Current musical theory, for your discussion:

Most music is bad. Most music that is not bad, sounds exactly like other music that is not bad. Of that music, only the best is worth listening to. Most music that doesn't sound like anything else, is still bad. Only music that does not sound like anything else and is not bad is worth loving.

(And -- Pixies tonight. Yay.)

LJ, that's a Venn diagram that almost makes my head hurt.

However, this statement:

Most music that is not bad, sounds exactly like other music that is not bad.

reminded me of a question (or, really, a few questions) I've been meaning to ask:

Since I'm always behind the musical curve, bands like the Postal Service, Death Cab, the Shins, the Decemberists -- are they all considered one type of music? (Like you could list rockabilly bands, punk bands, and further arcane subgenres, like cowpunkabilly.)

And if they are all, more or less, the same type of music, what would you call it? I mean, if you were trying to tell someone that you like ska, but not punk, or baroque but not classical, what would you call the Postal Service/Shins/Decemberists subgenre?

Since I'm always behind the musical curve, bands like the Postal Service, Death Cab, the Shins, the Decemberists -- are they all considered one type of music?

Yes and no.

Yes in that fans of one might well like the others. I would probably call that genre "indie, " but that's really just an umbrella term for noncommercial rock music not involving screaming. (If there is screaming, it's emo, or possibly metal.)

Also yes in that Death Cab and Postal Service share a somewhat similar sound, and have the same lead singer, Ben Gibbard.

Where the no comes in is that the Decemberists are very different from that -- they're almost, but not quite, like if the Smiths used an accordian and wrote sea chantys -- and the Shins, to my ear, are pretty straightforward pop-rock. (I like them, but have never gotten why they send people into paroxysms of ecstacy. I think they're too pretty for me.)

Teppy, I'd agree with Lyra's categories. Though I would note that if you went into a store that specialized in "Indie Pop" you'd find all of those bands.

Huh. To my ear, they all share a vocal quality that I can't quite articulate.

Huh. To my ear, they all share a vocal quality that I can't quite articulate.

Well, as noted, the lead singer in two of the bands is the same guy. But yeah, there is kind of an indiepop/emo singing style. Also, the recording technique is generally not very slick, so it won't typically be run through Autotune or something like that.

Like I said, I can't really describe it very well. It's like -- Dave Matthews and John Mayer have that earnest, I-feel-your-pain-now-let-me-feel-you thing going on, vocally.

The best way I can describe the vocal thing I get from the above indie-boy bands is -- slightly removed? See, that's not quite right. I want to say "ethereal," but I don't mean like Enya or the Vienna Boys Choir.

I can see what you're talking about vocally with the Shins and Ben Gibbard, but to me Colin from the Decemberists has a different feel; he's more of a storyteller, where the others are more about feelings and impressions. I also think his voice is rougher.

Like I said, I can't really describe it very well. It's like -- Dave Matthews and John Mayer have that earnest, I-feel-your-pain-now-let-me-feel-you thing going on, vocally.

Strum Boys

The best way I can describe the vocal thing I get from the above indie-boy bands is -- slightly removed? See, that's not quite right. I want to say "ethereal," but I don't mean like Enya or the Vienna Boys Choir.

Wispy? Whiny? Twee? Ironic?

to me Colin from the Decemberists has a different feel; he's more of a storyteller, where the others are more about feelings and impressions. I also think his voice is rougher.

Actually, I see that. Maybe I just threw the Decemberists in there b/c they're so new to me. Because when I first heard "July July," I thought it was TMBG for a minute.