So you wanna...

By Ramon Ramirez
Daily Texan staff

Knowing your college rock is an increasingly important social skill to posses. From “MySpace” to “Facebook,” your musical preference has never been easier to track and criticize.

But being a college music guru doesn’t have to involve pretending to enjoy Wolf Parade or knowing The Mountain Goats are a relevant, low-fi indie band and not just sure-footed mammals with curved, black horns.

More importantly, you don’t have to ignore your desire to listen to mad amounts of Fall Out Boy and Lil’ Wayne. I know I don’t. In other words, keep it real and stay true to your tastes.

This is your 500-word crash course in the essentials. Remember, being a college music guru has only one prerequisite — the desire to be one. The object here is not to outline a position paper chronicling Gang of Four’s influence on post-punk, but to cover the basics.

Know your roots

Some bands and movements are essential to know; remember that college rock stems from college radio — a relatively new medium.

Look to the key movements of the ‘80s first, since indie emerged during this decade as an alternative to mainstream rock.

The easiest way to do this is by breaking down two key terms.

Post-punk — basically, after punk died in the late ‘70s, this stuff emerged with a more experimental sound and set the stage for alternative rock.

New Wave — the term was coined by Seymour Stein, then head of Sire Records, and was named after the French “New Wave” Cinema of the 1960s.

The sound sold because of its poppy, marketable nature and was embodied by groups like Talking Heads, Television and Devo.

From here, it’s more about the individual bands of the 1980s. The important ones are: Bad Brains, The Clash, Dinosaur Jr, The Smiths, The Replacements, Joy Division, The Pixies and R.E.M.

Do Your Homework

The trend-setting hipster elite will never admit to it, but Spin is a reputable publication. They get slammed for their covers, which always feature obvious acts like The Strokes, but music snobs can’t ignore the serious content laced within Spin’s sexy layouts. From Grime to Baltimore Club, Spin’s strong suit is their stellar coverage of new movements in music.

Rolling Stone still gives five-star reviews to The Rolling Stones, but they still cover all the basics.

A plethora of artsy ‘zines are also readily available in bookstores; Fader’s coverage is worth the most attention.

Pitchfork relentlessly generates buzz (their abundant Arcade Fire praise was a major catalyst in the band’s quick take-off), but the music site has a reputation for being tremendously pretentious, so take them with a grain of salt.

Go on tour

Austin has a huge hipster counter-culture and a booming live music scene to show for it. Beerland is one of the best venues because they don’t limit themselves to one genre, but offer alt-country and punk on a consistent basis.

On big nights, like Ghostland Observatory’s CD release party, The Ritz swarms with trendy 20-somethings grooving to dance-punk. Plush is another stronghold for underground music, running the gamut with Monday hardcore shows, house DJs spinning during the week and lively hip-hop shows on Saturday night.

However, Emo’s remains Austin’s crown jewel music venue with its two stages, independent aesthetic and diversity of national and local acts.

Your ticket in

Every campus has its own isolated college radio community, so popularity of indie music is hard to chart. On this campus, there’s KVRX, a station that has sustained a tight grip on the cutting edge of new music. A quick rundown of their weekly charts does show some across the board slam-dunks.

Cat Power is a perennial new-folk favorite and her new album has been a critical darling. Electric Eel Shock, Japan’s spastic punk import, is doing big things in the underground as well.

Metric is a good band to name drop while Sigur Ros buzzes amongst those who enjoyed “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Both have hot recent albums.

My Morning Jacket may be on the rise to stardom but for now their college stock is at an all time high.

Know your terminology

Post-Punk Revival:
A combination of post-punk and new wave which has yielded poppy, accessible bands whose stocks are rising.

Biggest Name: The Killers, an underdog sensation who broke big on luck, style and a charismatic front-man who wishes he was David Bowie.

Major Players: Bloc Party, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand

New Folk:
This genre is fairly easy to identify through its title. Rehash the fashion and sound of 1960s folk and boom, it’s a new movement.

Biggest Name: Iron and Wine, Garden State Soundtrack crooning singer-songwriter also put on the map through an oddly-marketed M&M commercial

Major Players: Akron/Family, Okkervil River

Dance Punk:
Another one we can break down through its name. Punk’s attitude and methods get synth-heavy beats to create dance-ready songs that entertain masses of clapping people.

Biggest Name: LCD Soundsystem

Major Players: The Rapture, !!!, Ratatat

Garage Rock:
Crunchy, raw and low-fi rock and roll similar to 1960s British invasion bands like The Kinks. This scene’s popularity now barely qualify it as an independent movement. It’s by far the most commercially successful.

Biggest Name: The White Stripes, Grammy-winning Detroit duo with more critical acclaim than “Brokeback Mountain.”

Major Players: All the “The” bands (Hives, Strokes, Fiery Furnaces, Von Bondies)

Nu-Gaze:
A new take on shoegazer, a guitar-centered electronica UK movement from the late ‘80s, which focuses more on creating soothing, lush and spacey moods for the listener.

Biggest Name: Sigur Ros, Iceland’s revered export which have recently sold out UT’s Bass Concert Hall.

Major Players: M83, Four Tet, Caribou