Jangle pop

Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the early-to-mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s", as exemplified by The Byrds, with electric twelve-string guitars and straightforward, power pop-inspired song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop, epitomised by bands such as The Smiths, was a non-mainstream "pop-based format" with "some folk-rock overtones". Between 1983 and 1987, the description "jangle pop" was, in the US, used to describe bands like R.E.M., Let's Active and Tom Petty as well as a subgenre called "Paisley Underground", which incorporated psychedelic influences. In the UK, the term was applied to the new wave of raw and immediate sounding melodic guitar-bands collected on the NME's C86 (and later CD86) compilations.

History

Origins

In 1964, The Beatles' use of the jangle sound in the songs "A Hard Day's Night", "What You're Doing", "Ticket to Ride" and their cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" encouraged many artists to use the jangle sound or purchase a Rickenbacker twelve-string guitar. The Byrds began using similar guitars after seeing them played in the film A Hard Day's Night. Other groups such as The Who (in their early "Mod" years), The Beach Boys, The Hollies and Paul Revere & the Raiders continued the use of twelve-string Rickenbackers. The Byrds, whose style was also referred to as folk rock, prominently featured Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker electric twelve-string guitar in many of their recordings.