New Rave Artists

London’s mid-2000s alternative music scene gave rise to new rave, a short-lived British movement associated with Klaxons founder Jamie Reynolds and active roughly from 2005 to late 2008. It brought indie-rock bands into contact with the speed, synthetic colour and dancefloor energy of rave culture, while drawing on the loose-limbed rhythms and guitar-pop instincts of 1980s Madchester.

The music tends to move fast: bright electronic hooks, punchy drums, distorted bass and wiry guitars meet shouted or urgent vocals. It can feel rowdy and playful rather than sleek, with rock-band arrangements carrying ideas borrowed from electronica. Klaxons helped frame the style, while acts including New Young Pony Club and Late of the Pier explored different balances of pop, synths and abrasive dance rhythms.

New rave sits near alternative dance, electroclash and indietronica, but it wasn't simply indie music with keyboards or club music played by bands. Its defining pull was the collision of rave references with youthful British guitar music, often delivered at a pace suited to both a live room and a dancefloor.