At first glance, indie rock in recent times appeared to be on life support. Fan pages for the AI folk-rock band the Velvet Sundown flooded TikTok. Recommendation engines churned out playlists for everything from “helping you pass a kidney stone” to “watching a commercial for an allergy medicine.” The last true indie artist to win the Grammy for album of the year was Arcade Fire, for The Suburbs, in 2011.