Newsletter update on my Modest Mouse cruise feature, my involvement in a cool event you can livestream, new and upcoming podcast appearances, the Spanish translation of my book(!), other recent writing for Stereogum I'm proud of, and more
Thrilled to announce that my book 'SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion' has been translated into Spanish under the new title 'LA MÚSICA INDIE.' It's available now via Ediciones Península: www.planetadelibros.com/libro-la-mus...
A hand holding a copy of the book Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion by Chris DeVille
Just got my copy of Such Great Heights by @chrisdeville.bsky.social and can’t wait to start reading it!
I wrote a gazillion words about my long history with Times New Viking, backing my way into local music from the internet, indie vs. Big Indie, and a reunion show that cast TNV as a link in a long chain of Columbus weirdo greats
Bill Callahan's "One Fine Morning" appears in HBO's Station Eleven (2021)
Jacob Tierney writing Wolf Parade into the DNA of Heated Rivalry struck me as a nostalgic return to Hollywood's post-O.C. era
I'm about the same age as the writer and I also liked death cab before they were on the OC lol: Playlist of all of the chapter's playlists: music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
The Dalai Lama won this category but I was ROBBED
Alex Turner, Alex Kapranos, and Julian Casablancas
The soundtrack to Chapter 11 of SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS is live. This is a document of the early 2010s moment when "indie" started to truly detach from "rock" — the time of PBR&B, Tumblr-minted pop stars, and guitar bands trying to be anything but guitar bands.
I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas revisiting the Deerhunter catalog. Here's why I think they were the greatest of their era, why I barely touched on them in my book about indie's mainstream glow-up, and why I sure wish they'd come back...
"Such Great Heights" was a great read! Thank you @chrisdeville.bsky.social!
You wove the music and social and commercial changes together deftly.
I am now on a listening journey.
I missed this yesterday in the holiday hubbub. It's great writing on a great band, one whose catalog is worth dipping into at any point in their chronology, and one whose absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. Never stop being you, Bradford Cox (and please come back).
Hey, @rollingstone.com named my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS one of the best music books of 2025! Thanks @simonwilliam.bsky.social!
am friends with josh fauver’s sister and got to meet him at a show once before they went on
lovely talented guy gone too soon
incredible band, plz come back
This is damn excellent. I absolutely loved Fading Frontier and Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared and felt like Deerhunter was entering their most interesting phase and then....silence. Please come back!
I've long wondered why Deerhunter never really made the jump to revered legacy band status. Chris' excellent essay here makes the undoubtedly correct point that this was feature-not-bug stuff in the band's pointed lack of self-mythologizing or interest in becoming part of the larger pop firmament.
Happy Boxing Day! I wrote about why Deerhunter were the greatest indie rock band of their generation (despite Bradford Cox hating “indie rock”), why I barely covered them in my book about indie’s mainstream glow-up, and how badly I want them to come back:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll" (2009)
I never heard of this song until I got Band Hero in like 2009 and I didn’t care for it at first but all these years later, I really fuck with it.
Wolf Parade - "I'll Believe In Anything" (2005)
Thanks to everyone who read my writing, bought/read/listened to my book, or otherwise supported my work this year! Merry Christmas!
It was awesome to go on Wilco The Podcast to talk about my beloved Wilco and my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS
The Flaming Lips - "Fight Test" (2002)
TV On The Radio perform "Dreams" with Peter Murphy and Trent Reznor (2006)
I totally forgot that when I grow up, I want to be Santigold.
essa banda me lembra um bar ali na rua barra funda que ficava tocando sem parar Best Coast (o disco crazy for you amareli) quando em um determinado momento houve uma dezena de bares, baladas e casas de shows nessa região então inóspita
Band Hero menu vibes
Best Coast - "When I'm With You" (2009)
