Spend enough time reading headlines about British music and you could be forgiven for thinking guitar music is permanently either “back” or “dead”. March’s independent charts offer a less dramatic picture, from Squeeze’s Number One to YONAKA’s chart success.
Across the month, Squeeze reached Number One on the Independent Albums Chart, YONAKA entered at Number Two, The Orielles topped the Independent Album Breakers Chart and Tyketto’s Closer to the Sun entered the independent chart at Number Three on 27 March.
Gorillaz also began the month at Number One, while independent record shops produced their own slightly different pattern of winners.
Scenes do not need permission from the mainstream
None of this proves that one style of music is taking over. That is not really the point.
What it shows is that there remains a functioning audience for bands, alternative artists, physical records and independent releases. Some are established names; others are still trying to break the Top 40.
That middle ground matters. Music culture is healthier when there is space between playing your first tiny room and becoming an arena act.
For Imminent Infinity, that is exactly where the interesting stories live — the records people are buying, the bands moving upwards and the independent infrastructure underneath them.
