The evolution of rock ’n’ roll is a story of continuous reinvention.
For decades, subgenres blossomed in local underground clubs and indie record shops, capturing a specific cultural moment before burning out or adapting. While some of these styles left an indelible mark on our collective musical memory, others were merely fleeting trends that quickly outstayed their welcome.
Looking back at the expansive landscape of rock history, we find several defunct subgenres that we remember with deep affection—and a select few that we are entirely grateful to leave buried in the past. Oh and we've picked the three bands that most vividly embodied each genre. You're welcome!
7 Rock Genres We Kinda Miss
1. College Rock
Before 'alternative rock' became a standardized corporate radio format in the mid-1990s, there was college rock. Flourishing throughout the 1980s, this genre was defined by literate songwriting, jangle-pop guitars, and a fiercely independent spirit.
Driven by non-commercial student-run university radio stations, it gave a voice to quirky, melodic bands that didn't fit into the flashy, overproduced mainstream landscape of the era. It felt exclusive, authentic, and delightfully unpolished.
1. R.E.M. – The undisputed kings of the format who rode college airplay all the way to global stardom.
2. The Replacements – The chaotic, brilliant, and heart-on-sleeve poets of the 1980s underground.
3. Pixies – Their jagged, loud-quiet-loud dynamics redefined what college and alternative rock could sound like.
Defining Track: R.E.M. – 'Radio Free Europe' (1981)
2. Psychedelic Folk
Born in the mid-1960s counterculture, psychedelic folk took traditional acoustic instruments and threw them down a rabbit hole of lysergic experimentation. Artists combined fingerpicked acoustic guitars and traditional melodies with surreal, dreamlike lyrics, sitars, tape loops, and bizarre studio effects. The result was an ethereal, earthy, yet thoroughly trippy soundscape that completely reimagined the boundaries of folk music before dissolving into the broader progressive rock movement.
1. The Incredible String Band – The Scottish duo whose eccentric, multi-instrumental compositions defined the genre's UK peak.
2. Vashti Bunyan – Her fragile vocals and pastoral, dreamlike melodies became the blueprint for modern freak-folk.
3. Comus – A darker, avant-garde outfit that blended traditional acoustic folk with terrifying, progressive themes.
Defining Track: The Incredible String Band – 'A Very Cellular Song' (1968)
3. Glam Rock
In the early 1970s, British glam rock injected a massive dose of theatricality, camp, and glitter into a rock scene that was growing increasingly self-serious. Driven by stomping, infectious handclap beats, crunching guitar riffs, and outrageous costumes, glam rock was a glorious celebration of artifice and sexual ambiguity. It proved that rock music could be deeply artistic while remaining extraordinarily fun, accessible, and pop-centric.
1. T. Rex – Marc Bolan’s infectious, boogie-fuelled rhythms kicked the entire glitter rock movement into gear.
2. David Bowie – Especially during his Ziggy Stardust era, Bowie gave glam its ultimate artistic and theatrical chameleon.
3. Roxy Music – They combined art-school sophistication, futuristic synths, and classic rock 'n' roll swagger.
Defining Track: Mott the Hoople – 'All the Young Dudes' (1972)
4. Paisley Underground
Centred in Los Angeles during the early-to-mid 1980s, the Paisley Underground was a beautiful, brief anomaly. The scene's tight-knit bands rejected eighties synthpop trends, looking back instead to the mid-sixties for inspiration. They combined the jangly folk-rock of The Byrds with dark, feedback-heavy Velvet Underground textures and garage-punk energy. It was a glorious cocktail of West Coast haze and neo-psychedelic moodiness that laid the essential foundations for the upcoming alternative revolution.
1. The Dream Syndicate – Known for their intense, sprawling guitar feedback and dark, Velvet Underground-inspired textures.
2. The Bangles – Before they became global pop superstars, they were a premier garage-pop force in this local LA scene.
3. The Rain Parade – Masters of lush, shimmering vocal harmonies and pristine, mid-sixties-style psychedelia.
Defining Track: The Dream Syndicate – 'Tell Me When It's Over' (1982)
5. Riot Grrrl
Emerging from the Pacific Northwest in the early 1990s, Riot Grrrl was a fierce, subterranean feminist punk movement. The music was intentionally raw, abrasive, and unpolished, serving as a powerful sonic vehicle for third-wave feminist politics and personal expression. It aggressively reclaimed the male-dominated punk space, fostering independent zine networks and creating an essential, uncompromising blueprint for female empowerment in alternative music.
