Approaching the apparently ripe old age of 30, I take comfort in being described as a “digital native” in the socially constructed Gen Z era.
However, I often find myself wishing I was born pre-1997 – not least so I could have avoided the monotonous chart music we’ve been hearing for donkey’s years now.
For me, the mid-2000s indie-rock revival released the best selection of UK tunes this millennium – specifically the ‘landfill indie’ era.
Looking back, I feel relieved I was old enough to immerse myself in a few of of its best years before commercialisation and the stigma of each band sounding the same took over.
And last night, two of its stalwarts were performing as part of this year’s Summer Series at Dreamland. And it only amplified my belief on what I largely missed out on.
Razorlight took to the stage shortly after 7.30pm and wasted no time in showing why their hits are still revered.
The group, fronted by long-lasting member Johnny Borrell, performed an hour-long masterpiece featuring hits like Golden Touch, In the Morning and Before I Fall to Pieces.
Their self-titled second album was released in 2006 and brought the band arguably their biggest hit, and certainly mine, America – a song which generated just as much energy from the band as it did for those within the packed Margate venue.
The signature single unquestionably resulted in the most hand waving and toe-tapping from a crowd which was overwhelmingly made up of people in their 30s and 40s.
When the four-man group left the stage to thunderous applause, a few minutes of calm ensued, including from myself, as I stood in envy at my fellow audience members who, instead of having JLS, One Direction and a Take That renaissance in the mainstream during their teenage years, had Razorlight, Hard-Fi and Franz Ferdinand instead.
But, in what would have been a 2007 flashback for such Indie enthusiasts, another of the era’s best groups came on stage.
The Wombats kicked off exactly half an hour later, and, again, dived straight into what they described as some of their “bangers and mash”.
The Let’s Dance to Joy Division outfit started quite early with Moving to New York and Techno Fan, reminding us how these songs were “almost 20 years ago now” and only heightening the already nostalgic vibe within the venue.
As well as playing some of their newer tracks, including Lemon to a Knife Fight, the Liverpool-based group circulated a sea of red lights when they brought out Tokyo towards the end.
It proved to be the highest of highs in what was a thrilling night of some of the UK’s most under-valued music of the century being played.
And as I sit here on Saturday lunchtime listening to The Kooks perform at the Reading and Leeds Festival on Radio 1, you can’t help but feel, in a year which has already seen the return of Bridget Jones, the mullet and a certain Manchester band, that ‘landfill indie’ may not be so disposable after all.
