And today's indie-rock fans have something that's smaller yet similar: a mini-monoculture.

In an earlier era, indie-rock fans might have worried about the new record deal and the newfound popularity, but Death Cab's evolution into a pop-chart-ready band has been steady and relatively uncontroversial.

About 15,000 indie-rock fans showed up on Saturday and Sunday, and if the concerts looked a bit like some music Web site come to life, well, that's precisely what they were.

For a proactive indie-rock fan in 2007 a debut album is more like an end product than a starting point.

Often broke but rarely poor, indie-rock fans are an intensely price-sensitive bunch.

For indie-rock fans, her blushing, eager encounters with label bigwigs will be a turnoff, but this blithe willingness to play the game is what makes her story different from the standard indie-band grousing.

Sure, indie-rock fans and musicians have plenty of reasons to be glad that The Believer throws such an entertaining party every year.

It took nearly 40 minutes, but I made it, to find a seemingly comatose crowd of young, predominantly white indie-rock fans.

Another musician making indie rock for the kids of indie-rock fans is Ralph's World.

The 10 finalists cover a diversity of genres, or at least diversity as an indie-rock fan might interpret that term.