Indie rock and heavy metal, on paper, seem like they would have nothing in common.
When I think of indie rock bands, I think of The Decemberists, the Arctic Monkeys, or Tame Impala. Metal? I mean, where do I start… Sabbath, Maiden, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse… My list could go on and on. But what about bands who found a way to bridge the gap and mix a little of their indie style with some sick shredding? I have a few thoughts…
Queens of the Stone Age
Born out of the dissolution of Josh Homme’s iconic stoner metal band Kyuss, QOTSA emerged in the mid-1990s with a fuzzy blues metal sound that evolved as they gained popularity.
The first QOTSA song I ever heard was “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” off their second album, Rated R (2000), and I was immediately hooked. It’s fast and abrasive, with a rhythm that feels like the Pixies covering a Creedence Clearwater Revival song.
The following year, in 2001, they dropped the massively popular hit song “No One Knows” off their breakout album, “Songs for the Deaf,” and there was no denying they accomplished a feat that many bands couldn’t: crafting a heavily marketable song that literally everyone could love, even the curmudgeonly metalheads and gatekeeper indie kids.
Wolfmother
Full disclosure: My explanation for Wolfmother is honestly not too far off from the one I just gave for QOTSA. The Australian rockers have just as many Pixies elements (“In The Morning”) in their music as they do Zeppelin (Like, every song).
I feel like this makes them a brilliant pairing with bands like The Hives or Franz Ferdinand, just as much as they would work playing alongside Guns ‘N’ Roses.
Pixies
Obviously, I’ve mentioned them multiple times, so let’s just get it over with… The Pixes, man. The fucking Pixes. There is just so much music that wouldn’t exist without this band.
An argument can be made that the Pixies were more punk than metal, but I believe the way they leaned into heavy low-end bass, which can be traced back to early metal bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, is such a crucial part of their sound, not to mention their penchant for solos.
All that filters through a prism of ’80s goth-gaze attitude (Joy Division, The Smiths), making it almost like indie doom, if that’s a thing.
Weezer
I will start by saying that I’m aware this has big “hear me out” vibes if anything ever has.
Going all the way back to “My Name is Jonas,” the first song on their debut album, Weezer riffed with the best of them. The guitar tone on that song is so distorted and heavy. Take Rivers’ vocals out, and I’m telling you, that’s an indie song with some noticeably metal elements.
Hell, the whole album is pretty much just like that (“Say It Ain’t So,” “In The Garage”), and I can attest to the fact that they still play these songs really heavy on stage because I saw them do it a few weeks ago at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle.
It doesn’t stop there either. “Dope Nose,” “Hash Pipe,” “We Are All On Drugs…” that last one has a KILLER solo. They even wrote a whole ass album called Death to False Metal.
Look, I can’t force you to comprehend the idea that Weezer is metal, but… Weezer is metal.
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