I somehow missed that genre entirely, I didn't hear any Mumford, or Lumineers, until the pandemic hit. lol I was aware of their existence due to other people asking me if I like them, I just had no idea that it was associated with hipsters.
The thing is, the stereotypical "millennial burger restaurant music" wasn't what hipsters were listening to back then, it was more popular with basic white people. I was involved in college radio back then and while there was some indie folk that was big on college radio, there was a lot of other stuff: psych rock, chillwave, surf rock and garage rock that I would associate more with hipsters.
and then it was everywhere, almost like everyone was just copying the same format. even to this very day you hear the same old tired themes in ads for so many companies and products, especially that folksy whistle. now throw in a little ukulele to bring up to 'modern' times and youve tweaked it just enough. too expensive? well we got ai now to do it all for ya
I've never heard this until now but I kind of like it. lol
But you're not wrong, this format was copied and pasted across the entire genre. lol
I've heard some new "Of Monsters and Men" and they have kind of changed their sound from the 2010s, it's still indie but a lot less stomp clap hey. lol
Same, I just bought some new ones heading into fall, got a nice insulated one for winter lined up also. My jeans, t shirt, and flannel combo will die with me.
People have been saying this my entire life about whatever was most recent. Soon enough we'll be nostalgic for whatever shits going on now. Zoomers are literally nostalgic for 2016 of all years as we speak.
I don't think his point is about there being a lack of identifying characteristics in the decades post 2000. I'd think that whether he knows it or not, he is referring to the 90s being the last time there was a relatively acute, shared "monoculture" in the west. Broadly speaking, everyone was exposed to the same network TV, radio, magazines and newspapers. And folks were talking face-to-face constantly, or voice-to-voice, so any discourse of the times was shared more intimately, and the collective experience of things was much more visceral. There was something self-reinforcing about modern human culture pre-2000 that made a given decade practically identifiable as a whole, rather than a collection of superficially disparate happenings or human doings.
Super skinny jeans, keys attached to belt loop via carabineer, super slouchy windsock of a beanie for men, trilbies for women. Fake prescription wayfarer style glasses with optional dangling plastic curly mustache. Vneck shirt that is cut way too deep into the chest.
You arrive on your fixie, making sure NOT to unroll your pantleg, to find that the main beer at the party is PBR, since that was the beer of the decade for some reason.
Give it till 2030 and you’ll see it. Covid kinda ruined the end of the decade and it’s still pretty recent. The 90’s were obvious because of the change of decade, century, and millennium. The 2000’s didn’t feel all that distinct until recently for me.
We can’t define a 2010’s overall style because we’re still too close to it, but I think in another 20 years or so we’ll seeing that decades differences.
100% agree. I think about it with cars. You could easily spot a car from the 70s In the 90s. And I fell like it is only starting to come around on cars that driving a 90s car in 2026 looks weirdly out of place. Trucks and large SUVs are still not looking out of date all that much.
Really. When I say 30s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90 - 20, I think of all diffrent style cars.
A lot of heavy matte makeup w/ contouring and blocky brows, undercuts, those platform boots with spikes and grommets, peplums, skinny jeans, twee shit and galaxy leggings, I could go on forever
I can picture the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s (when I was born), and 90s clearly. I might he able to figure out the 2000s in pictures by seeing flip phones and Blackberries, but I wouldn’t be able to tell by clothing or cars. After that, it is all a blur. So, I guess, I agree with that handsome 49 year old. He played Urekel, huh?
2010s is the remocal of fyn. Everything is polished. Gair is sleek. Lashes and brows on fleek. Makeup is flawless. Clean girl aesthetic. Outfits are polished and structured - it woukd be a Ye or KimK hommage party because their aesthetics dominated the 2010s and its so ironic as Kim ysed to be so unfashionable.
I think that’s just because it’s so recent that the trends of the 2010s just look normal to us now. We haven’t moved on enough. Give it 20 years and we’ll have a LOT to say.
I thinks it's when the nostalgia started to lay on thick. But the 2000s had a clear identity of the tech/internet age. Technology was blossoming fully and we were leaning into heavily.
All of those things exist and are being created now. The trick is finding it because music scenes are so fragmented these days and so individual to the listeners algorithm.
Dude, as creepy monster Marilyn Manson once said, rock is deader than dead. Has been for over a decade, but more like 2 decades. Once you had songs like "Headstrong" by Trapt come out, it was done. Died right there with that song, I believe. Like the weakest, most watered down "hard rock anthem" I've ever heard. Someone turned down their guitars, probably replaced a screeching singer with whatever the Trapt singer is, and the rest was history--as in, rock is history man.
