Garage rock is a subgenre of rock'n'roll that dates back to the late 1950's when amateur bands exploded across the United States. The name comes from the assumption that bands practiced in suburban garages and were often very crude, but this belies the fact that they were diverse in their approaches, ranging from basic one or two chord wonders to very professional acts that even had regional hits. Some bands, like The Monks and The Velvet Underground, were even very experimental in their approach. For example, the Velvet Underground were as much influenced by avant-garde composers like LaMonte Young and Ornette Coleman as they were Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Link Wray and Bob Dylan. While the Monks were less influenced by the Avant Garde, their approach was unusual by using a banjo as a replacement for a lead guitar that gave a wiry sound, lyrics that bordered on surreal minimalistic rants, no use of cymbals and drumming that owed as much to polkas and military marches as they did rock'n'roll.

The most famous characteristics of garage rock are the Fuzztone guitar sound (as used on "The Witc...

The modern version alternative music--actually an offshoot with roots from the British rock subgenre.
NOTE: Garage rock has changed in the last 40 years. The feel is more fast pased, and it usually gives a "complete" feeling; there are usually no boring gaps or holes in the song. Garage rock shares some qualities with Indie, such as their individuality. Also, these bands are often the lesser known bands, which has no correlation with their talent.

Contrary to emo, pop, metal, punk, goth, "modern" or "anthem" rock, etc...