So much of early 2000s “indie” music was nothing but a backward-looking rerun of movements past. This is evident in current trends: the smeared makeup in fashion, the “messy girl” aesthetic embraced by Gen Z celebrities, and the resurgence of dance-pop reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem. Charli XCX’s “Brat” album, with its promotional campaign encompassing everything from a Harris/Walz campaign endorsement to a Cobrasnake photoshoot, perfectly encapsulates this “indie sleaze” revival. Coined in 2021, this term describes the decadent, dance-focused culture of early 2000s hipsterdom, a nostalgia that seems to disregard the passage of even short periods of time. While Gen Z may idealize this era as pre-smartphone, pre-cancel culture, the reality for those who lived through it was quite different.
Artistically, indie sleaze lacked originality. Many bands, quickly signed to major labels, merely recycled past musical movements. As Dan Ozzi noted in his review of Lizzy Goodman’s *Meet Me in the Bathroom*, artists like Ryan Adams, LCD Soundsystem, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs largely replicated existing tropes, offering little innovation. The Strokes, the era’s biggest band, expertly mimicked 1970s New York punk, but lacked the depth and context of their predecessors, emerging from a rapidly gentrifying downtown. This trend of imitation raises the question: should we celebrate mere copies of copies?
Politically, indie sleaze was characterized by a hedonistic nihilism. The socially conscious 90s were shattered by 9/11, resulting in widespread support for the Bush administration’s actions in the Middle East. While tastemakers like Vice weren’t overtly Republican, their detached, postmodern stance avoided genuine political engagement. Even the Strokes, initially formed in response to the police murder of Amadou Diallo, omitted their anti-police anthem “New York City Cops” from their post-9/11 album. Many young people, disillusioned by political inaction and blinded by privilege, embraced this depoliticization.
The indie sleaze era also displayed a disturbing level of misogyny. The pervasive imagery of underage-looking girls and allegations of harassment against figures like Terry Richardson and Dov Charney highlight the normalization of harmful behavior. The author recalls signing Vice’s “non-traditional workplace agreement,” which essentially excused any offensive conduct.
While the author acknowledges a fondness for some of the music and the nostalgic appeal to younger generations, they ultimately prefer the more creative, socially conscious youth culture of today. The indie sleaze revival, while having its moments, ultimately falls short in its artistic merit, political apathy, and ingrained misogyny.