Indie & Modern
The new century's rock: the Strokes and the White Stripes lead a garage revival, and indie, post-rock and modern arena acts carry the guitar forward.
Part of Rock
41 moments in this segment.
- - Foo Fighters - Everlong. Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana band became the standard-bearer of modern rock.
- - The Strokes - Last Nite. The Strokes' 2001 debut sparked the garage-rock revival of the 2000s.
- - Interpol - Obstacle 1. Interpol led the post-punk revival out of New York in the early 2000s.
- - Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows. Josh Homme's band carried the heavy-rock torch into the new century.
- - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps. Karen O's band gave the 2000s garage revival its most tender moment.
- - The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. Jack White's 2003 riff became the most chanted in modern sport and rock alike.
- - Explosions in the Sky and post-rock. Explosions in the Sky made instrumental post-rock soar for the 2000s.
- - Muse - Time Is Running Out. Muse fused prog, glam and stadium rock for the new century.
- - Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out. Franz Ferdinand's angular 2004 hit made indie rock dance.
- - Modest Mouse - Float On. Modest Mouse's 2004 breakout brought indie rock to radio.
- - The Killers - Mr. Brightside. The Killers' 2004 anthem became one of the most enduring rock songs of the century.
- - Arcade Fire - Wake Up. Arcade Fire's anthemic 2004 debut made indie rock feel vast.
- - Green Day - American Idiot. Green Day's 2004 punk-rock opera made them a stadium act with something to say.
- - Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor. Arctic Monkeys rode the internet to become 2000s indie's biggest band.
- - My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade. My Chemical Romance made emo a stadium-sized rock opera.
- - LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends. James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem fused post-punk and dance for the 2000s.
- - Paramore - Misery Business. Hayley Williams's Paramore carried pop-punk and emo into the late 2000s.
- - Vampire Weekend - A-Punk. Vampire Weekend brought bright, literate indie to a new decade.
- - MGMT - Kids. MGMT's psych-pop became one of the defining indie songs of the 2000s.
- - Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire. Kings of Leon turned Southern rock into 2000s stadium indie.
- - Foals - Spanish Sahara. Foals brought math-rock precision to expansive modern indie.
- - The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio. The National made brooding, grown-up indie rock an art form.
- - The Black Keys - Lonely Boy. The Black Keys carried blues-rock to a new generation.
- - Jack White carries the torch. From the White Stripes to a solo career, Jack White became modern rock's foremost guitar evangelist.
- - Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards. Kevin Parker's psych-pop reached a wide audience with Lonerism.
- - Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?. Arctic Monkeys reinvented themselves as a global stadium band with AM.
- - Cage the Elephant - Come a Little Closer. Cage the Elephant carried garage-rock energy into the 2010s.
- - Royal Blood - Figure It Out. Royal Blood proved a two-piece could carry heavy rock into the 2010s.
- - Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight. Brittany Howard's Alabama Shakes revived soul-rock for the 2010s.
- - Tame Impala - Let It Happen. Kevin Parker updated psychedelic rock for the streaming age.
- - IDLES - Danny Nedelko. Britain's IDLES revived post-punk with fury and heart.
- - Greta Van Fleet. '70s hard rock into the present.
- - Fontaines D.C. - Boys in the Better Land. Ireland's Fontaines D.C. led a new wave of post-punk into the 2020s.
- - The new post-punk wave. Idles, Shame, Squid and Black Midi led a raw British post-punk revival into the 2020s.
- - Black Country, New Road
- - Turnstile - Blackout. Turnstile made hardcore joyful and huge for a new generation.
- - Wet Leg - Chaise Longue. Wet Leg's deadpan 2022 debut became indie's viral breakout.
- - The Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters. The London band's debut single, released in April 2023 before they had played many shows at all. It made them one of the most talked-about new British guitar bands of the decade so far.
- - Fontaines D.C. - Starburster. The lead single from Romance, released in April 2024. Its panic-attack rhythm and sudden gasps marked the Dublin band's move away from post-punk into something stranger and larger.
- - The Last Dinner Party at Glastonbury. BBC coverage of The Last Dinner Party at Glastonbury 2024, months after their debut album Prelude to Ecstasy. The band went from clubs to a festival broadcast slot in barely a year.
- - Wet Leg - catch these fists. The lead single from moisturizer, released in 2025. It answered the question of whether the Isle of Wight band could follow a debut that had defined a moment, and did it by getting louder.
