3 Songs That Accidentally Created an Entire Aesthetic Online

Online culture has been an integral part of fanbases for decades now. From fan sites to dedicated social media accounts, fandoms have moved to the digital space. Some artists are better suited for internet culture than others. Some have even launched full-blown online microcosms of culture and aesthetics for their fans to sport. The three songs below all had that singular, culture-defining power.

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“Video Games” — Lan Del Rey

Lana Del Rey has no shortage of aesthetic charm. Since the onset of her career, she’s been an artist who didn’t just write music; she’s an artist who lives inside her songs. Her catalog is a fully realized world, rich in vintage Americana and old Hollywood imagery. Like a great script and equally matched set design, her songs are bolstered by the aesthetic she has chosen for each era of her career.

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Looking back to her big break, it was songs like “Video Games” that really launched Del Rey in the online space. This melancholy track came standard with a pretty package of Western aesthetics. Listeners didn’t just hear this song and move on; it became part of their visual diary, references to pull from in their own lives.

“I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” — Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys were one of the main influences in the “indie sleaze” movement. This is a descriptor that developed in hindsight. At the time, listeners might have called themselves hipsters or just indie. Now that we can see this era of rock as a definable epoch, we can better describe the phenomenon bands like Arctic Monkeys helped instill.

“I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” was the perfect song for this niche. Indie sleaze is all about gritty, hedonistic party culture. This song is a floor-filler to be sure, with the sharpness of indie rock. Once this song became a hit online, Arctic Monkeys listeners instantly fell into the aesthetic this song promotes.

“Sugar, We’re Goin Down” — Fall Out Boy

Flashing back a little earlier in internet fandom history, we have Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.” Before Indie Sleaze, there was “emo,” a grunge-akin aesthetic pushed on youth by bands like Fall Out Boy.

Their attitude-filled music with a melancholic lean was easily digested by their fans and synthesized into a lifestyle. In the band’s prime, you could spot a Fall Out Boy fan for miles. The “emo” way of life was catching online and being spit back out in the real world.

(Photo by Xavi Torrent/Redferns)