Line #79 Main/PerishingAltRockVoice


1	->''"The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying."''
2	-->-- '''Music/DavidByrne'''
3
4	Or Perishing Indie Voice [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage for European audiences]].
5
6	Big thing in TheNineties, though with a few precursors in the late Eighties, and still more in the Sixties (especially in the [[FolkMusic folk-rock]] and Acid Folk genres) 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]].
7
8	The Perishing Alt-Rock Voice may be interspersed with {{Metal Scream}}s and Stuttering Wailing; it also frequently leads to mondegreens 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 (which comes from extensive study with a singing teacher) as fake and scratchy, raw singing as authentic and genuine.
9
10	Basically, this trope is the difference between [[Music/SonicYouth Sonic Youth'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]].
11
12	This trope [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools is not necessarily a bad thing]].
13
14	----
15	!!Examples:
16
17	[[folder:Alternative Rock/Shoegaze]]
18	* A recurring but not chronic habit of Natalie Merchant's during her tenure with Music/TenThousandManiacs.
19	* Andrej Bukas (Андрей Букас) can do a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a_YnKpMunYAVERY impressive example of the full range of this trope.]] TearJerker warning.
20	* Music/{{Beck\|Musician}}
21	* Music/{{Blur}}.
22	* John [=Mcrea=] of Music/{{Cake}}, cf. "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_HoMkkRHv8 The Distance]]"
23	** "The Distance" is actually not typical of John [=McCrea=]'s vocal style. He doesn't normally deliver the lyrics like a robot. Normally he sounds more like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p99a6K81zqM this]], using a vocal style called ''sprechgesang''.
24	* Chris Martin from Music/{{Coldplay}}.
25	* Toni Halliday from Music/{{Curve}}, but to a noticeably lesser extent than other shoegaze bands, drifting in and out of it between songs and even within the same song (their biggest hit, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZO8eCE3cyM Fait Accompli]]", is a good example). Some of the band's later songs distorted and dampened down Halliday's vocals, achieving an odd effect where she has the volume of a perishing alt-rock voice, but a thousand times more power and emotion. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTA-_E5rLr4 Observe.]]
26	* Courtney Taylor-Taylor from Music/TheDandyWarhols.
27	* Mark Oliver Everett from Music/{{Eels}}.
28	* Music/{{Elliott Smith}}'s vocals have been described as "spiderweb-thin."
29	* ''[[{{Music/Gorillaz}} Windmill, windmill, for the land, turn forever hand-in-hand.]]''
30	** [[{{Music/Gorillaz}} I ain't happy, I'm feeling' glad/I've got sunshine in a bag...]]
31	* J. Loren of the band HURT uses this often. Most notable in "Overdose". Justified, there, as the narrator is explaining the reasons behind [=ODing=], and 'dies' at the end.
32	* Ed Kowalczyk of Music/{{Live}}
33	* Music/LizPhair, especially in ''Music/ExileInGuyville'' (the opening track "6′1″ is probably the most low-energy)
34	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Good Matthew Good]]
35	* Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star sings like this.
36	* David Usher from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moist_(Canadian_band) Moist]]. They even have a song called "Pleasing Falsetto" which is sung in this style.
37	* Music/MyBloodyValentine, collectively.
38	* Music/KurtCobain from Music/{{Nirvana}}. His songs often alternated between quiet passages of this and a louder, more energetic sound.
39	* Music/OKGo tends towards this, but the level of "perishing" varies between songs. The most evident example is probably their cover of Music/{{The Cure\|Band}}'s "The Lovecats," which is [[IntercourseWithYou fairly obviously]] of the "sexed-out bliss" variety.
40	* Fernanda Takai of Music/PatoFu.
41	* [[Music/ThePixies Black Francis]], some of the time, mostly when he's not [[CarefulWithThatAxe screaming]]. [[Music/ThePixies Kim]] [[Music/TheBreeders Deal]], most of the time.
42	* Brian Molko of Music/{{Placebo}}, moreso in earlier songs.
43	* Jarvis Cocker of Music/{{Pulp}}.
44	* Canadian band/comedy troupe Radio Free Vestibule (aka The Vestibules) invoked this along with nearly every other 90's alt-rock trope in their self-explanatory [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwujU8nra2o The Grunge Song]].
