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.
1960s and 1970s
[edit]- ± Frank Zappa[1][2][3] (1955–1993)
- Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band[3][4] (1964–1982)
- Descendents[5] (1977–present)
- Devo[1][4][6][7] (1973–present)
- Oingo Boingo[8] (1979–1995)
- Robyn Hitchcock[9] (1972–2006)
- ± Talking Heads[4][10] (1975–1991)
- Tori Amos[9] (1979–present)
- "Weird Al" Yankovic[3][7][11] (1976–present)
- XTC[12] (1976–2006)
1980s
[edit]- Barenaked Ladies[3][13][14] (1988–present)
- Crash Test Dummies[14] (1988–present)
- The Dead Milkmen[13] (1983–present)
- Thomas Dolby[6] (1981–present)
- Gwar[6] (1984–present)
- Moxy Früvous[14] (1989–2001)
- They Might Be Giants[1][3][6][7][13][15] (1982–present)
- Violent Femmes[16] (1980–present)
- Ween[9] (1984–present)
1990s
[edit]- Andrew W.K.[6] (1998–present)
- The Aquabats[6][17] (1994–present)
- Atom And His Package[18] (1997–present)
- Belle and Sebastian[9] (1996–present)
- Ben Folds Five[6][13] (1993–present)
- Bloodhound Gang[19] (1992–2015)
- Bowling for Soup[20] (1994–present)
- Chixdiggit (1991–present)
- Cake (1991–present)
- Dynamite Hack[13] (1997–present)
- Fountains of Wayne[13] (1996–2013)
- Jill Sobule[13] (1989–2025)
- Logan Whitehurst & the Jr. Science Club[4] (1997–2006)
- Minibosses[4] (1999–present)
- Motion City Soundtrack[21] (1997–present)
- The Mountain Goats[22] (1991–present)
- Nerf Herder[1][4] (1994–present)
- Ozma[4] (1995–present)
- The Presidents Of The United States Of America[23] (1993–2015)
- Radioactive Chicken Heads[4] (1993–present)
- Tenacious D[6] (1994–present)
- Warp 11[24] (1999–present)
- Weezer[1][3][4][6][7][13] (1992–present)
- Wheatus[13] (1995–present)
2000s
[edit]- alt-J[25] (2007–present)
- Chameleon Circuit[3][26] (2008–2014)
- Jonathan Coulton[1][7] (2003–present)
- The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets (2003–present)
- The Franchise[4] (2004–2008)
- Harry and the Potters[1][3] (2002–present)
- hellogoodbye[4] (2001–present)
- I Fight Dragons[3][27] (2009–present)
- Joanna Wang (2008–present)
- Lemon Demon[28] (2003–present)
- The Megas (2004–present)
- The Protomen[6] (2003–present)
- Paul and Storm[20] (2004–present)
- Thundering Asteroids![3][29] (2009–2019)
2010s
[edit]- The Doubleclicks[1][30][31] (2011–present)
- Double Experience[32] (2014–present)
- Five Year Mission[33] (2010–present)
- Time Crash[1] (2012–2021)
Note
[edit]- ± Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chaney, Keidra (January–February 2015). "The Evolution of Nerd Rock". Uncanny. No. 2. pp. 129–133.
- ↑ "Book Review: Geek Rock". Musoscribe: Bill Kopp's Music Magazine. 2015-04-13. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "What Is Geek Rock and How Can We Better Understand It?". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 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.
- ↑ Stockspublished, Matt (2016-08-04). "Descendents and the story of Milo, punk's most nerdy mascot". Louder. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Freed, Nick; Salgado, Christina (March 14, 2014). "The Greatest Nerd Rock Records of All Time". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Words, Keidra Chaney in Uncanny Magazine Issue Two | 1860. "The Evolution of Nerd Rock". Uncanny Magazine. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.182)
- 1 2 3 4 "Nine Bands That Nerds Like | Cassava Films". cassavafilms.com. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- ↑ "Talking Heads". www.johnmcferrinmusicreviews.org. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Geek Rock: An Exploration of Music and Subculture by Alex DiBlasi (pg.186)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Weisbard, Eric (December 2000). "Geek Love". SPIN. pp. 158–162.
- 1 2 3 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.
- ↑ Blistein, Jon (November 16, 2012). "They Might Be Giants Q&A". Billboard.
- ↑ "Violent Femmes Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
- ↑ Linn, John (December 11, 2008). "The Aquabats". Phoenix New Times.
- ↑ Reports, Staff; Gray, Tyler (2001-04-02). "ATOM-IC RAGE MUSHROOMS AT SAPPHIRE". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ↑ Ben, Party. "Comedy Bands: How Far Can they Go?". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- 1 2 "Tech & Work Archives". TechRepublic. 2024-10-22. Retrieved 2026-04-20.
- ↑ "Motion City Soundtrack's unique use of the moog | Signpost". signpost.mywebermedia.com. 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Cook, John (2011-11-02). "Nerd rockers Kirby Krackle win Battle of the Geek Bands". GeekWire. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
- ↑ The Best Geek Rock Bands
- ↑ Fosco, Molly (January 22, 2013). "Alt-J: Making Nerd Rock Sexy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ Wilkes, Neil (8 June 2009). "Introducing Trock: Songs about 'Doctor Who'". DigitalSpy.com. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ Kendall, Len (February 9, 2009). "Geek Rock: I Fight Dragons". Chicago Tech Report. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
- ↑ The top 20 glorious geek rock anthems|TechRepublic
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Selinker, Mike (2013-01-08). "Geek Love: Kirby Krackle, The Doubleclicks, and the soul of nerd rock". Wired. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
- ↑ Barron, Joe (September 26, 2014). "The Doubleclicks' nerd rock in Ardmore Oct. 5". Ticket Entertainment.
- ↑ "How a Fully DIY Band Has Booked Over 500 Shows in 16 Countries: Advice From Double Experience".
- ↑ "Five Year Mission Official Website".