A Playlist For…The Indie Sleaze Revival

Kate Moss and Pete Doherty in 2007. Photo from Just Jared

In the mid-aughts, MySpace lost its title as the hot and hip social site that everyone was using and Tumblr quickly took the throne. Soon, nearly every teenager was taking photos of rainbow-tinted gasoline puddles in parking lots, starting their own blog, smudging their eyeliner for the perfect “no-sleep” look and pretending to live a way more hedonistic lifestyle online than they actually were in reality. This mesh of 90s grunge and 80s messiness was declared the “indie sleaze” era by internet historians, and reports conclude that it is indeed making a comeback. If you were anything like me at 14, you dreamed of partying in Manhattan or Brooklyn and pretending you were in an episode of “Skins,” wishing you could carry a digital camera around and get a flick with Sky Ferreira and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes by your side, all three of you covered with glitter. This time can also be characterized by the relationship between Kate Moss and Pete Doherty of The Libertines, layered necklaces, American Apparel and wired headphones. The late-00s and early 2010s were a great time for “alternative” music, and I’ve been waiting to talk about it for ages. Go ahead and turn this mix on, punch the lenses out of your 3D glasses and pretend they’re real, part your hair all the way to the side and take a scroll through the @indiesleaze Instagram account to prepare your angsty self for the rebirth of true hipsterdom. 

Heavy Metal Heart by Sky Ferreira 

Reptilia by The Strokes

I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You by Black Kids

Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Can’t Stand Me Now by The Libertines

Sleepyhead by Passion Pit

L.E.S. Artistes by Santigold

Genesis by Justice

Golden Skans by Klaxons

Paris by Friendly Fires

Mirror Kissers by The Cribs

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys 

Valerie (feat. Amy Winehouse) by Mark Ronson

Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above by CSS

Daft Punk Is Playing at My House by LCD Soundsystem 

Listen to this playlist on Spotify!

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About Alli Dempsey 42 Articles
Allison (Alli) Dempsey (she/her) is a fourth-year journalism major and communications minor from Staten Island, NY. This is her fourth semester on the Oracle, and third as Arts Editor. She is also a member of the WFNP Radio E-board staff, president of the New Paltz Music Collective and manages her own music blog, Twilight Collective. You can reach her by emailing dempseya1@newpaltz.edu.