List of geek rock artists

This is a list of artists who are known for producing music in the geek rock genre including its subgenres such as nerd punk and trock.

I Fight Dragons performing at Martyrs', Chicago, in 2009

Harry and the Potters performing in June 2007

They Might Be Giants performing in October 2010

1970s and earlier

• Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band^[1][2] (1964–1982)
• Descendents^[3] (1977–present)
• Devo^[4][5][1][6] (1973–present)
• ± Elvis Costello^[7][2](1970–present)
• ± Kraftwerk^[8](1970–present)
• Oingo Boingo^[9] (1979–1995)
• Robyn Hitchcock^[10] (1972–2006)
• ± Talking Heads^[1][11] (1975–1991)
• Tori Amos^[10] (1979–present)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic^[12][6][2] (1976–present)
• XTC^[13] (1976–2006)
• ± Frank Zappa^[4][14][2] (1955–1993)

1980s

• Barenaked Ladies^[15][16][2] (1988–present)
• Crash Test Dummies^[16] (1988–present)
• The Dead Milkmen^[15] (1983–present)
• Thomas Dolby^[5] (1981–present)
• GWAR^[5] (1984–present)
• Moxy Früvous^[16] (1989–2001)
• They Might Be Giants^{[15][4][17][5][6][2]} (1982–present)
• Violent Femmes^[18] (1980–present)
• Ween^[10] (1984–present)

1990s

• Andrew W.K.^[5] (1998–present)
• The Aquabats^[5][19] (1994–present)
• Belle and Sebastian^[10] (1996–present)
• Ben Folds Five^[15][5] (1993–present)
• Bowling for Soup^[20] (1994–present)
• Dynamite Hack^[15] (1997–present)
• Fountains of Wayne^[15] (1996–2013)
• Logan Whitehurst & the Jr. Science Club^[1] (1997–2006)
• Minibosses^[1] (1999–present)
• Motion City Soundtrack^[21] (1997–present)
• The Mountain Goats^[22] (1991–present)
• Nerf Herder^[4][1] (1994–present)
• Ozma^[1] (1995–present)
• Radioactive Chicken Heads^[1] (1993–present)
• Tenacious D^[5] (1994–present)
• Warp 11^[23] (1999–present)
• Weezer^{[15][4][5][1][6][2]} (1992–present)
• Wheatus^[15] (1995–present)

2000s

• alt-J^[24] (2007–present)
• Chameleon Circuit^[25][2] (2008–2014)
• Jonathan Coulton^[4][6] (2003–present)
• The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets (2003–present)
• The Franchise^[1] (2004–2008)
• Harry and the Potters^[4][2] (2002–present)
• hellogoodbye^[1] (2001–present)
• I Fight Dragons^[26][2] (2009–present)
• Joanna Wang (2008-present)
• Lemon Demon^[27] (2003–present)
• The Protomen^[5] (2003–present)
• Paul and Storm^[20] (2004–present)
• Thundering Asteroids!^[28][2] (2009–present)

2010s

• The Doubleclicks^[29][4][30] (2011–present)
• Double Experience^[31] (2014–present)
• Five Year Mission^[32] (2010–present)
• Time Crash^[4] (2012–2021)

Note

• ± Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

References

1. Topić, Martina (2014). "Taste, Kitsch, and Geek Rock: A Multiple Modernities View". In DiBlasi, Alex; Willis, Victoria (eds.). Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 25–44. ISBN 9781442229761.
2. What Is Geek Rock and How Can We Better Understand It?|Ultimate Guitar
3. Descendents and the story of Milo, punk's most nerdy mascot|Louder
4. Chaney, Keidra (January–February 2015). "The Evolution of Nerd Rock". Uncanny. No. 2. pp. 129–133.
5. Freed, Nick; Salgado, Christina (March 14, 2014). "The Greatest Nerd Rock Records of All Time". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
6. The Evolution of Nerd Rock – Uncanny Magazine
7. Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.176)
8. Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.49)
9. Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.182)
10. Nine Bands That Nerds Like | Cassava Films
11. Talking Heads – John McFerrin's Reviews of Music
12. Bell, Mike (April 24, 2013). "Weird Al Yankovic leads parade of geek music at Calgary's Comic Expo". Calgary Herald. Not so with Weird Al Yankovic, the true, unabashed and remarkably enduring king of a now growing genre of nerd rock — a man who's had a pretty remarkable 30-year career wearing his uncoolness on his accordion strap.
13. Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.186)
14. Book Review:_Geek Rock – Musoscribe: Bill Kopp's Music Magazine
15. Weisbard, Eric (December 2000). "Geek Love". SPIN. pp. 158–162.
16. Cantrell, Paul Alexander (2014). "'A Very Subtle Joke': T. S. Eliot, J. D. Salinger and the Puer Aeternus in God Shuffled His Feet". In DiBlasi, Alex; Willis, Victoria (eds.). Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 79–98. ISBN 9781442229761.
17. Blistein, Jon (November 16, 2012). "They Might Be Giants Q&A". Billboard.
18. "Violent Femmes Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
19. Linn, John (December 11, 2008). "The Aquabats". Phoenix New Times.
20. The top 20 glorious geek rock anthems|TechRepublic
21. "Motion City Soundtrack's unique use of the moog | Signpost". signpost.mywebermedia.com. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
22. Peter, Taylor (2014). "'My God, What an Infantile Gesture': The Mountain Goats as Emblematic of Geek Rock's Relationship with the Authentic". In DiBlasi, Alex; Willis, Victoria (eds.). Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 147–160. ISBN 9781442229761.
23. The Best Geek Rock Bands
24. Fosco, Molly (January 22, 2013). "Alt-J: Making Nerd Rock Sexy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
25. Wilkes, Neil (8 June 2009). "Introducing Trock: Songs about 'Doctor Who'". DigitalSpy.com. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
26. Kendall, Len (February 9, 2009). "Geek Rock: I Fight Dragons". Chicago Tech Report. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
27. The top 20 glorious geek rock anthems|TechRepublic
28. Mohan, Marc (January 21, 2015). "The Doubleclicks kick off a busy 2015, including a pair of weekend Portland shows: The Week in Geek". Oregon Live. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
29. Selinker, Mike (2013-01-08). "Geek Love: Kirby Krackle, The Doubleclicks, and the soul of nerd rock". Wired. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
30. Barron, Joe (September 26, 2014). "The Doubleclicks' nerd rock in Ardmore Oct. 5". Ticket Entertainment.
31. "How a Fully DIY Band Has Booked Over 500 Shows in 16 Countries: Advice From Double Experience".
32. "Five Year Mission Official Website".