99% of indie pop is good- you just havent heard most of it yet

You're welcome. There are some good things on those tapes but if you emerge from listening to them and find yourself agreeing with the thread title, you're made from stronger stuff than I am.

I have a high tolerance for messy experimental throwaway if there's at least something to grab onto. Could just be atmosphere, or the extra-musical context of the tape aesthetic. The lows emphasize the highs along the journey, too. It all contributes to an audio ransom note of pop experiments with punk spirit.

pinefox I'm sorry to have passed over your post above!

You're probably right. I remember 2004-06 the trend in indie circles was bombast and post-rock/emo melodrama with elaborate post-twee instrumentation. Classic indie-pop was all about the ingredients of punk with a pop approach, so it would make sense that this would come back when there was a need for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction. But the 80s revival was certainly extremely popular too so yeah that focus got mixed in.