The stomp-clap style of indie folk is an interesting rabbit hole to get lost in. When you get right down to it, there really weren’t that many stomp-clap bands out there, because it wasn’t a genre that anyone made on purpose. It was just an amalgamation of folk elements—banjo, ukulele, stomping, clapping, heying—that became too popular to sustain itself. Oversaturation by bands like Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros made the style almost universally hated. Not to mention its association with Millennial hipsters, microbreweries, and upscale-industrial burger joints.These three bands may not be completely forgotten, and they were most successful throughout the 2010s. This list, however, is for the fellow Millennials who really liked these bands, then forgot about them when the whole indie folk hipster thing blew up. Here’s a nice reminder that these bands are still incredible.The Oh HellosSibling duo The Oh Hellos were fairly prominent in the indie folk pop scene of the 2010s. They first gained a following on Bandcamp with a 2010 EP. From there, they continued to grow as a staunchly independent band. The Oh Hellos released their self-produced debut, In the Deep, Dark Valley, in 2012, and consistently released several more albums and EPs through the years. Their sound is mercurial, majestic, and expansive, drawing on Celtic musical styles and other folk traditions. Of the stomp-clap era, The Oh Hellos flew relatively under the radar. They had a devoted following, but as a strictly independent band, they didn’t get airplay like Mumford & Sons or other signed bands. So while their contemporaries grew to mainstream oversaturation, The Oh Hellos maintained their creative freedom.First Aid KitSwedish sister act First Aid Kit emerged after their 2008 cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” gained attention on YouTube. They released their debut album, The Big Black and the Blue, in 2010, going on to release five albums and four EPs. Their most recent release was Palomino in 2023. They mostly skirted the edges of stomp-clap folk, not fully joining but standing adjacent. Like The Oh Hellos, they didn’t get caught up in the commercial saturation of the style, retaining creative integrity.First Aid Kit often produces ethereal harmonies and tribal percussive beats, tapping into an ancient spiritual feeling with their music. Their real skill was their sparse, stripped-bare production. They created indie folk songs that sounded simultaneously lush and barren. A dense forest in one moment, a dry desert in the next, but always atmospheric.The Head and the HeartThe Head and the Heart formed in 2009 and released their debut self-titled album in 2011. Considering genres, they were more involved in the indie folk scene that the stomp-clap style evolved from. That is, the acoustic indie folk of Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, and Grizzly Bear, which in turn evolved from bands like Neutral Milk Hotel.What the stomp-clap style of indie folk did in the 2000s was mostly overshadow the genuine folk bands who were emerging at the same time. Stomp-clap became synonymous with indie folk because it was everywhere, and because it was everywhere, people grew to hate it. However, bands like The Head and the Heart were still releasing quality indie folk records. It just so happened that the mainstream audience was preoccupied with stomp-clap at the time.Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic The post 3 Stomp-Clap Bands From the 2000s I Can’t Believe Millennials Forgot About appeared first on VICE.