The Rise and Fall of ... - 8. Not Nineteen Forever

So here we are, twenty years on...

The UK indie guitar scene was a brief, bright moment where exciting new bands emerged from all corners of the UK, and made themselves available to fans. It was a time when young people controlled the culture and left the major record labels in the dust. It was an intoxicating era of community, messiness and hedonism. And actually, there is a hunger for all of that now. Many of the bands from that time are still going, and are playing to more people than they ever have before. The UK Indie Explosion holds a fascination for those audiences too young to have experienced it firsthand, and those Gen Z-ers have popularised the term ‘indie sleaze’. Meanwhile, guitar music is cool again, with the likes of English Teacher, Wet Leg, and Wolf Alice leading a rock revival.

Presented by Kate Nash
Produced by Jack Howson & Rich Power
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Sounds & 6 Music
Commissioners for the BBC were Will Wilkin and Hannah Clapham

The producers would like to extend deep thanks to:
Ed Greig for additional (early noughties) production heard across the series
David Crackles for engineering every episode
The BBC Archive team, namely David Hyde, Joseph Schultz, and Colin Waddell

Published on Friday, 25th July 2025.

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