2013–2015 Black and White Tumblr Grunge Aesthetic: the Last Alternative Music Subculture?
In the mid to late 20th Century, music subcultures were commonplace. Whether that be Mods vs Rockers, New Romantics, 90s grunge, or 70s hip-hop, there were core groups of instantly recognisable and culturally significant independents.
Since the turn of the millennium these subcultures have been few and far between.
Indie sleaze had its moment in the noughties and more recently K-Pop has gained worldwide traction. However, TikTok has brought fleeting trends that are outdated in weeks meaning forming long-term alternative communities is a challenge. Seemingly, the constant connection and accessibility of content provided by social media would be fertile ground for various categories of music fans to form. But when you ask the average young person about their music taste they are more open to all types of music than ever.
I’m not saying this is a negative. Diversified music tastes that span genres and nationalities is only a wonderful product of an interconnected world and increasingly genre-less music. Nevertheless, there was a time where social media provoked a long-standing and instantly recognisable subculture.
From 2013–2015, a section of teenagers were dying their hair blue, grey or black, buying vinyl records and film cameras, all whilst donning black leather jackets, ripped skinny jeans, fake glasses and fishnets inspired by the social media platform Tumblr and its black and white aesthetic. This was the early Gen Zs: the first crop of youngsters brought up in a world of visual social media platforms Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube, awkwardly struggling to navigate an online realm no other generation had encountered before and able to craft an online image of themselves from their bedroom in minutes.
Too old for One Direction and too cool for Bruno Mars, those that found themselves on Tumblr needed music to accompany them, and of course only albums aligning with the monochrome aesthetic were allowed. The pioneer of this in the indie scene was Arctic Monkeys’ iconic fifth album ‘AM,’ a record that saw them be one of the few British bands to conquer America in the past two decades. It is not just the R&B fuelled sound that remains timeless, but album art and posters from this EP will forever define the Sheffield fourpiece internationally.
In the UK, debut albums with black and white covers soon followed, for instance The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Bastille and Wolf Alice, arguably four of the biggest British bands of the past decade. Across the pond, Vampire Weekend, Cage The Elephant, Bleachers, Paramore, Panic at the Disco!, Lana Del Ray, Halsey, Twenty One Pilots, and The National all added noticeable efforts to their discographies, with album iconographies revolving around Tumblr’s distinct aesthetic.
Subcultures have typically been for youths who were angry at the world or going through that awkward phase. But there was more at stake for these teens. All the aforementioned artists were writing about failed relationships which strung a chord with a generation that, for the first time ever, could endure heartbreak on a screen before feeling it in person.
The origin of this brooding sonic theme arguably stems from Lorde releasing ‘Royals’ (see a fantastic video essay by Middle 8 on this below). Prior to the single, Katy Perry was raving about ‘Fireworks’ and LMFAO were dancing to ‘Party Rock Anthem.’ Meanwhile, the early 2010s saw the back end of upbeat indie sleaze, defined by Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats and MGMT’s summery anthems. Alternative music, inspired by pop’s slower tempos and ominous tone, shifted to more a introspective and angsty ambience: think ‘Still Into You’ by Paramore, ‘Sweater Weather’ by The Neighbourhood, and ‘Robbers’ by The 1975.
The legacy of the Tumblr 2013–2015 era remains rooted in nostalgia. Despite producing a subpar third album in 2019, half of the bandmembers quitting, and having a five year break from releasing music, Catfish and the Bottlemen return to queues of ardent fans awaiting their live return and grand sold out shows across the summer, including a second headline appearance at Reading and Leeds this August where no doubt songs from their debut will still dominate the setlist ten years on. Those heavily mascaraed teenagers in the mid 2010s are in now their 20s still wearing Doc Martens and craving reminders from their teenage years to escape a complicated stage of their lives.
A decade of Spotify recommendations and TikTok fads has left little room for new subcultures. However, it has given rise to a focus on individuals and broader reaching movements.
Currently, pop girls are rightfully having their moment from The Last Dinner Party, boygenius and Wet Leg in the indie scene, to Charli XCX, Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan in mainstream pop, to Olivia Dean and Arlo Parks in the arena of bedroom R&B. These artists are too distinct in style to form a subculture as radical and exclusive as the punks in the late 70s or the emos in the 80s. But relatable and witty lyrics, buoyant aesthetics, and an open-mindedness generates a recipe for wider reaching, more mainstream and less alternative movements in the future.
As such, 2013–2015 saw potentially the final easily identifiable, closed-off subculture driven by Tumblr’s monochrome look.
