10 Years Ago: Indie Music From The Tumblr Aesthetic Age Of 2013 - 2014
Photo by DAVID NIETO on Unsplash.
I’m prefacing this blog by saying: I full-heartedly understand I might get roasted for this topic, but it’s honestly something I’ve been passionate about for a long time, and despite the overwhelming “poking fun” attitude that I see on the Internet, this project’s mission from the start was sharing the things I love. So, without further ado, here is my take on a slice of time that I will always look back on with fondness, even in the face of second-hand embarrassment I am bound to receive:
Ten years ago, I was a bushy-tailed, bright-eyed sophomore in college. I had short hair and was rocking thrifted, ambiguous and androgynous clothes. I had a bigger friend group back then. We used to go on late night drives, frequent our local coffee shops, went to house parties, got inspired by B movies and made art in our parents’ garages. We used to daydream a lot. The opinions of our families didn’t feel as heavy and the future was hopeful. I had no idea where my career was going to take me, but I walked to my classes every day excited and grateful for every moment I stepped onto campus, especially in the fall when I would spend my lunch breaks at the quad, writing poetry.
Damn, I used to write poetry?
2013 to 2014 were some of my happiest years. While things were turbulent at home, I was just starting to get a taste of independence. I landed my first job and was getting ready to move out of my parents’ house. I took fantastic care of my health, and went to the gym every weekday early in the morning before school. My circle hadn’t fallen apart yet, so everything was rose-colored. My generation was hungry to learn, to grow and to change the world. We used to be dead set on making this a better place than how we found it, and back then we actually believed we could.
Now that I’m approaching 30 years old, it’s difficult for me not to be jaded and get caught up in a victim mentality. I had a weird childhood, and as a result I had a hard time in what was supposed to be the “best” time of my life. My 20s were strewn with stupid mistakes, heavy learning moments and adversity after adversity. It feels impossible not to reminisce without an existential crisis setting in, but this year I really wanted to make a conscious effort to draw out the recollections that make me smile. When you’re someone like me who was dealt a certain set of cards, you have to search a little longer for the light.
And of course in my typical fashion, nothing allows me to hold space easier than throwback music.
I sat down at my computer and looked through old photos and playlists. I cried a little, laughed a little, cringed a lot. But then I sifted through good music from 2013-2014 and prior, and the memories finally started flooding in.
Bushy-Tailed &
Bright Eyed
Baby Sam before the world got to her…
Some of the most recognizable names in indie pop, indie rock and indie folk music arose in the early 2000s, but something special was happening from the 2010s on to about 2014 (there was another wave in 2015 and 2017 until about now, but that’s for a discussion for a different day). Bands like Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, New Politics, Twenty One Pilots, fun., Arcade Fire, MGMT, Tame Impala, and so many more were being played on alternative radio stations. Interest shifted from big, sold-out stadiums with household, cookie-cutter artists pumped out of Hollywood to small, hole-in-the-wall local businesses hosting obscure bands no one ever heard of. Murals were being painted on street corners all throughout downtown. People cut their hair off and dyed it rainbow to piss off their moms. We started getting tatted up and getting pierced, and we didn’t care if our bosses were upset about it. We were inspired, we experimented, we let our creativity flow and lived in the moment, fully present and alive. And it was all fueled by the music.
I went on a mission to compile some of the best indie music from this unique age, of what the mainstream mocks as the 2013 - 2014 Tumblr aesthetic. I’ve lovingly titled this playlist by the same name. Not all of the music is from those years exactly, but none of them were released after. Some of them were just popular at the time, some didn’t get huge until a few years later. But all made me feel a type of way, a wave of nostalgia that made me miss finer days. The playlist I made is now about nine hours long, and there’s still more I’m stumbling upon.
Some characteristics and similarities that stood out to me in my search included nasal, throaty or harmonic vocals, rumbling drum beats, funky bass lines, sassy guitar solos, synthy key chords – all very much a nod to the 80s and 90s – but one thing you can almost always guarantee is there too: unexpected instruments that seem out of place from the rest. Whether it’s a brief saxophone bridge, a ukulele strumming in the intro, children’s toy xylophones or even just the way it’s mixed, indie music artists were blending influences from genres you wouldn’t think would work together and just… finessed it. You want a song that sounds like bluegrass pop? They made that. What about disco rock? Gotchu. A song that starts out folk and ends with trap EDM? It’s probably in there too.
I’ve gone through so many wild 180s in my life and have tried styles from all across the isles. I’ve cut and dyed my hair almost every color and length under the sun and have gone through transformation after transformation. I’ve tested many fad diets, adhered to several different belief systems, and changed my political party multiple times. I had an emo / metal phase, an EDM / raver phase, a Christian worship phase, a reggae beach girl phase, a hippie jam band phase and a rollerskating / disco phase. For a long time I think I was lost, drowning in the sea of imbalance and instability around me.
Oof, big cringe.
Like I said, lots of style changes…
Now that I’m older, I tend to be attracted to genres that push the envelope in terms of category – things that push us out of our boxes and into gray areas. I love art that makes you question what it is, or makes you feel like you are at a crossroads of labels. It’s not quite male but not quite female, not quite counter culture but not quite basic, not quite Burner but not quite Mad Max, not quite Funk, not quite Punk. That’s why I believe I’ve found comfort in these songs, because they were home when I didn’t have one. It’s an island of misfits, a listening ear for the misunderstood, a cozy bonfire after a long adventure through the wilderness.
I hope they can lead you home too, no matter how challenging life gets, or how small your network becomes. As we all get older, we can acknowledge the lessons learned, but we can also appreciate the eras lived and all her stages. From the ugly DIY bowl cut you gave yourself in front of your bathroom mirror blasting Passion Pit, to that one show at that bar with the sticky floor getting hearing damage from some band you’ve never seen again, to the quiet nights driving without a destination as you hung your head out the window, gazing up at the stars with Cage The Elephant playing sweetly out of your car radio. While I’ve wrestled with the ghosts of people I used to cherish and grieved the lost opportunities, the things that could have been – I’m finally reaching a point where I can find peace in my solitude, solace from the sorrow and beauty from pain.
And I think that means I'm doing better than I thought.
“All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain,” - Blade Runner, 1982.
My personal Spotify playlist: “2013-14 Tumblr Aesthetic.”
