History Main / PerishingAltRockVoice

** New Order's previous incarnation Music/JoyDivision also has shades of this, particularly in the tracks recorded near the end of lead singer Ian Curtis' lifespan. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in an ''extremely'' dark way, seeing as how Curtis was being eaten away by rapidly worsening depression, eventually [[DrivenToSuicide dying by suicide,]] cutting the band's career as Joy Division short.

* Brian Aubert from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silversun_Pickups Silversun Pickups]].

Big thing in TheNineties, though with a few precursors in the late Eighties, and still more in the Sixties and onwards, this is singing in the voice of somebody who 1) sounds as if they're wasting away and can hardly find the energy to vocalize, with 2) attendant flattening of the emotional tone [[note]]In bad cases, it can be the musical equivalent of DullSurprise[[/note]]. Comes in a number of flavours, from ennui and [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] to sexed-out bliss to severe burnout. Sonically ranges from wispy to droney, though a fair number of Perishing Singers occupy less easily defined in-between territory, e.g. Music/LouReed, [[Music/{{Pulp}} Jarvis Cocker]], and (depending [even] more on the song) [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]].

* Music/OKGo tends towards this, but the level of "perishing" varies between songs. The most evident example is probably their cover of Music/TheCure's "The Lovecats," which is [[IntercourseWithYou fairly obviously]] of the "sexed-out bliss" variety.

The Perishing Alt-Rock Voice may be interspersed with {{Metal Scream}}s and Stuttering Wailing; it also frequently leads to {{Mondegreen}}s and IndecipherableLyrics, as well as SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein. A staple of {{Grunge}} and ShoeGazing, as well as the bread and butter of DreamPop, with a tendency to make surprise appearances in {{Industrial}}. May overlap in use with Emo Whispering and {{Yarling}}: while it's easy to sound perishing if you're singing nasally [[note]]because you're actually blocking the nose and thereby getting less air[[/note]], a lot of perishing singers (like Music/MyBloodyValentine, or Thom from Music/{{Radiohead}}) aren't nasal at all, and (as per above) they're usually far from emoting overtly. Not infrequently crosses over into CreepyMonotone or DissonantSerenity. Related to ThreeChordsAndTheTruth, in that the more fanatical ones regard polished, full-bodied singing as fake and scratchy singing as authentic.

The PerishingAltRockVoice may be interspersed with {{Metal Scream}}s and Stuttering Wailing; it also frequently leads to {{Mondegreen}}s and IndecipherableLyrics, as well as SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein. A staple of {{Grunge}} and ShoeGazing, as well as the bread and butter of DreamPop, with a tendency to make surprise appearances in {{Industrial}}. May overlap in use with Emo Whispering and {{Yarling}}: while it's easy to sound perishing if you're singing nasally [[note]]because you're actually blocking the nose and thereby getting less air[[/note]], a lot of perishing singers (like Music/MyBloodyValentine, or Thom from Music/{{Radiohead}}) aren't nasal at all, and (as per above) they're usually far from emoting overtly. Not infrequently crosses over into CreepyMonotone or DissonantSerenity. Related to ThreeChordsAndTheTruth, in that the more fanatical ones regard polished, full-bodied singing as fake and scratchy singing as authentic.

!Examples:

* Craig Nicholls of Music/TheVines.

* Aaron Dessner of Music/TheNational seems to be heading toward this as of late, as exemplified by their 2016 song “Walk It Back”.

* Remarkably early example (of the ennui/snark variety) in ''Film/{{Bedazzled 1967}}'' (1967) - Stanley (Dudley Moore) wishes to be a pop star and is instantly in a ''Ready, Steady, Go'' style show, passionately singing his heart out. His thunder is immediately stolen when the Devil (Peter Cook) does a droning number, dismissing his backup singers' praises in a robotic monotone[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1OHlLICfEk]].

** New Order's previous incarnation Music/JoyDivision also has shades of this, particularly in the tracks recorded near the end of their lifespan. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in an ''extremely'' dark way, seeing as how Curtis was being eaten away by rapidly worsening depression, eventually [[DrivenToSuicide dying by suicide,]] cutting the band's career as Joy Division short.

* John [=Mcrea=] of Music/{{Cake}}, cf. "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__PU5CVSegg The Distance]]"

Basically, this trope is the difference between [[Music/SonicYouth]]'s version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUCLoPFvNKY "Into the Groove"]] and {{Music/Madonna}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52iW3lcpK5M original]].

Basically, this trope is the difference between e.g.[[Music/SonicYouth Ciccone Youth's]] version [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUCLoPFvNKY "Into the Groove"]] and {{Music/Madonna}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52iW3lcpK5M original]].

Big thing in TheNineties, though with a few precursors in the late Eighties, and still more in the Sixties and onwards, this is singing in the voice of somebody who 1) sounds as if they're wasting away and can hardly find the energy to vocalize, with 2) attendant flattening of the emotional tone [[note]]In bad cases, it ''can'' be the musical equivalent of DullSurprise[[/note]]. Comes in a number of flavours, from ennui and [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] to sexed-out bliss to severe burnout. Sonically ranges from wispy to droney, though a fair number of Perishing Singers occupy less easily defined in-between territory, e.g. Music/LouReed, [[Music/{{Pulp}} Jarvis Cocker]], and (depending [even] more on the song) [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]].

This trope [[TropesAreTools is not necessarily a bad thing]].

** New Order's previous incarnation Music/JoyDivision also has shades of this, particularly in the tracks recorded near the end of their lifespan. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in an ''extremely'' dark way, seeing as how Curtis was being eaten away by rapidly worsening depression and eventually [[DrivenToSuicide hung himself,]] cutting the band's career as Joy Division short.

* Music/NeilYoung does this in his very early recordings, e.g. "On The Way Home" and "After The Gold Rush", and heavily on the ''On The Beach'' and ''Tonight's The Night'' albums [[note]]Mostly because he was stoned and/or drunk off his ass during the recording of both[[/note]]. Some fans consider him the TropeMaker.