Garage rock

History and character

The garage rock revival (also called post-punk revival or indie rock revival) emerged between the late 1990s and the early 2000s in the United States, Europe and Australia: stripped-down, "back to basics" rock inspired by 1960s garage rock (The Sonics, The Kingsmen, ? and the Mysterians, the 1972 Nuggets compilation) and by late-1970s new wave/post-punk. It is a reaction, in the name of "rock authenticity", against nu metal, hip hop and chart-oriented post-Britpop: energetic live performances and a fashion inspired by the '50s and '60s (skinny ties, white belts, shag haircuts).

Key bands: The Strokes (New York; Is This It, 2001, No. 2 in the UK, recorded in about six weeks by Gordon Raphael at Transporterraum, a basement studio in the East Village), The White Stripes (Detroit; White Blood Cells 2001, Elephant 2003), The Hives (Sweden; Your New Favourite Band, No. 7 UK), The Vines (Australia; Highly Evolved), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (New York), The Libertines, then the second wave with The Black Keys, Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys (whose 2006 debut became the fastest-selling debut in British history, after growth driven by the internet). Rolling Stone ran the headline "Rock is Back!" in September 2002.

Excess hype led to accusations of a lack of originality and, in the UK, the derogatory label "landfill indie" for the clones; from 2008 the movement faded, but the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Black Keys remained central throughout the following decade. The sound: guitars with little gain and lots of character (Fender, fuzz), simple riffs, dry drums, distorted or shouted vocals, live recordings with few tracks and a deliberately lo-fi aesthetic.

Scales and keys

Minor pentatonic and blues

• Formula: 1 b3 4 5 b7 / 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7.
• Example in E: E G A B D / E G A Bb B D.
• Characteristic note: b3 and b7 over major chords; the b5 in "dirty" riffs.
• Use: unison riffs (White Stripes, Black Keys), short fuzz solos.
• Real example: The White Stripes — Seven Nation Army (riff in E: E E G E D C B, which also uses the C of natural minor); The Black Keys — Lonely Boy.

Mixolydian

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7. In A: A B C# D E F# G.
• Chords: I A, IV D, v Em, bVII G.
• Use: "rock and roll" garage (The Hives, Kings of Leon), I–bVII–IV.

Major

• Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. In C: C D E F G A B.
• Use: indie garage pop (The Strokes: Last Nite in C major with C–Dm–Em–F), singable melodies.
• Real example: The Strokes — Last Nite (diatonic I–ii–iii–IV progression in eighth notes).

Natural minor and Dorian

• Aeolian: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. Dorian: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. In A: A B C D E F G / A B C D E F# G.
• Use: Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Maps (more melancholic), Arctic Monkeys (riffs with major IV).

How to choose

• "Physical" riff: pentatonic/blues. Party garage: Mixolydian. Indie garage pop: major with eighth-note triads. Melancholy: Aeolian.

Harmony

Function

Essential harmony: 3–4 chords, I–IV–V, I–bVII–IV, riffs on a single chord; diatonic progressions in eighth notes (Strokes). Simple cadences; many songs built on a single repeated riff.

Unison riffs

• The guitar riff (often also played by the bass or by the octaver) is the harmony: no full chords in the verses.

Interlocking parts

• Two guitars playing different parts (Strokes: one playing eighth-note rhythm on the chords, one lead on the high strings).

Voicing

• Power chords, high triads, partial barre chords, single-note riffs with fuzz and octaver (Jack White's DigiTech Whammy set an octave down to simulate the bass).

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

4/4 with straight eighth notes, fast and direct energy; dry rock beat, motorik in the indie parts, punk beat in the more garage parts. Recordings are often live (Is This It: most of the songs recorded live and almost always in a single take, with the band playing to a click). A human, tight feel, no frills.

Drums

Role

Minimal, dry and powerful drums. Models: Fabrizio Moretti (Strokes, drum-machine precision), Meg White (White Stripes: total simplicity, kick and snare serving the riff), Patrick Carney (Black Keys), Chris Dangerous (Hives).

Kick

• 1 and 3 or quarter notes (Seven Nation Army: kick on quarter notes with snare on 2 and 4 in the chorus); short sound.

Snare

• 2 and 4, full hit, heavily compressed.

Hi-hat and cymbals

• Closed or half-open eighth-note hi-hat, few crashes, no "decorative" cymbals.

Interaction

• The drums follow the riff (stops, accents in unison).

Sections

• Minimal verse (sometimes just the kick), chorus with cymbals; ending with a stop.

Fills

• Very few and simple.

Sounds

• On Is This It the drums were recorded with three mics (overhead, kick and one in the corner of the room) and on some songs compressed and EQ'd to sound like a drum machine; the guitar and bass bleed into the drum mics was left in.