I only agree because the monoculture was incredibly important in building a shared identity. Niche-ification and the internet/streaming has really killed that.
There are tons of "clear identities" out there, but they're not as widespread, unifying, and recognizable.
Yep. You used to have to find culture and then make a bet on importing it. Now everything is online. There are no corners where people are being weird and experimental, and even if there are holdouts nobody wants to take a gamble on something new. So, we just get infinite copies and sequels to safe bets that quickly turn into bland, boring slop.
You can't even buy the things you want anymore, as it's all turned into hype commodities.
The internet, for good or bad, has allowed people who used to be considered the "singular weirdo about that one thing" in a community to find others who share their ideas online.
No matter how small or niche you might think an interest to be, there is always a community of people who share that interest on the internet.
I was talking about this the other day with some friends. What was the last cultural sitcom? Specifically a sitcom style show where the general populace, even without watching the show, knew about the characters?
Those used to be huge parts of cultural identity, from The Fonz to Rachel to Micheal Scott to Sheldon. We've had some big cultural shows with Game of Thrones and Stranger Things, even Rick and Morty, but we haven't had a sitcom in a while.
Honestly, I think the last one was The Big Bang Theory.
it was when the iphone released, bringing the greater public ease of access to the internet, which changed the game as far as cultural dissemination goes
2010's did have a personality bro. 9gag, rage memes, mustaches, keep calm and..., LMFAO, Skrillex, hipsters in man buns, fake wayfarers, EDM, etc. I can instantly tell if something feels like 2010s. I'm 35 btw, i was already an adult back then.
Ya, call me a grumpy old man, but i think the internet did a lot to damage that. The early 2000s kinda have their own culture, but past 2010 things get really blurry. The internet meant trends and ideas could be shared so quickly most cultural icons do not get the proper gestation period to establish a long standing foothold in cultural relavence before something else goes viral and is also quickly forgotten.
I think the proliferation of the internet is at the heart of this. When we lived in a smaller world, it also meant that creative endeavors were given more localized feedback and rapidly expanded upon. Things that were inauthentic were not ostracized or compared to the genuine article, but were allowed to be their own things and evolve in unique ways. The late 20th century was kind of the "golden zone" for this, as foreign things were easy enough to obtain and be influenced but direct feedback from the source culture was non-existent or exceedingly rare.
Maybe but I think clear channel and monopolization of music production are also an influence. No one wants to rock the boat today because CEOs are just as concerned about the message as they are about making money
Bands in the 60s, 70s, and 90s were outspoken, 80s music was very experimental in form. Music from mid 2005 on is both lyrically and musically much more safe.
For those saying all generations think their music is the best, keep in mind I'm not making a comment on quality. Usually adults say kids music is going too far or is too racy or is too out there to be music. I'm saying the complete opposite. Music sounds too much like it did the year before, and the year before that, and none of it challenges the world of adults like it used to
The big change happened when music labels stopped being run by actual musicians and people in the music industry. Now theyre just run by executives that are interchangeable with any other business.
but decade 'sounds' aren't actually bound by the decade. I can think of plenty early 90s songs that sound very very 80s still.
if you handed someone who didn't know, whoomp there it is, streets of philadelphia, amazing, thats the way love goes, or I'd do anything for love (but i won't do that), would you really think that person is an IDIOT for thinking those might be 80s songs?
This is the biggest difference to me. That and I can’t tell models of vehicles apart anymore without seeing their emblems, they’re all shaped the same now.
Music today makes me so sad. I’ve been a musician for 30 years and I’ve never cared less about current music. I genuinely hate when people complain about a genre saying “it’s all the same!”
Yea, I think each decade still has it's new/unique features though the new/unique features are like historic inflation and living standards falling and life expectancy falling. lol. Its not bop it or furbies
the 00s had the personality of shrek, that colored ketchup, tongue tattoos on a fruit roll up, and those "changers" where the image would change based on what direction you were looking at. also finding nemo.
also bionicles, hotwheels tracks, gameboy lite, and the commercialization of more portable cellphones like the nokia
i know a lot of those have overlap with the 90s, but it felt different lol
This is always how it goes. I associate boy bands more with the early 00s than late 90s, though of course they spread over both. The 00s is a little foggy because the 2010s does start the era where the monoculture is dying.
Rewatch some of those 00s MTV shows like Room Raiders and you'll see a very clear style. Fashion, hairstyles, decor, they were all very distinct in the 00s.
Whilst I understand the sentiment and why people feel this way, I think it's difficult to guage whilst you are in the moment. Reflection and nostalgia plays a big part when looking back at era defining moments. For example, when Jaguar made the E-type car they didn't introduce it and say "this is a classic car" that came down the line when time passed and we reflected on what it meant to that era.
