Rockpedia

Compare

Two genres, side by side. The ratings are editorial judgements on a ten-point scale, not measurements. Where they come out level, the difference is in the prose underneath them.

First genre

Alt-country / Americana1990

Second genre

Lo-fi / slacker rock1992

Head to headAlt-country / Americana vs Lo-fi / slacker rock
Alt-country / Americana: heaviness 3, melody 9, speed 4. Lo-fi / slacker rock: heaviness 3, melody 8, speed 5.Heaviness3 / 3Melody9 / 8Speed4 / 5
Each corner is a ten-point rating. The further out, the higher.

The difference, by ear

Both value the unpolished take. Alt-country's roughness is about honesty; lo-fi's is about the medium.

Both are sung cleanly and move at much the same pace, around 80 to 140 bpm. Songs run longer in Alt-country / Americana: usually 3½ to 5 minutes, against 1½ to 3 minutes in lo-fi / slacker rock. To hear the difference, play Uncle Tupelo next to Pavement. They share a root in rock, and Alt-country / Americana came first, by two years. United States appears in the origins of both.

Put together from each genre's vocals, tempo, song length, key acts and place in the tree.

In figures

Heaviness
Alt-country / Americana3
Lo-fi / slacker rock3
level
Speed
Alt-country / Americana4
Lo-fi / slacker rock5
+1
Melody
Alt-country / Americana9
Lo-fi / slacker rock8
−1

Alt-country / Americana

1990 · USA

Where it sits

Rock › Folk rock › Country rock › Alt-country / Americana

In short

Country filtered through punk and indie: same instruments, very different attitude toward Nashville.

How it sounds

  • Country instrumentation with indie rock dynamics and distortion.
  • Deliberately unpolished production, opposed to the Nashville standard.
  • Lyrics about declining small towns, work and disappointment.

Key acts

  • Uncle Tupelo
  • Wilco
  • Drive-By Truckers

Start here

The pickWilco - Being There. A double album that cannot decide on a genre, to its benefit.

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Lo-fi / slacker rock

1992 · USA

Where it sits

Rock › Alternative rock › Indie rock › Lo-fi / slacker rock

In short

Recorded on a four-track cassette with the hiss left in deliberately. Indifference as a method.

How it sounds

  • Recorded on a four-track with tape hiss and saturation left in.
  • Approximate tuning and mistakes kept in the final version.
  • Short songs, sometimes under two minutes, with incomplete structures.

Key acts

  • Pavement
  • Guided by Voices
  • Sebadoh

Start here

The pickGuided by Voices - Bee Thousand. Twenty songs, most under two minutes.

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