Typical mistakes

• Drums that are too "produced"; rock fills; too many cymbals.

Bass

Sound

Bass played with a pick, midrange and defined; in the duos (White Stripes, early Black Keys) the bass is missing and is replaced by an octaver on the guitar or by organ.

Role

• Eighth notes on the root or in unison with the riff; simple, melodic lines (Nikolai Fraiture).

Examples

• The Strokes — Hard to Explain; The Hives — Hate to Say I Told You So; Arctic Monkeys — Brianstorm.

Harmonic instruments

Guitars

• Fender (Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster), cheap and vintage guitars (Jack White with Airline/Res-O-Glas and Kay), Fender DeVille, Silvertone and Vox amps; fuzz pedals (Big Muff), RAT, DigiTech Whammy.
• Layering: two guitars with different parts, one per side (Is This It: two Fender DeVilles on opposite sides of the room, one mic per amp, signal straight into the preamp with no EQ); in the duos a single guitar in the center with octaver.

Keyboards

• Combo organ (Farfisa, VOX), honky-tonk piano, sometimes Wurlitzer.

Voicing

• Single-note riffs, power chords, high triads.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• Distorted, shouted or bored voices: Julian Casablancas (sang through a small Peavey amp), Jack White (high and shouted), Pelle Almqvist (punk), Karen O (theatrical), Dan Auerbach (bluesy), Alex Turner.
• Simple, repetitive, rhythmic melodies.

Backing vocals

• Group backing vocals in the choruses, harmonies rare.

Effects

• Distorted vocal (amp, saturator, band-pass), slapback, short reverb.

Instruments

• Electric guitars (fuzz, octaver).
• Bass (or no bass in the duos).
• Basic drums.
• Vocals.
• Combo organ, piano, tambourine.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Farfisa V — Garage organ: The 1960s garage sound brought back in the 2000s: high registers, vibrato, eighth-note chords.
• VOX Continental V — Combo organ: Shrill riffs and chords (The Hives, Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
• Piano V — Honky-tonk piano: Upright piano slightly out of tune for rock and roll songs (White Stripes).
• Wurli V — Electric piano: Soul-garage colors (Black Keys).

Song structure

Form (2:30–3:30)

Often very few tracks (Is This It: most of the songs with 11 audio tracks or fewer).

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Raw, compressed and explosive, with few tracks and lots of character; no polish. References: The Strokes — Is This It (2001), The White Stripes — Elephant (2003), The Hives — Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), The Black Keys — Brothers (2010).

Drums

• Few mics: overhead + kick + room. Heavy compression on the bus (8:1, 6–10 dB, fast attack) for the "explosive" sound; EQ HP 50 Hz, +3 dB at 100 Hz (body), +3 dB at 4–5 kHz; LP 12 kHz.
• Light saturation or distortion on the bus (Decapitator, Blood Overdrive).

Bass

• HP 40 Hz, +2 dB at 100 Hz, +3 dB at 1 kHz; compression 5 dB; saturation.
• Duo with no bass: guitar with octaver, HP only at 40 Hz, and +2 dB at 100 Hz to fill.

Guitars

• One per side L80–100/R80–100; HP 100 Hz, −2 dB at 300 Hz, +2 dB at 2 kHz, LP 9–10 kHz. No reverb, or only the room.
• Fuzz: −2 dB at 5 kHz if it fizzes.

Vocals

• Chain: HP 150 Hz → band-pass/filter (LP 5–6 kHz) → distortion or amp simulation (Decapitator, Fruity Blood Overdrive, clean amp sim pushed hard) → 1176 (6–8 dB) → slapback 90–110 ms.
• The vocal must be "dirty" but intelligible (presence at 2–3 kHz).

FX

• Slapback, room, occasional reverse reverb (Is This It used only distortion and reverse echo extensively as effects).

Buses and groups

• Tape saturation on everything.

Sidechain

• No.

Master

• Target: −9/−7 LUFS integrated; true peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Too many tracks; reverbs; a clean, pop-style vocal; "big" modern drums.

Reference tracks for the mix

• The Hives — Hate to Say I Told You So (2000); The Strokes — Last Nite (2001); The White Stripes — Fell in Love with a Girl (2001); Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Maps (2003); The White Stripes — Seven Nation Army (2003); The Black Keys — Tighten Up (2010).

Reference listening

• The Sonics — Psycho (1965)
• The Kingsmen — Louie Louie (1963)
• The Hives — Hate to Say I Told You So (2000)
• The Strokes — Last Nite (2001)
• The White Stripes — Fell in Love with a Girl (2001)
• The Vines — Get Free (2002)
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs — Maps (2003)
• The White Stripes — Seven Nation Army (2003)
• The Libertines — Can't Stand Me Now (2004)
• The Black Keys — Lonely Boy (2011)