The ugly face of indie rock fandom removes its mask as the New Moon soundtrack artists are announced

September 22, 3:35 PMHeavy Metal ExaminerMark Morton

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image courtesy of Chopshop/Atlantic Records

Yesterday, the Internet was a-buzz with variations of the same news announcement – the track listing for the New Moon soundtrack (the second film in the extraordinarily popular Twilight series) was made public. Immediately, message boards were crammed with both slobbering adoration and vehement dissension, and as one makes his/her way through the negative remarks, the reader may notice a trend emerging – indie rock fans are seriously elitist.

What does this have to do with the metal scene? Well, quite simply, metal fans are usually seen as social outcasts, oftentimes depicted as meat-headed drug-abusers infatuated with violence and generally seen as “not nice” people. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but don’t let TV shows like Bones or Friends thrive on perpetuating the stereotype.

If anything, metal fans are more communal, like a brotherhood (a worldwide biker gang, for a more colorful analogy) – a group of people bonded by a common interest, supporting the scene in any way possible, and usually go out of their way to expose more people to this “religious experience.”

It would seem that indie rock fans, on the flip side, are some kind of secret cult (a la a Masonic Order) that want nothing to do with you if you are not already inducted into their society, nor do they seem to want to cultivate a younger generation of fans. This is not slander, this is an observation witnessed solely from the hundreds of comments from the New Moon soundtrack announcements.

Here are some examples from such high-profile websites as EW.com, MTV.com, PerezHilton.com, Stereogum.com, and RollingStone.com:

“This is a great lineup, but no matter how many indie faves appear on the soundtrack, TWILIGHT is teen schlock thru and thru. Don’t be fooled. Gaining credibility by rolling out Thom Yorke, Death Cab, Grizzly Bear, etc won’t sell folks like myself. Tweens will buy anything though, and I fear thanks to this soundtrack some great underground acts will become “mainstream.” I’d gag if i heard some 13 yr old humming Bon Iver at the mall... once upon a time “alternative” music was just that. It would NEVER have figured onto the soundtrack to some sappy vampire flick aimed at mall rats and soccer moms (and a few gay gents like [another commenter on the board]). This is the makers of TWILIGHT’s attempt gain crediblity among the indie crowd. Ain’t gonna work. TWILIGHT belongs in the mall. Give me my Grizzly Bear; you [commenter] can have your Lady Gaga.” (from EW)

“Well, this is the beginning of the end for indie rock, the official pop culture peak... the soundtrack will be loathed by critics and bash the artist for this move which will be considered a way to earn money and fame by appearing on such teen friendly movie...what band will be able to turn to?” (from Stereogum)

“Alright folks, lets not get our American Apparel tightie undies in a bunch now. Its just a well-crafted soundtrack that obviously is targeted at a niche market in indie music fans because, lets be honest: Indie music fans are an easy market right now and probably the only ones who will probably buy a compilation of some exclusive DCFC, Thom York, Bon Iver, etc. tracks. The thing is you shouldn't buy this soundtrack because it has all your favorite bands, and look at how this is just a money making grab for the Twilight brand. I say download the thing off a P2P or bit-torrent and show those stereotyping Twilight pricks that they definitely underestimated its target audience. Burn it to a CD if you have to, if physical copies are your thing. I say this as someone who does buy albums all the time, but I hate when music like this is exploited for commercial purposes. This isn't Dark Was the Night... At least the money there went to charity. I'm sure Mr. Yorke already got a nice paycheck for his contribution whether or not we buy this thing.” (from Stereogum)

“I'm not typically bothered by the "commercialization of indie rock" or bands selling out or any of that bullshit, but this is just ridiculous. Soundtracks are wonderful because they pair two art forms in a way where each informs the other. To pair actually talented artists making complicated and progressive music with a shitty money-scheme like Twilight is to drag the names of these bands through the mud, in my opinion.” (from Stereogum)

“I thought St. Vincent and Grizzly Bear were safe from the tweens. This is a sad day indeed. But hey, at least they get good money!” (from Stereogum)

“This feels like a social engineering experiment designed to foist indie blog music on the barely pubescent.” (from Stereogum)

“Great, now I can look foward to higher ticket prices for Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver, and St. Vincent shows. Now with bigger crowds too.” (from Stereogum)

“So does this mean that Twilight's indie cred goes up, or does my indie cred go ferociously down? Seriously, Thom Yorke wrote a song JUST for the New Moon soundtrack. Bon Iver did a duet with St.Vincent. JUST FOR THE NEW MOON SOUNDTRACK. They better have A.) gotten a bunch of money B.) Intentionally made terrible songs or C.) actually made a great movie that is deserving or such a beautiful soundtrack. (Spoiler Alert: C is impossible)” (from MTV)

