What Is Jangle Pop?
Jangle pop describes a sound characterized by bright “jangly” guitars. Bands created this sound by using single-coil pickups. Pickups on electric guitars convert string vibrations into electricity. Inside of the pickup are magnetic bars, wrapped in coils. Metal coils can convert vibrations into electricity even without a power source. The metal strings on guitars work as a second magnetic body, which moves over the magnetic bars and coils. When a magnet goes over the coil an electrical current flows through it.
There are two main ways to make pickups, single or double coils. Double coils reduce the amount of outside noise interference because each coil can cancel out any background humming done by the other. Single coils on the other hand do not have noise reduction. Single coil pickups offer a crisp and clean tone, which when paired with the use of minimal distortion on amps creates the jangly sound for which the genre is named. Some jangle pop acts also employed the use of 12-string guitars. 12-string guitars produce a cascading, shimmery sound. This sound is due to the fact that it is impossible to vibrate all of the strings simultaneously.
While influenced by pop and utilizing pop writing conventions, bands still usually had a DIY mentality, an amateur sound and cryptic lyrics.
Who Is Jangle Pop?
R.E.M. is most often cited as the band who popularized this sound. There was a hub of jangle pop in southeastern university towns in the 80s. Acts like the B-52s and the dBs did not necessarily compare to R.E.M. in terms of popularity, but were still influential on the development of the genre. These bands and this genre massively influenced college radio and college rock at the time.
Of course, California had its own thriving jangle pop scene. In Los Angeles a scene termed the Paisley Underground pulled from 60s psychedelia to make their version of this music. Bands in this scene included the Three O’Clock, The Dream Syndicate and The Bangles. The Velvet Underground influenced this scene with its psychedelic lyrics and musical style.
There are even bands from New Zealand who took part in this 60s revival. This scene, called Dunedin sound, was where bands like The Bats and The Verlaines got their start.
Is Jangle Pop Dead?
Not at all. The modern indie rock scene is notorious for pulling from the past, and jangle pop is no exception. Some record labels that promoted jangle pop acts in the 90s are continuing to do so today, with new artists inspired by this scene popping up all the time. Slumberland Records is a good example of this. A label that has been finding jangle pop acts for decades, today they bring us artists such as The Umbrellas, Kids on A Crime Spree and The Reds, Pinks and Purples. Independent artists like Real Estate also have been working hard at the revival of this genre.
Jangle pop can trace its influence back clearly to the 60s, and is now in the modern day the influence for modern bands to pull from just as The Byrds and the Velvet Underground were for the jangle pop bands in the 80s.