You're with Stupid: Kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music

This book provides an insider's perspective on how Chicago's underground music industry played a pivotal role in transforming indie rock during the 1990s.

In the 1990s, Chicago stood at the very heart of indie rock, launching bands such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair onto the national stage. However, the musical ecosystem from which these bands emerged was vast and remarkably diverse. Grunge musicians mingled with communities exploring electronic, jazz, psychedelic, and ambient music, and an inventive, collaborative network of local labels – including kranky, Drag City, and Thrill Jockey – embraced the new and evolving sound of indie “rock.” Bruce Adams, co-founder of kranky records, was present to witness this vibrant scene unfold.

In You’re with Stupid, Adams offers a unique insider’s account of the crucial role that Chicago’s underground music industry played in the transformation of indie rock. As Adams explains, Chicago labels strategically used the attention generated by nationally recognised acts to launch bands that drew on a far wider range of influences than the Nirvana-inspired sound that then dominated popular music. While the bands themselves – such as Labradford, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Low – were not always based in Chicago, it was Chicago labels like kranky that possessed the discerning ears and the necessary infrastructure to champion this new music. In this way, sounds shaped in Chicago reached a global audience, effectively foreshadowing the genre-blending music that would characterise the twenty-first century. Written by someone who actively helped to create the scene and launch some of its most compelling music, You’re with Stupid is presented as a fascinating and thoroughly entertaining read.