1. Bikini Kill – The explosive, uncompromising spearhead of the movement, led by the fierce Kathleen Hanna.
2. Sleater-Kinney – Recognized for their complex guitar interplay, roaring vocals, and fierce political lyricism.
3. Bratmobile – Blended surf-rock guitars and garage-punk minimalism with sharp, witty cultural critiques.
Defining Track: Bikini Kill – 'Rebel Girl' (1993)
6. Pub Rock
In the mid-1970s, as mainstream rock bloated into overindulgent stadium spectacles and complex progressive concepts, pub rock offered a necessary reality check in the UK. Bands consciously ditched massive arenas to play dirty, sweat-soaked London pubs, delivering a back-to-basics blend of energetic roots rock, R&B, and blues. It effectively stripped away the rock-star pretence, directly paving the way for the explosive punk rock explosion that followed.
1. Dr. Feelgood – Their razor-sharp, high-energy rhythm and blues acted as a direct sonic bridge to punk rock.
2. Brinsley Schwarz – A band that perfectly blended country-rock, soul, and pop, launching the career of Nick Lowe.
3. Graham Parker & the Rumour – Offered a fierce, cynical, and passionate R&B-infused rock style that influenced Elvis Costello.
Defining Track: Dr. Feelgood – 'Roxette' (1974)
7. Canterbury Scene
The Canterbury Scene of the late 1960s and 1970s was a whimsical, highly intellectual subgenre of progressive rock. Centred around a community of musicians in Kent, England, it blended avant-garde jazz improvisation with psychedelic rock and eccentric, distinctly British humour. Characterized by complex time signatures and warm, distorted organ sounds, it was a cerebral, boundary-pushing genre that felt cozy rather than pretentious.
1. Soft Machine – Pioneers who effortlessly morphed from whimsical psych-pop into complex, jazzy progressive rock.
2. Caravan – Blended melodic, accessible pop hooks with intricate time signatures and extended organ improvisations.
3. Gong – A wildly eccentric, multinational collective famous for space-rock electronics and bizarre mythology.
Defining Track: Caravan – 'Nine Feet Underground' (1971)
And 3 genres we're glad to see the back of
1. New Romantics
Emerging from British nightclubs at the dawn of the 1980s, the New Romantic movement traded rock grit for heavily stylized synthesizer pop... and extreme fashion. While it birthed some memorable pop hits, the genre quickly devolved into a superficial exercise in style over substance. Characterized by over-the-top eyeliner, frilly pirate shirts, and heavily synthesized, synthetic drum tracks, it lacked emotional depth and felt like a highly manicured corporate product.
1. Visage – Synthesizer pioneers whose club night residency birthed the visual and musical aesthetic of the movement.
2. A Flock of Seagulls – Defining early-eighties synth-poppers, remembered just as much for their cascading, gravity-defying haircuts as for their atmospheric, guitar-and-synthesizer-driven hit singles.
3. Classix Nouveaux – Known for highly dramatic vocals, stark synth textures, and excessively theatrical Gothic-pop fashions.
Defining Track: Visage – 'Fade to Grey' (1980)
2. Nu-Metal
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nu-metal dominated the rock airwaves by aggressively fusing heavy metal riffs with hip-hop beats, turntables, and angsty industrial textures. While commercially massive, the genre quickly became a target for self-parody. It was dominated by down-tuned guitars, a complete absence of melodic guitar solos, and intensely aggressive, whiny lyrics that frequently bordered on toxic machismo and adolescent entitlement.
1. Limp Bizkit – The poster children for the genre’s commercial peak, heavy frat-boy machismo, and aggressive rap-rock hooks.
2. Linkin Park – Blended the genre's angsty core with slick electronic production and massive, radio-friendly pop sensibilities.
3. Papa Roach – Rose to fame on the tail-end of the boom with raw, highly dramatic, and relentlessly angsty anthems.
Defining Track: Limp Bizkit – 'Break Stuff' (2000)
3. Hair Metal
Also known as glam metal, this eighties juggernaut ruled MTV with massive power ballads and a relentless emphasis on spandex, hairspray, and hedonism. By the end of the decade, the genre had become completely formulaic and hollow, with bands churning out identical-sounding tracks designed purely for commercial radio. The excessive studio polish, generic guitar shredding, and clichéd lifestyle imagery eventually left music fans craving the raw authenticity of grunge.
1. Warrant – Epitomized the genre's late-stage descent into heavily commercialized, formulaic power ballads and suggestive videos.
2. Poison – Champions of excess hairspray, neon spandex, and anthems completely dedicated to backstage partying.
3. Mötley Crüe – The darker, more dangerous blueprint that every subsequent hair metal band tried to mimic to varying degrees of success.
Defining Track: Warrant – 'Cherry Pie' (1990)
Pics Getty Images
Top pic A Flock of Seagulls, November 1982
