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Alternative/Indie Rock
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Garage Rock Revival
An indie-label movement that emerged in the mid-'80s, garage rock revival bands aimed to recapture the wild, rowdy, raucous spirit of '60s garage rock. Of course, where the original garage rockers were concerned with imitating their favorite British bands, the revivalists imitate the garage bands themselves -- so their music was full of fuzz-tone guitar, Farfisa organ riffs, and sneering vocals. Like the similarly timed rockabilly and surf revivals, garage rock revivalists also appropriated the original music's sense of style, self-consciously playing up their personal favorite qualities -- toughness, sleaziness, brashness, manic energy, rebellion, party-hearty spirit, what have you. Since it was self-conscious, it was sometimes done with a knowing wink and a bit of exaggeration, but regardless, many of the revival bands shared an underlying assumption that garage rock's virtues embodied the true spirit of rock & roll. Garage rock revival never achieved a wide audience, but after the first wave of '80s bands -- including the Chesterfield Kings, the Mono Men, the Lyres, the Fleshtones, the Fuzztones, and several Billy Childish-led groups -- it did maintain a devoted cult following into the '90s, with numerous bands on the Bomp, Estrus, and Sympathy for the Record Industry labels.
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