“noooo Thom Yorke! Don't prostitute yourself!” (from PerezHilton)

“can't believe Ben Gibbard would stoop to that level. I've loved DCFC for years and didn't think that for one moment they'd sell out.” (from PerezHilton)

“Now great bands like The Killers And Muse will go all mainstream and all theese little teeny bopper Emo posers will Think They're the sh** because they found out of a band through f***ing Twilight …
Very dissapointed that such great bands would lower themselfs and agree to do this crap like Twi-Sh**.” (from PerezHilton)

“Pretty disappointed to see so many fantastic artists selling out to such a crappy franchise…” (from Rolling Stone)

“Now indies are selling out.. It’s a sad day when these artists start to lose their integrity.” (from Rolling Stone)

“I want DCFC and Bon Iver and Thom Yorke to get more listeners and fans as much as the next guy, but good grief. It reminds me of a Muse show I saw awhile back. These girls in front of me knew the words to Supermassive Black Hole, but NONE of the other songs. Three guesses why. So when I hear that indie bands on a Twilight soundtrack “exposes” girls to good music, I have to be a little skeptical. Apparently it exposes them to the individual songs on the soundtrack, and not much else.” (from EW)

This last one stung the most of all, because rather than being impressed by the fact that young girls were even interested in seeing Muse (someone had to pay for the tickets, right?), the poster was bent out of shape because the girls weren’t as hardcore as he/she was. Sure this type of thing does happen in metal, but more often than not, it almost always pleases me to see young kids at Iron Maiden, Overkill, and Testament shows, because it is verification to the bands’ longevity and that they do have relevance 20-30 years down the line.

Now, you might ask, would metal fans be so forgiving if metal bands were included on the Twilight soundtracks? Well, that’s where there really is a bit of a gray area, because unlike indie rock bands (which are characterized by almost stringent traits), too many non-metal bands are unfortunately considered metal, because too many pop journalists seem to think anything heavier (or louder) than Aerosmith MUST be metal. And then there’s the whole stigma of the term “80s metal” which the masses deem synonymous with “hair metal” – lest we all forget that Metallica, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Venom, Death, Kreator, Bathory, and even Napalm Death all got their start in the 1980s.

I’m not trying to make excuses, honestly, but let’s say that in an effort to further promote their brand new albums, Megadeth, Ensiferum, Slayer, and Hypocrisy were all included on the New Moon soundtrack, alongside a handful of lesser-known metal bands. Would the metal community be upset that Chopshop / Atlantic Records is shilling such true-to-form metal bands to teenage girls? Maybe at first, because it is a bit of a paradox, since ‘tween girls aren’t generally exposed to metal on a daily basis (unless one or both of their parents were metalheads). I don’t remember the last time I saw a 12-year-old girl at a Dying Fetus show, but then again, that doesn’t mean one wasn’t there.

Balancing the pros and cons, I think it would actually be very good for metal to be associated with something so high-profile, as it could aim to bring OTHER bands into the spotlight (which, to the mainstream audience, seems wholly reserved for Metallica), and, since it would be available at a great price (at least for the first week in release), it gives these bands an extraordinary opportunity to expand their audiences.

Historically, I believe metal fans embraced the soundtrack opportunities given to metal bands. I don’t recall many complaints when Fear Factory was on Saw, Megadeth was on Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Slayer was on Less Than Zero and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, or when Cannibal Corpse was on (and in) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

I think the only real downside to having metal bands populate a mainstream movie soundtrack is when the critics come along to review the album, knowing well in advance that the album will sell well, so they must craft their reviews to reflect their “metalness,” despite never having heard the bands before – or having shunned them outright in the past.

This is the problem I currently have with the wave of success Anvil is experiencing. All these journalists writing glowing reviews and clamoring to interview Lips about his newly found success are the EXACT SAME journalists who would not give the band the time of day only a year ago! They don’t see that they are part of the problem. Are they jumping on board now, because the movie is a success? Are they trying to make amends for their prior indiscretions, having written the band off as a “never-was”? We’ll probably never know the truth, but answer me this, when was the last time you saw an Anvil album review in Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, or The New York Times? I think that sufficiently makes my point.

Sure, there are metal fans out there who would choke if they heard Emperor on the New Moon soundtrack; some of them might even write off Emperor as a sellout because of it, but the rule of the day is that you cannot please everyone, nor should you try to. In the current state of the music industry, I would think ANY high-profile exposure can only help the cause. So suck it up, indie folk, enjoy the ride while you can. Because if history has taught us anything, music trends come in waves, so it will only be a matter of time before your sacred cows will once again be grazing in the coffeehouses.