It is more difficult to write about the Estonian indie-scene than might initially be apparent. You might think that a mere nineteen years and a few bands/records would be easy enough to describe in a few thousand words… We can but try.

Let us start from the beginning: 1988. At the punk festival held at the Tartu Song Festival Grounds, the guitarist of the band called Röövel Ööbik, Allan Hmelnitski, grabbed the microphone and yelled: "Röövel Ööbik is not punk! We are independent!” Here goes…

The first shift. Just like in England

The first cassette that can be remotely connected with the term indie-rock, is the debut album of the punk band Velikije Luki of 1988, titled Jõuluks koju (Home for Christmas). After one of the band's founding members and the author of their songs Villu Tamme left, guitarist Imre Orro took his place. His work, about half of the album, more closely resembles the English guitar pop of the 1980s than punk. Velikije Luki is still known in the history of music as a punk band. Orro left the band the following year, and Velikije Luki had ceased to exist by 1992.

The next indie-album, debut cassette Ilu (Beauty) by Röövel Ööbik, dates from 1989. The biggest recognisable influence of the band, called the first indie-band in Estonia, is The Fall. Years later, the drummer Raul Saaremets admitted in an interview to the weekly Eesti Ekspress that they had created most of the material only in the studio. Or maybe not. As far as Röövel Ööbik is concerned, myths and real history tend to get mixed up.

The cassette titled Jim Arrow & The Anachrones also appeared that year. The band was put together by Imre Orro, who had left Velikije Luki and was hiding behind the pseudonym Jim Arrow. The magazine Youth, the only one of its kind in Estonia that writes about young people's music, predicted the band's future would place it among the British top ten. Jim Arrow & The Anachrones differed from contemporary Estonian bands in their lyrics, which were in clumsy English, and in their British-style sound — best described as The Byrds meet The Pastels and Stone Roses — plus an emphasised indie-approach. Splendid pop songs, such as Steel Town Puppet, were glossed over with modesty in the style of "we can't even play the guitar”.

Another debut album was recorded the same summer — Coca Cola by Metro Luminal, which grew out of punk. The material itself appeared only in the mid-1990s on a cassette in a green box. Although the style of the band leader, guitarist Rainer Jancis, revealed a faint influence of John Marr from The Smiths, Metro Luminal was not considered as part of the rising indie scene, but a band of its own. Their gloomy Estonian-language guitar pop found quite a few followers in subsequent decades. Metro Luminal is a band that everyone has heard but not many have seen on stage.

The first CD, Röövel Ööbik's Popsubterranea, was recorded in 1992 by the Finnish record company Stupido Twins. In only a few years, the band's sound had changed beyond recognition. The Fall-like irresponsibility was replaced by noise pop that demands some insight. Elsewhere in the world, My Bloody Valentine's' Loveless and Sonic Youth's Goo appeared at the same time. Popsubterranea indicated Röövel Ööbik's ability to keep abreast of the times. It should be mentioned in passing that Röövel Ööbik is one of the two ‘Eastern bloc' bands who have recorded at Peel Session in England. The name of the other band has unfortunately disappeared into the obscurity of history.

The second shift. London shows the way

Soviet Estonia had meanwhile become the Republic of Estonia. The above-mentioned bands and CDs constituted a side product of the punk movement of the time, whereas now indie was definitely in. Elsewhere in the world, shoegazers, dance floor enthusiasts and other types of action men ruled: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets etc. The Estonian effort was summarised by the collection Sue Darling in 1993. By that time the local indie-youth had already seen at the Tallinn Rock Summer festival, among others, Jesus & The Mary Chain, Inspiral Carpets together with roadie Noel Gallagher, Mercury Rev and the still unknown Blur. Most of the bands from that time on this collection — for example 1983, Morning Rise, Suck & Blow, FM Violet and Afternooning Plague Family — sank into oblivion. A few, such as Röövel Ööbik and Dallas, remained afloat for years.

The next record dates from 1994. The split cassette, with Dallas debuting on the Dubbing Good Morning side and Zahir on the other side, was called Silo. The first already reveals hints of the female vocals and bossanova sound that would later define them. Zahir, on the other hand, was simply aggressive noise, something in the key of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Metro Luminal, who had disappeared without a trace in the meantime (their cassette never appeared), resurfaced and recorded, in 1994, Ainult rottidele (For Rats Only). The music was more melodious and softer than before, but just as difficult to classify. Similar to its previous period of activity, Metro Luminal remained a separate phenomenon.

At the same time musical tastes began to change. Besides guitar pop, electronic genres were increasingly popular — jungle, house and drum'n'bass. The parties previously entertained by band +DJs started discarding the bands and making do with just the DJs.

However, ‘indie' had not yet become a swear word. It is of course better to change colours as soon as possible instead of hanging out at dance parties as an anachronism later. The first to change colours was Röövel Ööbik. Their third LP, Psychikosmos, was no longer indie or Britpop, which was rapidly emerging in England at that time, but rather house. A few years later Röövel Ööbik changed its name to Una Bomba — once the style's gone, the name might just as well follow.

Electronic funeral march to guitars

The 1995 record Hello introduced its listeners to the new winds predicted by Röövel Ööbik. Most of the bands known from earlier CDs had already vanished. A smaller number had changed, and a still smaller number remained the same. We do not see any influence of Britpop here, although the dates would suggest a local Oasis, Blur, Suede, Elastica and Pulp. Of new phenomena, we might mention college rock in the form of Blind and industrial of Pedigree. The B-side, however, is devoted to electronic dance music — Lu:k, Out-Or, Drone, Robo, to name few pioneers.