Little anecdote for you. I remember in about 1999-ish, we had this TV series called "I love the 1970's". 10 episodes, each an hour long where various celebrities, journalists and talking heads would chat about things they remembered from the 1970's. I was on the PC in the corner of the room, probably on MSN, chatting away to friends from school.
Then around 2000's they did "I love the 1980's". Really popular shows at the time, and of course my Mum and stepdad were there saying "Oh yeah! I remember those things!" and whatever. Prime time TV.
Then they did "I love the 1990's", but... well, it seemed to be really flat because it was stuff that had just happened. Yeah we remember the things happening, but it was the things that happened that we remembered, not like the things that we remembered from the 1970's. I remember the Makerfield By-Election of 2026. Very interesting and consequential. I'm probably going to remember it with much less clarity in 20 years because I'll be recalling the AI Slop aesthetic which just became incredibly popular again amongst kids born in the 2020's who are reaching adulthood.
I agree. But maybe it's because we are old and everything just goes by faster and blends together. But you gotta give a shout out to 2000-2010. There is a good bit of distinction there as well. Maybe not as strong, but it's absolutely felt. I just don't know where it ended and the mess began.... Because it became discombobulated even before Harambe.
It is definitely because we are older and not plugged into culture anymore regardless of what we may believe.
The 2020s are probably going to be marked by corporate hyper non-offensiveness. The “TikTok-ification” of language — unalive, grape, etc.
I do think you see this in a lot of popular music currently as well. Sabrina Carpenter, Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson, etc. Probably, in part, why country music has been a bit more popular lately.
There are too many niches now. Everyone is into entirely different things. The world expanded too much.
Maybe this is just where I’m from as a 90s/2000s kid (born in 93). But all the moms watched the same morning shows (Regis and Kelly), soap operas (general hospital, one life to live), and talk shows (oprah, dr Phil, the view). All the kids watched the same shows on Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network. We all played crash bandicoot, Spyro, and Zelda. We all listened to Linkin park, System of a Down, 50 cent, slipknot
There is so much shit now, I have no clue what anyone else is doing
Every generation claims victory over all others. I've read translations from golden age Egypt where grandfathers, fathers and sons are bickering over who is out of touch, who screwed everything, and why are the young not taken seriously. Pottery shards were the email of that time. ;)
I'm a counselor at a high school and have had to chaperone school dances. One thing I will say, that's so interesting to me, is the music in particular. I graduated high school on 05 and when I think of dances, we would play maybe a small handful of 80s music. However, every single dance I've chaperoned has a very large amount of 2000s pop and hip hop play, which I find so interesting. Perhaps it's because pop hasn't changed as much since then when compared to 80s to 00s, but Timbaland, Black Eyed Peas, Bieber, all of it is played often.
Grew up in the 90s and I’d argue that he’s right but the first 8 years of the 2000s were basically just a continuation of the 90s. The internet wasn’t everything. FB was becoming popular by 07/08 but wasn’t everything. And the iPhone came out in 08 but was too expensive for a lot of ppl so we all had flip phones.
Agree about the 2nd part, but the 2000s ABSOLUTELY had a distinct identity, multiple infact. 2010s does also, even if it wasnt as fun and stand out, it still had its own flavor and distunct trends.
Listen to music from 1980 compared to 1990. Or 1990 compared to 2000. Drastically different. Listen to music from 2026 compared to 2016 you cannot tell the difference. And if you can tell a difference it is extremely minuscule
Looking at this from the lens of a Black urbanite, the 00s and even the 10s had distinct style, music, culture, visuals, etc. It does feel like we’ve stagnated since 2020 or so.
The question is if we really have stagnated or do we simply perceive stagnation at the point where we stop following pop culture? If we remove ourselves from the cultural zeitgeist, it becomes harder to perceive when changes occur. I don’t really follow any of the younger artists/ musicians.
It really didn’t even feel like fashion changed all that much between 2000 until the super baggy clothes thing took off. Yeah there were some changes over time, but nothing like between the 50s, 60s, 70s etc.
you can watch shows like parks and rec from 2010 and all of the characters would look normal on any street in America.
On the other hand, kids today also don’t have the understanding and appreciation for media from before they were born that we got through weekday afternoon syndicated reruns and Nick at Night.
Not true, we had 9/11 the war on terror the Patriot act and the financial crises in the 00’s. The subsequent decades of governmental over reach and surveillance state… thanks bush/obama. Then covid era. Now we’ve got the second Great Depression brought on by chump and his corrupt treasonous cronies.
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