You’ve probably noticed that “indie sleaze” has made a comeback over the last few years. The moniker was retroactively bestowed onto the period, spanning roughly seven years from 2006 to 2012. And while the era is currently remembered for its grubby, brash aesthetic – all smudged eyeliner and Henry Holland slogan tees – the portraits of Rebecca Zephyr Thomas tell a slightly different story.

We Are Your Friends 01, a new zine by the Shoreditch-based, New Zealand-born photographer, documents The Underage Festival, an independent music festival that ran from 2007 to 2011 for 14 to 18-year-olds. The images, taken at the first events of ‘07 and ‘08, capture the halcyon days of the indie music scene, with teenagers splayed out in a sunny Victoria Park, decked in Minnie Mouse headbands and Peter Pan collars. There’s an innocence and joie de vivre to Thomas’s photographs, one that is often omitted from conversations about that time.

“I remember thinking the atmosphere was really nice,” Thomas told Dazed in an interview earlier this summer, “as you could only find alcohol in very limited places, so there wasn’t that loud aggressive vibe that can come with booze. The atmosphere was more dreamy and upbeat and innocent.” In the photos, a young Gwendoline Christie – long before Game of Thrones came knocking – skulks at the base of an old oak, while Florence Welch finds herself on the floor, amidst a sea of black tights and Primark ballet flats. “It was a very joyful atmosphere, plus we were surrounded by trees on a sunny day, listening to live music, and there’s something very primal about that,” remembers Thomas of the festival.

To celebrate the zine’s publication, Thomas is returning to east London for a launch party celebrating the 00s youth culture captured in its pages. As a new generation recalibrates the trends of yesteryear for the digital age, Thomas’s zine looks back on the time with a fresh perspective, remembering a time of unabashed freedom and unfiltered joy. Maybe indie sleaze wasn’t so sleazy after all.

We Are Your Friends 01 launches at Allpress Espresso Cafe & Roastery, 55 Dalston Ln, E8 2NG on October 5. For more information, click here.

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