producers' ploys to debut tracks from the new Beck album actually cause people to tune in, even when they could just suss out an album leak that day or the next? Why, of all bands, did Clap Your Hands Say Yeah—the most famous DIY band of the decade (not counting the other one)—reject the show's overtures in fears of being labeled sell-outs, only to become a punchline, a band that supposedly got too big too fast? (Did they get penalized by their fans for not making deals with labels? For not licensing songs to the right outlets and validating their worth in the marketplace?)

So where does that leave us? Well, for one thing it leaves a lot of indie bands—a certain kind of indie band, as Abebe is right to discern—hitting the pop charts and making it onto soundtracks for films about young, shampoo-less vampires. Bad thing, good thing, I can't really say. I'll only point out that I find it a little strange to see people on the web get way stoked about the New Moon soundtrack. Is it a validation of their tastes? I don't think so. If I were to make that charge I'd bet the response would be "Who cares what it's for? It just looks like a great collection of songs by my favorite bands so I want it." Okay, fair enough, though there was a time that punk and indie fans did care what it was for. Meanwhile, when films that seem actually marketed toward the indie sensibility—Seth Cohen 2.0?—I tend to see those films met with skepticism by many in the indie crowd. Good on the indie rockers, I guess, for recognizing that they're being marketed to (or exploited?) when films starring scrawny Pixies fans come their way. You can have your Nick & Norah, your 500 Days of Summer, your Juno—I won't have my identity sold back to me!—but can someone let me know when that New Moon soundtrack leaks?

What's the right business model for an indie band? What's the wrong one? What should indie fans tolerate? What should they not? Does being an "indie fan" even mean anything today other than trawling for leaks and bitching about Pitchfork album scores? Honestly I don't know. I only sense that there is a disconnect happening on both sides.

Comments

[twitter.com/jtramsay]

It's actually amazing that Nitsuh would omit The O.C. I remember meeting the Warner rep at my local record store and chatting with him about those compilations. They sold like hot cakes! I can't think of another show since that's been able to market music of any kind. Does anyone really care about the music on 'Gossip Girl'?

[scott pgwp]

I remember a website called something like musicfromtheoc.com where people would immediately ID every track played during an episode. In fact I even got hipped to a few acts because of the OC!

I don't think Gossip Girl gets the same reaction, though I missed most of last season so I can't be sure. I know one of the characters tried to reinvent herself as a rocker, so maybe they're trying to pull that angle a little harder now? I don't know. But there's no "Seth" on Gossip Girl, so in that sense the show can't ultimately be as trustworthy about its tastes.

I don't think there's any other show that has functioned to that end as well as the OC did, especially for its first couple seasons.

[dave]

yo scott,

loved the article! i remember the first episode of the oc i ever watched: they were talking about the bright eyes show they were getting ready to go see :) the venue on the pier they would go watch bands at... far cry from modified or spaceland!

dave

[Tristan]

Is it me or did the OC strike while the iron was hot? That is, I get the sense that the indie music had really become a lot more accessible from say 1999/2000 to 2004-2005. Maybe I have poor insight but I sense the turning point was 2003 in the wake of "the rock revival" and the iPod commercial with Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?". After this point, it just seemed like there was just more great pop by indie bands. Modest Mouse did "Float On", Spoon did "The Way We Get By", Yeah Yeah Yeahs did "Maps". The Shins did "New Slang" in 2000, but the zeitgeist for the song was 2004. But then again, Death Cab For Cutie and Belle and Sebastian had been doing accessible indie pop for years. Maybe it was the post-mp3 ipod mindset where the song became the dominant musical consumable--"there's all this good stuff out there for the taking, no need to get bothered by ALBUMS".

I have a specific OC recollection of when all these factors came to my attention. Circa 2005, age 19, I was riding home with some friends and the driver was what someone whom I generally considered preppy and not particular musically-obsessed--not a Pitchfork reader. For music he plays his iTunes-purchased copy of the OC soundtrack and it was very pleasant and enjoyable car music. Another passenger and the driver began to talk about the music, giving equal attention and praise to Rooney and Spoon, oblivious to how such a conversation would be a total cred-killer in other circles. But it all made sense: It was Lifestyle Music, a social soundtrack, pleasant music convenient packaged and free from all the indie maven gossip and baggage.

[Sam]

Tristan nailed the point about lifestyle music, which I think fits with what we talk about when we talk about the dropoff in indie bands with a degree of edge to them. So much of the mechanics of how something gains a larger pop culture presence are tied up in things other than moving the album as a unit right now that it seems a little quaint to complain about selling out, especially once you realize that all that talk about egalitarianism means realizing that bands have to pay rent as well. However, the dangerous side of this is that a huge degree of politeness does help things rise. On the corporate side, this is wonderful because artists are either organically lining up to neuter themselves (though I'm not sure how many know it) or the critical apparatus is feeding things up the chain in a way that guarantees a solid mix of pop appeal and cachet. I feel like my generation is the first wave of indie peeps to have "Can I play this for my boss?" not only be a salient question, but an occaissionally damning one.

[dave]

looks like sonic youth is coming to gossip girl..... http://www.examiner.com/x-18340-Lexington-Pop-Culture-Examiner~y2009m9d4-Sonic-Youth-to-make-an-appearance-on-Gossip-Girl

[pastahero]

Great post, but what's the #1 DIY band of the decade?