Jangle pop
Music genre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jangle pop is a form of pop music[4] and an alternative or indie rock subgenre that emphasizes jangle guitar, characterized by a clean and arpeggiated tone. Originating with the Byrds' 1965 single "Mr. Tambourine Man", the term was later applied to 1980s bands such as R.E.M. and their imitators, who were sometimes unfamiliar with the genre's 1960s predecessors.
| Jangle pop | |
|---|---|
| Etymology | "Jingle-jangle morning", a lyric from Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" (1965)[1][2][3] |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1960s–1980s, United States |
| Typical instruments | 12-string electric guitar |
| Derivative forms | |
| Subgenres | |
Origins
The origins of jangle pop is usually traced to the Beatles and the Byrds in the 1960s,[2] the latter of whom launched the genre with their 1965 single "Mr. Tambourine Man"; its Bob Dylan-penned lyric contained the phrase "jingle-jangle morning", from which the name was derived.[1][2]
Alternative/indie rock
During the early 1980s, the genre was reconfigured by independent bands who enjoyed success on college rock charts and radio stations.[3] This included groups such as R.E.M. and Let's Active, who emerged from post-punk scenes and appropriated the sounds of jangle acts from the 1960s, as well as the adjacent Paisley Underground movement, which incorporated psychedelic influences. AllMusic categorized jangle pop as a subgenre of alternative or indie rock while describing it as a "pop-based format", but not mainstream, as the lyrics could often be "deliberately cryptic", and the sound "raw and amateurish" with DIY production.[4] According to music journalist Denise Sullivan, "all signs point toward the dB's reinventing 'jangle-rock,' before R.E.M. made it famous."[3]
The Athens, Georgia group Pylon, formed in 1979, influenced the local scene with what AllMusic contributer Jason Ankeny termed an "angular, propulsive jangle pop sound".[6] In addition to R.E.M., English band the Smiths were a prominent early jangle pop group.[7] Subsequent jangle pop bands largely imitated R.E.M. and, despite its foundations in 1960s folk rock bands such as the Byrds, groups were sometimes unfamiliar with the genre's 1960s predecessors.[8] An article in Blogcritics magazine claims that, besides R.E.M., the "only other jangle-pop band to enjoy large sales in America were the Bangles, from Los Angeles".[9]
The Dunedin sound was a key scene of jangle pop. Bands such as the Chills, the Clean, the Verlaines, the Bats and Straitjacket Fits synthesised 1970s alternative rock and post-punk with jangle,[10] and the scene soon spread to Auckland and other New Zealand cities.[citation needed]
In Austin, Texas, the term New Sincerity was loosely used for a similar group of bands, led by the Reivers, Wild Seeds and True Believers.[11]