45	* Thom Yorke from Music/{{Radiohead}}.
46	* Probably the most perished example of this trope is Mark Kozelek from Music/RedHousePainters and Music/SunKilMoon. The complete lifelessness in his voice in every song he sings just makes the music all the more depressing.
47	* Michael Stipe from Music/{{REM}} can make this sound like tightly controlled passion rather than fading wastedness.
48	* Mark Gardener of Music/{{Ride}}.
49	* Ichirō Yamaguchi sings this way in {{Music/Sakanaction}}'s song "Monochrome Tokyo". It starts pretty monotonous, and then in the chorus he almost sounds like he's in pain.
50	* Brian Aubert from the Music/SilversunPickups.
51	* Mitch Stockton, the main singer from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'''s FakeBand, "sloshy".
52	* Billy Corgan of Music/TheSmashingPumpkins.
53	* Both Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore from Music/SonicYouth.
54	* Dave Pirner from Music/SoulAsylum.
55	* The Wygal sisters of Splendora were queens of the alt-rock monotone, which is almost certainly why they got to do the theme song for ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}''.
56	** Speaking of ''Daria'', love interest [[DreadfulMusician Trent Lane]] ''tries'' to pull this sound off, but ends up sounding totally stoned (and probably is).
57	* Music/Starflyer59 started off like this, as Jason tried to sing falsetto to imitate the shoegaze bands he liked, but wasn't able to put much volume behind it. Since switching to indie-pop, Jason's switched to a vocal range he's more comfortable with, so his volume has gradually increased, though he's still pretty monotone.
58	* Kelly Jones from Music/{{Stereophonics}}, which has been once described as "whiskey vocals".
59	* Sometimes, but not always, Julian Casablancas of Music/TheStrokes - "Is This It" is a good example.
60	* Geoff Rickly of Music/{{Thursday}} loves to use this as much as he loves to [[CarefulWithThatAxe utilize his screams]]. Especially in the 90's-heavy ''Waiting'' and the more expansive ''No Devolución''.
61	* Craig Nicholls of Music/TheVines on their slower songs. For some other songs, he uses a MetalScream.
62	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Smells Like Nirvana" mocks this style of singing as a cause of IndecipherableLyrics.
63	-->Now I'm mumblin', and I'm screamin'\
64	And I don't know what I'm singin'
65	* Music/JackWhite with his Music/TheWhiteStripes, side project bands and solo careers. ''Especially'' live. One moment he's droning in monotones, the next he's screaming with the utmost control, the next moment he could ''start preaching to the crowd''. Also count his guitar; he wrings out every note worthy of being in the song.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Indie Rock]]
69	* Win Butler of Music/ArcadeFire pulls this out fairly often.
70	* TK from Ling Tosite Sigure sings with a falsetto so often that it's become his SignatureStyle.
71	* Stephen Malkmus from Music/{{Pavement}}
72	* Music/PhoebeBridgers's voice has been described as a [[https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/phoebe-bridgers/small-and-quiet-singers-phoebe-bridgers-taylor-swift/ gentle purr]] and a [[https://www.thehofstrachronicle.com/category/arts-and-entertainment/2020/6/24/phoebe-bridgers-pushes-boundaries-with-punisher soft-spoken lullaby]]. She [[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/asmr-billie-eilish-phoebe-bridgers-b1787744.html apparently]] takes inspiration from ASMRVideo.
73	* For the Music/VelvetUnderground, there's Music/LouReed's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xcwt9mSbYE dry version]] and Music/{{Nico}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KiU5P4ihIQ Euro-dirge one]]. John Cale also definitely qualifies, as does his replacement, Doug Yule. Velvet Underground may well be the {{Trope Maker}}s.
74	* Used to great effect by current indie darlings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPqr7v8hSG4 Warpaint]]
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Punk/Post-Punk Rock]]
78	* Ian [=McCulloch=] from Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen had a quivering wail in TheEighties and TheNineties, followed by a deeper rasp in TheNoughties after years of smoking.
79	* Matt Berninger of Music/TheNational seems to be heading toward this as of late, as exemplified by their 2017 song “Walk It Back”.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Folk Rock]]
83	* Music/NeilYoung does this in his very early recordings, e.g. "On The Way Home" and [[Music/AfterTheGoldRush "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 {{Trope Maker\|s}}.
