Such Great Heights

Bill Callahan's "One Fine Morning" appears in HBO's Station Eleven (2021)

Chapter 12 Soundtrack: The End Is Here The playlist accompanying my SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS chapter "Love It If We Made It" examines the 2010s aftermath of indie's mainstream moment.

The soundtrack for SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS Chapter 12, “Love It If We Made It,” is live

Best Old Music: Does 'Heated Rivalry' Herald A Hollywood Wave Of 2000s Indie Rock Nostalgia? The film and TV industry may be running back the O.C. era through a retro lens.

Jacob Tierney writing Wolf Parade into the DNA of Heated Rivalry struck me as a nostalgic return to Hollywood's post-O.C. era

I'm about the same age as the writer and I also liked death cab before they were on the OC lol: Playlist of all of the chapter's playlists: music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

The Dalai Lama won this category but I was ROBBED

Alex Turner, Alex Kapranos, and Julian Casablancas

Chapter 11 Soundtrack: Indie-Rock Poptimism Reaches Its Peak The playlist accompanying my SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS chapter "Art Angels" revisits the prime of Grimes and Haim, of Lana and Lorde, of Chvrches and Charli. Plus: PBR&B!

The soundtrack to Chapter 11 of SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS is live. This is a document of the early 2010s moment when "indie" started to truly detach from "rock" — the time of PBR&B, Tumblr-minted pop stars, and guitar bands trying to be anything but guitar bands.

Deerhunter Hated "Indie Rock" And Were The Greatest Indie Rock Band Of Their Generation The latest B-side from my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS examines Bradford Cox and friends' formidable legacy against a backdrop of indie rock gentrification

I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas revisiting the Deerhunter catalog. Here's why I think they were the greatest of their era, why I barely touched on them in my book about indie's mainstream glow-up, and why I sure wish they'd come back...

"Such Great Heights" was a great read! Thank you @chrisdeville.bsky.social!

You wove the music and social and commercial changes together deftly.

I am now on a listening journey.

I missed this yesterday in the holiday hubbub. It's great writing on a great band, one whose catalog is worth dipping into at any point in their chronology, and one whose absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. Never stop being you, Bradford Cox (and please come back).

The Best Music Books of 2025 Rolling Stone editors review the best music books of 2025, including books about Cameron Crowe, Ozzy Osbourne, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Tupac Shakur, and Bruce Springsteen.

Hey, @rollingstone.com named my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS one of the best music books of 2025! Thanks @simonwilliam.bsky.social!

am friends with josh fauver’s sister and got to meet him at a show once before they went on

lovely talented guy gone too soon

incredible band, plz come back

This is damn excellent. I absolutely loved Fading Frontier and Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared and felt like Deerhunter was entering their most interesting phase and then....silence. Please come back!

I've long wondered why Deerhunter never really made the jump to revered legacy band status. Chris' excellent essay here makes the undoubtedly correct point that this was feature-not-bug stuff in the band's pointed lack of self-mythologizing or interest in becoming part of the larger pop firmament.

Deerhunter Hated "Indie Rock" And Were The Greatest Indie Rock Band Of Their Generation The latest B-side from my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS examines Bradford Cox and friends' formidable legacy against a backdrop of indie rock gentrification

Happy Boxing Day! I wrote about why Deerhunter were the greatest indie rock band of their generation (despite Bradford Cox hating “indie rock”), why I barely covered them in my book about indie’s mainstream glow-up, and how badly I want them to come back:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll" (2009)

I never heard of this song until I got Band Hero in like 2009 and I didn’t care for it at first but all these years later, I really fuck with it.

Wolf Parade - "I'll Believe In Anything" (2005)

Such Great Heights 9781250363381 - Macmillan The definitive history of 21st century indie rock—from Iron & Wine and Death Cab for Cutie to Phoebe Bridgers and St. Vincent—and how the genre shift...

Thanks to everyone who read my writing, bought/read/listened to my book, or otherwise supported my work this year! Merry Christmas!

Chris DeVille, Author of Podcast Episode · Wilco the Podcast · 12/17/2025 · 56m

It was awesome to go on Wilco The Podcast to talk about my beloved Wilco and my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS

The Flaming Lips - "Fight Test" (2002)

TV On The Radio perform "Dreams" with Peter Murphy and Trent Reznor (2006)

I totally forgot that when I grow up, I want to be Santigold.

essa banda me lembra um bar ali na rua barra funda que ficava tocando sem parar Best Coast (o disco crazy for you amareli) quando em um determinado momento houve uma dezena de bares, baladas e casas de shows nessa região então inóspita

Band Hero menu vibes

Best Coast - "When I'm With You" (2009)

Santigold - "L.E.S. Artistes" (2008)

I’m holding my copy of Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion

@suchgreatheights.bsky.social @chrisdeville.bsky.social looks like Christmas came early

Such Great Heights 9781250363381 - Macmillan The definitive history of 21st century indie rock—from Iron & Wine and Death Cab for Cutie to Phoebe Bridgers and St. Vincent—and how the genre shift...

Gift idea for music fans: my book SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion. It's about how indie rock changed the mainstream and the mainstream changed indie rock in the 21st century. In short: how indie rock went pop!

Q&A with @chrisdeville.bsky.social, author of “Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History Of The Indie Rock Explosion” (St. Martin's Press, @suchgreatheights.bsky.social). “Brooklyn in the 2000s was like everyone's local scene”: magnetmagazine.com/2025/11/28/a...