I'm sure this is the countdown that all of BuzzJack in 2020 want!

 

The UK charts in the mid noughties were full of indie bands, some very successful and others less so, and almost entirely male dominated. A lot of it I loved at the time, and a sizeable amount of it I still do. But I'm not here to celebrate the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys, that'd be boring. So I'm focusing on those bands that were mostly more short lived, had at least one great song but never managed to grace the top 10, so I'm even discounting the likes of Reverend and the Makers, The Bravery, The Twang and Maximo Park (which is a shame as I had Apply Some Pressure to be the nailed on #1). The 'landfill' part of it, if you like. 20 songs by 20 different bands from 2005-08, each of which I genuinely think are great, loved them all at the time and I still give them all varying levels of listening now, I saw three of these bands play last year and was due to see another two of them this year!

 

The important stats:

16 were top 40 hits

11 acts names start with the word 'The'

4 acts contain a prominent female

 

I'll post 20-11 tomorrow and 10-1 on Sunday, but for now I'll leave you with a top 20 UK hit that just missed the cut.

 

 

oooo this will be interesting! Hope to make some discoveries :o

Very much looking forward to this actually, like quite a lot of the mid-00s indie :D

 

Boy Kill Boy already getting this thread off to a good start, really enjoyed Back Again and Civil Sin from them!

20 -

- #35, 2006

19 -

- #46, 2006

18 -

- #32, 2006

17 - Nine Black Alps - Unsatisfied - #30, 2005

 

I thought it would be interesting to see how much of a lasting impact these 20 songs have had and checked their Spotify plays. Between them they've been streamed almost 267 million times, although 2 songs cater for 43% of that number. These four, perhaps unsurprisingly, are all in the bottom 5 for total streams, including the only two not to pass 500k.

 

The Young Knives had a bit more hype around them than most, with their debut album being Mercury nominated and being home to 3 top 40 hits, though only just, never reaching higher than #35. They had some decent singles which I still listen to; 'Terra Firma', 'The Decision', and their crown 'Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)', has a catchy chorus like most songs here, and is very shouty.

 

The Sunshine Underground did once trouble the top 40, but 'Commercial Breakdown' stalled in the top 50 on both of its releases in 2006. Another band I had time for the singles of but wasn't too fussed about delving any further. I was surprised to learn they released four albums and lasted until 2016.

 

Larrikin Love were the shortest of short lived bands, forming in 2005 and disbanding in 2007, but they still managed to have three top 40 hits and top 40 album. I can't say I was ever taken by them, 'Happy as Annie' the only song I ever had any time for, a catchy bop aided by a banjo.

 

Unlike the others here, I was into Nine Black Alps enough to buy their debut album, and it's one I feel stands the test of time better than a lot of music released in this era, containing a few decent singles; 'Shot Down', 'Not Everyone' and my favourite 'Unsatisfied', the last of their three top 40 hits, I love the riff on the intro.

 

Commercial Breakdown deserved top 40! :wub:

16 -

- #20, 2007

15 -

- #29, 2006

14 - The Rakes - We Danced Together - #38, 2007

 

The Pigeon Detectives were the band in here that I was most surprised were actually eligible, as they certainly felt they were big enough to have had at least one top 10 hit. 'Take Her Back' was always my favourite of theirs, a couple of other decent singles but I wasn't much of a fan overall.

 

After Arctic Monkeys hit big in 2005 there was more attention focused on other indie bands from Sheffield, and it allowed some bands to get more exposure and sometimes hits than their talent deserved, Little Man Tate and Milburn being the two biggest, with the former having 5 top 40 hits. 'House Party at Boothy's', a song about a teenage house party was undoubtedly my favourite.

 

Completing this trio of bands I never particularly liked but had one or two songs I did think were great are The Rakes. I thought most of the singles from their debut were average at best, but I always really enjoyed 'We Danced Together', the infectiously catchy lead single to their second album, which was their final of 5 top 40 singles before splitting in 2009.

 

Commercial Breakdown deserved top 40! :wub:

Yes, I was surprised that hadn't made it, certainly felt like a bigger song at the time than a lot of songs that did go top 40 from this era, but did make it close twice.

Take Her Back is an absolute tune! A brilliant band and that was one of my favourite songs from them :wub: Big fan of Suzie as well!

13.5 -

- #39, 2005

13 - The Maccabees - About Your Dress - #33, 2007

12 - The Rumble Strips - Girls and Boys In Love - #64, 2007

11 -

- #13, 2008

 

I was always likely to realise I'd missed out something, and that happened with Morning Runner's 'Gone Up In Flames', a great tune that ended up receiving far more attention and notoriety later on as the theme tune to The Inbetweeners, so I've slotted it into its rightful place at #13.5.

 

The Maccabees are a rare trend-bucker from mid 00s indie bands, as they managed to get bigger and more popular over the next decade, getting their first number one album in 2015. I'm a much bigger fan of their 2010s output than their earlier stuff, but their debut album did contain a couple of gems in 'Latchmere' and 'About Your Dress'. I must have missed whatever made 'Toothpaste Kisses' so popular - 57 million Spotify streams?!

