I don't understand what makes alt rock, alt rock.

Before I start, I just want to say I am very new to music. All my life, the only music I've really listened to has either been '80s radio hits or cheesy movie soundtracks from the 2000s. So I'm still trying to learn how everything really works when it comes to music.

So, one of the things that gives me a lot of joy in life and helps me with my depression is listening to music. My taste is actually pretty easy to really understand. As long as it's got a good melody and/or hook, a very strong atmosphere, and some decent themes to the tracks, I'll usually enjoy the song. Because of my autism, I also rely a lot on songs that aren't overwhelming or extremely loud. There are some exceptions, like Animal Collective. When they get overwhelming, it's more like white noise than anything else, and I Find that very soothing.

Point is, I like atmospheric, catchy tracks. And no other genre really fits that for me than alternative rock. There's just something about alt rock bands that brings such joy and escapism that no other genre really gives me. Well, other than hip hop, but I'm still trying to understand how I feel about that genre.

What I've noticed about alt rock, however, is that it's really hard for me to figure out exactly what IS alt rock. Okay, so case in point. I was on Amazon looking for a vinyl of Radiohead's Kid A, which is my 2nd favorite album of all time. I saw that it was under "alt rock", which I personally would argue that Kid A isn't, but Radiohead has released a number of albums I would say is. So I'm curious, and I give that category a look to see what else is there.

There's some decent picks that I notice. I would 100% call bands like Foo Fighters or Green Day alt rock. But then I also see that there's some weirder picks, like Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons and Billie Eilish. Okay, I guess? I think I can see that? Maybe? But I wouldn't think of those as alt rock. Right? Right???

So now I'm seeing all these bands categorized as "alt rock", and now I'm thinking, is every band that makes acoustic-focused, stripped down songs considered alt rock? What even IS alt rock? So I look it up, and every explanation I find is just so unbelievably vague or doesn't really go into detail! I even check Wikipedia to see just exactly what bands are considering alt rock, and HOLY COW, there are so many bands that I'd never really consider as "alt rock".

With that, I kinda decided that I don't think I'll ever really understand exactly what this genre is and how Hozier and Papa Roach are both considered part of the same genre. This wasn't really a "oh my god can someone please explain this to me", I just think it's really funny that I'm so dumb that I can't really comprehend why so many bands are under the same musical label.

Just wanted to write about that this morning. Check out my friend Zoeybee's blog about Taylor Swift ticket scams, too. Just wanna plug her while I'm at it, she's kewl.