The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever
Mumbled lyrics, couldn’t-care-less strumming, white dudes in sweaters — what’s not to love about indie rock? Born 25-odd years ago in suburban garages and spread via college radio, it has made distortion into something hummable, boredom into something thrilling and aimlessness into a raison d’être — and these days, thanks to blogs and the fine people at Grey’s Anatomy, it’s more popular than ever. From Kurt to Sufjan, Stipe to the White Stripes, Blender presents the definitive indie-rock user’s guide.
Jon Dolan, Josh Eells, Will Hermes, Jonah Weiner and Douglas Wolk
Blender November 09 2007
91. The Chills, Kaleidoscope World, Homestead, 1985
This New Zealand band’s alternately hopeful and shattered early singles revisited the abandoned halls of ’60s party music.
Download: “Pink Frost”
92. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, Alternative Tentacles, 1980
San Francisco anarchist Jello Biafra sang about modern atrocities with an absurdist irony. The shtick worked.
Download: “Kill the Poor”
93. Big Black, Atomizer, Homestead, 1985
Steve Albini’s guitar sounded like sheet metal being torn in half, his lyrics concerned bored suburban self-immolators and his band played at plane-crash volume.
Download: “Kerosene”
94. Half Japanese, Greatest Hits, Safe House, 1995
Undeniably difficult and triumphantly messy, it’s a 69-“song” treatise on why talent is for suckers.
Download: “Charmed Life”
95. The Dismemberment Plan, Emegency & I, DeSoto, 1999
Travis Morrison’s upper-class critiques meet these off-kilter jams like he’s trying to cram three albums of smartness into a single CD.
Download: “Gyroscope”
96. TV on the Radio, Retun to Cookie Mountain, Interscope, 2006
An arena-scale vision of indie rock broadcast straight from some grimy Brooklyn loft.
Download: “Wolf Like Me”
97. The Mekons, Rock ’n’ Roll, Twin/Tone/A&M, 1989
The smartest band to come out of first-wave U.K. punk — you can almost hear the quotation marks in their voices.
Download: “Memphis, Egypt”
98. Palace Music, Viva Last Blues, Drag City, 1995
Will Oldham warbles oddly over country-blues. So freaky, R. Kelly cast him in “Trapped in the Closet”!
Download: “The Mountain Low”
99. Dream Syndicate, The Days of Wine and Roses, Ruby/Slash, 1982
These L.A. amp torturers loved druggy late-’60s rock, but their pouty new-wave aspect made the throwback seem cool.
Download: “Tell Me When It’s Over”
100. The Shaggs, Philosophy of the World, Third World, 1969
Despite/because of zero aptitude, the Wiggins sisters made an accidental masterpiece of screwed-up, desperate self-expression.
Download: “My Pal Foot Foot”