 

The Rumble Strips certainly had a different sound to the standard indie band of the time, a sound much more influenced by keyboards with ocassional sax and trumpets too. Aided by appearing in various TV shows and films, 'Girls and Boys in Love' remains remarkably popular with big streaming numbers, they were another band who had decent singles but I wasn't overly keen on a whole album by. The first band here not to have made the UK top 40, settling for #41 with 'Alarm Clock'

 

A common theme so far for the bands here is for me to have purchased an album on the strength of 2-3 singles and it being rubbish. The Wombats 'A Guide to Love, Loss and Depression' is no different, but 'Moving to New York' was the one song I'd not heard which was excellent and has only grown in my affections in the intervening dozen years. They've managed to stand the test of time really well, still playing big live tours and having high charting albums, and their streaming numbers are far bigger than any other band in the countdown, as well as plenty of more successful ones.

 

I was hoping to see The Pigeon Detectives in here, glad they are! :wub: Take Her Back was great but I think my favourite of theirs would be This Is An Emergency!

 

And Moving To New York is a classic, easily my favourite track from The Wombats as well. Looking forward to the top ten!

What a great idea for a countdown!

 

I thought I liked this sort of stuff and yet the only ones so far I'm able to admit to knowing well is 'Moving To New York' and 'Gone Up In Flames' solely because of Inbetweeners (sort of know 'Take Me Back' from a listen, is good), but it's given me a good few leads on aiding my indie cred from the others.

 

 

Girls and Boys in Love didn't go Top 40?! :cry: Absolutely loved that, such a fun little song.

 

Moving to New York is brill as well although I do prefer Let's Dance to Joy Division!

The only band I've heard of here is the Mackabees :cheeseblock:

The only band I've heard of here is the Mackabees :cheeseblock:

You’ve surely heard of the Wombats? :o

 

Their second era was a favourite of mine, outside of this decade tho oops

My sister loved the wombats and I was partial to some of their songs too.

You’ve surely heard of the Wombats? :o

 

Their second era was a favourite of mine, outside of this decade tho oops

 

I haven't :cheeseblock:

 

I was hoping to see The Pigeon Detectives in here, glad they are! :wub: Take Her Back was great but I think my favourite of theirs would be This Is An Emergency!

 

And Moving To New York is a classic, easily my favourite track from The Wombats as well. Looking forward to the top ten!

 

Pigeon Detectives were probably a bit unlucky compared to a lot of bands, with four top 20s but never the top 10.

 

 

What a great idea for a countdown!

 

I thought I liked this sort of stuff and yet the only ones so far I'm able to admit to knowing well is 'Moving To New York' and 'Gone Up In Flames' solely because of Inbetweeners (sort of know 'Take Me Back' from a listen, is good), but it's given me a good few leads on aiding my indie cred from the others.

 

Thanks. It's remarkable looking back just how many of these types of bands were around and in the charts at the time, there must have been 20+ that were more successful than this lot too. Pick a chart at random from 05/06 and you'll probably find at least three new entries from indie bands that would all plummet the following week.

 

 

Girls and Boys in Love didn't go Top 40?! :cry: Absolutely loved that, such a fun little song.

 

Moving to New York is brill as well although I do prefer Let's Dance to Joy Division!

 

Good to see lots of love for The Wombats. I did like 'Let's Dance..' too, I bought the album off the strength of it. They've certainly gone on to be much bigger than the rest of the bands here, have managed to maintain popularity and some of their recent singles have been great, I loved both 'Cheetah Tongue' and 'Turn' from their last album.

Edited April 12, 20205 yr by RabbitFurCoat

 

10 -

- #186, 2007

09 - We Are Scientists - The Great Escape - #37, 2005

 

Moving from the standard band structure of those that have appeared so far, Blood Red Shoes are a male drummer/female guitarist duo with vocals shared across albums fairly equally. They've never graced a top 40 in the UK, #64 a singles peak, but all five of their albums have charted in the top 100. This wasn't a song I was aware of at the time, as I didn't discover them until later releases in 2008, but they've gone on to become a favourite of mine over the last decade, with 'Elijah' being one of my favourite songs of last year. I've seen them live twice now, and they're one of the best I've ever seen live - it's remarkable how much noise just two people can make. They're probably most noted for 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' after it was used in the film Scott Pilgrim vs The World

 

We Are Scientists are an outlier in this countdown, this scene was very much British but they were a rare US band of this type to have debuted at the same time. Their first album 'With Love and Squalor' would have to be challenging to be in my top 5 indie albums of this era, being home to many great singles. 'The Great Escape' was their lowest charting of four top 40's but has gone on to be my favourite.

 

Edited April 12, 20205 yr by RabbitFurCoat

08 -

- #17, 2007

07 - Glasvegas - Geraldine - #16, 2008

 

It was a common thing to have built up a fanbase with an album and then get a much bigger hit with the lead single from the follow-up, and The Cribs managed that in 2007 when 'Men's Needs' became their first top 20 hit and first single to spend more than a week in the top 40. The Cribs have had remarkable staying power, with all four albums that followed this sneaking into the UK top 10. They had some decent singles on 2005's 'The New Fellas' but this has always been my favourite track of theirs. I've done a Personal Chart since 2004 and this #1 has easily been their biggest song. For some reason the memory of being told off for listening to this song too loud in 6th form library has stuck with me.

 

Breaking through long after most of the other bands in this countdown, 'Geraldine' was Glasvegas' first song to chart in 2008, a lyrically powerful tale about a social worker called 'Geraldine'. Half of their debut album was absolutely exceptional, fantastic lyrically and plus points for being sung in a delightful Scottish accent.

 

 

 

I have heard of rhe cribs at least! But the most indie I listened to in the 2000s was actually the Kooks :lol: Hope they will appear!

 

Geraldine is a BOP