84	* Music/NickDrake may not be the TropeMaker (Lou Reed and John Cale probably have a heavier claim) but he could certainly qualify as one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s.
85	* Music/SufjanStevens, although he can go for a more energetic sound when doing electronica.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Experimental/Space Rock]]
89	* Joe Newman of Music/AltJ.
90	* For Music/{{Can}}, both their first vocalists sound like this at times, with a tendency to Stuttering Wailing on the part of both, and (primarily) to Emo Whispering on the part of Damo.
91	* Jason Pierce from {{Music/Spiritualized}}.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Emo]]
95	* Chris Simpson of the short lived emo band Mineral.
96	* Jeremy Enigk of Music/SunnyDayRealEstate.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:New Wave]]
100	* Annie Lennox's dominating voice was one of the reasons behind the Music/{{Eurythmics}} success during the '80s with their second album ''Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)''. Her voice in their debut album ''In The Garden'' is this trope however, appearing to float over the songs.
101	* Music/NewOrder, especially through TheEighties.
102	** 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 [[CreatorBreakdown was being eaten away by rapidly worsening depression]], eventually [[DrivenToSuicide dying by suicide,]] cutting the band's career as Joy Division short.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Metal]]
106	* Chino Moreno of Music/{{Deftones}} alternates between this style and MetalScream.
107	* Charlie Simpson from Music/{{Fightstar}} fits all the criteria listed above.
108	* Similar to Music/{{Deftones}}, Richard Patrick from Music/{{Filter}}.
109	* Anders Friden from Music/InFlames, when he's not [[HarshVocals growling]], uses a vocal style that is very reminiscent of this trope despite In Flames being a MelodicDeathMetal band. (although their later work incorporates greater levels of AlternativeMetal.
110	* Lena Kowski of Jabberwock, when she's not busy inducing CarefulWithThatAxe.
111	* Julie Christmas, when she's not screaming.
112	* Jonas Renske from Music/{{Katatonia}} sings like he's permanently on the verge of having an emotional breakdown after being traumatized for years.
113	* Music/MarilynManson, when not [[CarefulWithThatAxe screaming]], singing somewhat normally or taking a stroll through yet another musical genre, with his standard always-sounding-like-he's-gonna-pass-out singing, is often this, especially in softer songs or softer sections of songs, like "The Nobodies".
114	* [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]] sounds like this a lot of the time, except for the times he [[CarefulWithThatAxe screams]].
115	* Phil Bozeman of Music/WhitechapelBand, as of ''Mark of the Blade'' (which introduced cleans on several songs).
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Pop]]
119	* Music/AlanisMorissette in her quiet moments.
120	* 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 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1OHlLICfEk robotic monotone]].
121	* Music/BillieEilish.
122	* Music/{{Bjork}}.
123	* Music/ImogenHeap seems like a strong female example.
124	* Jim and Willaim Reid of Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain
125	* Ditto Ronnie Martin of Music/JoyElectric. Perhaps he doesn't want to sound out of place among all those synthesizers.
126	* This is Music/LanaDelRey's default setting.
127	* Music/LisaGermano.
128	* Music/LisaHannigan (whose distorted vocals can be heard on Music/TheNational's "Walk it Back", another exemplifier of this trope) reaches this on occasion.
129	* Music/ToriAmos.
130	* Both singers of Music/TheXX have this, always.
131	* Most of the {{Indie\|Rock}}/AlternativeRock side of {{BritPop}} sounded like this at times.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Electronic]]
135	* Alice Glass of Music/{{Crystal Castles\|Band}} does this on "Celestica" and "Tell Me What To Swallow", it is used in the latter to TearJerker effects once the [[AbusiveParents meaning of the lyrics]] becomes clear.
136	* Black Moth Super Rainbow later became known for running all of their lead vocals through vocoder, but their first album, ''Falling Through A Field'', more often featured vocalist Tobacco singing in a hoarse, monotone whisper through some light distortion instead.
137	* Aïda Bredou of Métisse is capable of singing like this. 'Nomah's Land' is a particularly blatant example.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Progressive Rock]]
141	* Steven Wilson of Music/PorcupineTree.
142	* Mariusz Duda of Music/Riverside falls into this at times, more so in his solo works.
143	[[/folder]]
144

Context Main / PerishingAltRockVoice