By 1997, the picture had clarified. Indie was out and everything connected with electronics and dancing was in. The CD titled Vibration vol 1 had only a few guitar pieces. Two of these — Dallas's Your New Girlfriend and Psychoterror's punk anthem Don't Pay the Tax, with hindsight turning up on this particular CD quite inexplicably -- are classics in today's relevant circles. The third piece worth attention on this CD is Dreamphish's Midnight Comes Around, the last carriage of the indie-train, reputedly the first attempt to cultivate trip-hop in Estonia.

Raj Kapoor (1995) by Dallas, who remained true to indie, was followed in 1997 by the rather jolly Sleepers Entertainer. The Canadian record company High Park Records expressed an interest in the band. The outcome was a few concerts abroad and a record of the best pieces. Then the record company disappeared and Dallas stayed in Estonia.

How to keep up with the times is shown by the Borax development curve. The LP Mikrorajon (Residential District) from 1999 is pure dance music. Compared to their 1995 cassette Ballistic, Borax was a totally different band. Borax's music and the changing scene are best characterised by some social realistic hymn to industrialisation. Incidentally — the album reputedly contains the world's best Kino's (Soviet post-punk cult band) cover song.

New generation. Back to guitars

Guitars returned at the turn of the century, probably because the newly emerged generation needed something of its own. The dance scene belonged to other people and early 1990s indie remained distant to them. The more so because the development years of these young people passed within the rhythm of Britpop if they did not happen to listen to the vastly more popular eurodisco. The new wave was introduced by the young Vaiko Eplik and his band Claire's Birthday. Simple and memorable Venus became a hit on the radio, followed by three LPs, critics singing their praises, arrogant interviews and commercial success. The year was 2000.

Pia Fraus, who graduated from an art school, did not gain such popularity. Their 2001 debut CD Wonder What It's Like was lauded, but unlike the late Britpop of Claire's Birthday, shoegaze remained too distant for the ordinary listener. Various records by Pia Fraus later appeared in Japan and the USA, but at home only a handful of fans followed their relatively successful career.

In autumn 2002 the scene started taking shape. Within the next few years the majority of bands congregated around the party series Teenage Kicks. Teenage Kicks also changed existing principles. Whatever happened abroad used to be far away and inaccessible, whereas from that point onward it was perfectly natural that Finnish and Swedish bands regularly performed with Estonian indie-bands in Tallinn.

In 2003, when the new scene gathered momentum, Dallas decided to fold. The gravestone of the band was the LP called Delay Lama, and the concert where they presented it was its last.

Sõpruse Puiestee (Friendship Boulevard) emerged on the music landscape (a fellowship of ex- and post-punk musicians brought up in the 1980s, with the leading force — singer-guitarist Allan Vainola and lyricist Mait Vaik -- known from Metro Luminal. In the wind of the radio hit 1905, inspired by the revolution of the time, the band's debut album Mustale Merele (To the Black Sea) sailed right to the top of the charts without a single supporting concert.

The time of Claire's Birthday ran out the same year. Exhausted by its stormy career curve, the band decided to take part in the preliminary round of Eurovision, just for fun, before going their separate ways. As it happened, their song 80s Coming Back was chosen to represent Estonia. In the final competition, it finished at the end of the second dozen. After the dissolution of Claire's Birthday, Vaiko Eplik assembled the pop band Ruffus and the punk ensemble Koer (The Dog). Claire's Birthday might be considered the highest-flying Estonian indie-band of all times.

Maturing of the new generation. Time of debut CDs

By 2005 a new generation of bands and their audience had emerged: Ans.Andur, Pia Fraus, Shelton San, Kwing-Kungks, Les Diamants, Id_Rev, Rumour Is News — to name but a few of the more significant ones. Of the old-timers, Röövel Ööbik and Zahir had returned to the ranks, and the quietly fading Dreamphish was getting ready to officially pack up and leave, following the example of Dallas.

The first CD of the new generation was Kohalik ja kohatu (Local But Different), and was issued by the record company Seksound, which was owned by members of Pia Fraus. After that, debut records began to emerge.

The first appeared in summer 2005 by Shelton San. The laconic EP, with only five songs, was supplemented a year later by the full-length sequel Spontaneus Black. At the Estonian music awards festival in March 2007, Shelton San was declared the best punk/metal artist. Applause.

In the autumn of 2005 Ans.Andur debuted with its LP Tuled peale (Lights on). The assets of the band from the small town of Paide included an excellent perception of melody and Estonian-language lyrics. Ans.Andur's second CD, Topeltvikerkaar (Doublerainbow), came out 18 months after the first.

In the winds of garage-rock revival, Les Diamants and Kwing-Kungks make their appearance. Zahir, too, was moving down there. Les Diamants was the first, in late 2005, to issue Fortune Fools, which remained its only CD. In a sense, Les Diamants is a typical "NME-school hype — the band rose to dizzying heights and then landed in some remote bog. Kwing-Kungks dissolved, leaving behind a dozen or so demo recordings. Zahir released its second CD, Green Means Go, only in 2007.

By 2006 the leader of Claire's Birthday, Vaiko Eplik, had mastered all the instruments, dissolved his bands and started to realise his ideas at his home studio with the help of friends. According to music critics, the result is the best domestic CD of the year Vaiko Eplik & Eliit — 1. The young melomane and Britpop aficionado had become a pop composer with a wide range. Hit-focused concerts are a thing of the past as well. Eliit's members have changed; a frequent player is the drummer Raul Saaremets from Röövel Ööbik. Music is produced on the spot and has nothing to do with CD material.

That's it.

Mart Niineste (1983) is the music editor at the daily Eesti Päevaleht.