90s and 00s artists that zoomers really like
....In the alternative listening communities that exist mostly online.
My earliest memory of discovering music was on Pandora radio in fifth or sixth grade. I don’t remember how I found it, but I listened to an alternative music station that played Two Door Cinema Club, MGMT, and the like. It was the first time in my life where my music taste had not been connected to my parents or what was on the radio.
As I continued my alternative music exploration on Pandora, YouTube, and later Spotify, I came across 90s and early 200s bands (anywhere from Nirvana to Fall Out Boy) that I was decidedly too young for. I didn’t care that they were “older” or I was blending a whole bunch of genres and scenes that would have never mixed before. Online, time and context were flat. I could listen to all of these bands and still read One Direction fanfiction. It didn’t really matter to me; all that mattered was that I liked the music.
An important distinction here is that young people do not like old music because of nostalgia (at least, in this specific, hyper-online alternative music community). What the streaming era has brought us - perhaps “online music listening era” is more accurate - is a curative approach to discovering music. Listening to Pandora during class is much more likely to inform your “old” music taste than shuffling through your dad’s old records.
Take, for example, how much young people love Steely Dan. The way they love Steely Dan is completely different from the way people in the 1970s loved Steely Dan. They do not like Reelin’ in the Years - they like Aja and Gaucho. Most of them discovered Steely Dan through Pitchfork’s re-evaluation of their discography and a confusingly long history of ironic and post-ironic appreciation. This is very different from girls in the 2010s who listened to The Beatles and said they were born in the wrong generation. She likely learned about The Beatles from her parents or grandparents. No Steely Dan listener under 35 earnestly longs for the 70s, but they like the music anyway.
So, without further adieu, in no particular order (though I put shoegaze together), the list of 90s-00s alternative artists that zoomers like, straight from my brain:
Sweet Trip
The Sundays
The Cranberries
Aphex Twin
Björk
Radiohead
The Avalanches
Massive Attack
No Doubt
Fiona Apple
my bloody valentine
Slowdive
Cocteau Twins
Mazzy Star
Daft Punk
These artists are wildly different in genre and their scenes at the time, but to me, it makes perfect sense. This list represents how people are drawn to music in the age of the playlist. In some cases, you might be cultivating a visual aesthetic to accompany the music (Björk and Daft Punk have striking visuals), or in others, you might be curating a “vibe.” The most important element to playlist creation is that the songs sound cohesive or create a similar mood, not what year they were published or what kinds of people enjoyed their music.
All of these artists are alternative, but still have a cool or ethereal aura about them - very attractive to alternative music listeners who still cultivate an “aesthetic.” For instance, Aphex Twin’s iconic yet minimalist logo is easy to post or wear, signaling you are “in the know.”
I’m also going to throw my hat in the ring and see if I can predict what the next hot 90s-00s alternative artist is going to be. Bro, just trust me bro, but I have a habit of finding these bands roughly 1-2 years before everyone (“everyone” being the loosely connected community of alt music listeners online) else does. Yes I am bragging. My resume includes Sweet Trip, The Sundays, Fiona Apple, Mitski, and Weyes Blood (who is currently the first recommended artist on Fiona Apple’s Spotify page).
90s artists I predict zoomers will start finding cool:
Deee-Lite, due to the Internet’s enjoyment of The B52s and their “decade does another decade” thing. I also think they would make a fun group Halloween costume.
Stereolab for no reason. They are just cool.
Cibo Matto because they are trip hop (see: Massive Attack) and quirky.
POiSON GiRL FRiEND because she had one viral TikTok song and she fits nicely into the "dark feminine” corners of the internet - much like Fiona Apple.
Portishead because it’s more trip hop and they had one viral song too.
Saint Etienne because people are into TV Girl and this band is simply TV Girl, but good.
I’ll leave you with one last anecdote that might make you feel better about this whole thing: I saw Slowdive live in late 2023. The crowd was a decent mixture of Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, and it felt particularly electric. I watched the older crowd dance and headbang their hearts out with so much more enthusiasm than so many young people would dare to do. It inspired me. I felt like I was seeing myself in 20 years, still attending alternative shows with my leather jacket and big boots.
All of that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t been a curious kid, shuffling through Pandora on the Two Door Cinema Club station. While the streaming era has its many fatal flaws, maybe the internet isn’t so bad.