Indie Rock - Songs and Bands Trivia Quiz

Answer: Metric

Metric, started in Toronto, Canada in the late 1990s, found independent fame with early albums like "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" and "Grow Up and Blow Away", but never really hit a more mainstream market (for alternative music listeners, at least) until "Fantasies" released in 2008. Soon, their music started appearing in films and TV shows ("Black Sheep" was made for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", for instance), and David Cronenberg had them create the score for "Cosmopolis" in 2012.

Answer: Modest Mouse

U.S. band Modest Mouse, led by Isaac Brock, started releasing albums as far back as the early 1990s, not finding its stride until the 2000s with critically-renowned albums like "The Moon & Antarctica" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News". While their song "Float On" is one of their most popular, the rest of their music is much more eccentric and much less optimistic in nature; they can be a much less accessible band for some because of this. Nonetheless, Modest Mouse's live shows are considered their crown jewel; Brock and co. typically perform tours by mixing up setlists in their entirety for every venue.

Answer: Interpol

Releasing "Turn on the Bright Lights" in 2002, Interpol attracted many fans of the emerging melancholic alternative crowd; the disc ended up topic year-end and decade-end album lists from numerous critical sources. Hailing from New York City, the band of three (four originally) have since released a handful of albums, many of which have toyed with the band's core sound.

The band's third album, "Our Love to Admire", was the highest charting in the U.S. and UK; it was their first and only off an independent label.

They would return to the indie side of things with their self-titled fourth album.

Answer: Vampire Weekend

Known for their varied influences and eclectic styles, Vampire Weekend formed in New York City in 2006, releasing several indie single that received significant airplay in the U.S. and UK, bringing their first album to the forefront before they even released it.

This hype set up their second and third albums, "Contra" and "Modern Vampires of the City", to be Billboard number one releases. The latter disc ended up being "Rolling Stone's" top album of 2013, eventually winning the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy.

Answer: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Led by Karen O, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had their first big single with "Maps", a song ranked by many critics to be one of the best tracks of the 2000s. The success of their debut album, "Fever to Tell", led to further works. Their third album, "It's Blitz!" ended up on the '1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die' listing and critics' top ten charts in 2009; one of the singles was even mashed up with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on the TV show "Glee". Karen O, also known for her soundtrack contributions, was nominated for an Oscar for her contribution to the music of the 2014 Spike Jonze film "Her".

Answer: Radiohead

One of the more famous alternative rock bands to come from the UK in the 1990s, Radiohead was originally signed to EMI, launching several popular albums through them, but adapted to the industry as time went on, eventually releasing one album ("In Rainbows") online in a pay-what-you-want format.

The move, done without an official label behind them, somewhat reshaped the expectations of online music releases going forward. The band later released "King of Limbs" and "A Moon Shaped Pool" through traditional means, albeit through scaled-back, independent label XL.

Answer: Arcade Fire

This Quebec-based band was originally only popular in Canada but sprung into the international spotlight upon winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2011 for "The Suburbs". Their success continued with the long-awaited album "Reflektor", the first single of which featured guest vocals from David Bowie. Vocalists Win Butler and Régine Chassagne married in 2003, two years after the band's formation.

Answer: alt-J

The buttons 'alt' and 'J', when used on a keyboard, form the delta sign, the band's official symbol, and it's that kind of quirk that encapsulates this UK-based band made popular by their experimental nature. Their first album, "An Awesome Wave", won the Mercury Prize in the UK and topped the UK Indie Albums Chart (it reached number thirteen on the Billboard 200 in the U.S.).

Their follow-up, "This Is All Yours", reached even higher (number one on the UK Albums and number four in the U.S.).

Answer: The National

Cincinnati band The National found popularity in a slow burn, sending out several critically-renowned albums (like "Boxer" and "High Violet") before a Grammy nomination on their sixth album in 2014. While not a typical candidate for mainstream radio play due to their melancholy tendencies and poetic lyrics, The National still received coverage from many media outlets, particularly because their albums have appeared consistently in year-end best-of lists throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Answer: Stars

Led by Torquil Campbell and Amy Milian, both of Broken Social Scene, this Canadian group has been a consistent presence in the indie scene for decades, releasing tracks as far back as their "Nightsongs" album in 2001 (and further back in indie music circles that led to the creation of Metric, Feist, and others).

Their albums have a typically romantic sensibility with most songs focusing on haunting and poetic love and emotional vulnerability.