The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever — #100 to #91
Posted Thursday 11/15/2007 1:00 AM in
Guide
by
Jon Dolan, Josh Eells, Will Hermes, Jonah Weiner and Douglas Wolk
Filed Under:
100. The Shaggs, Philosophy of the World, Third World, 1969Despite/because of zero aptitude, the Wiggins sisters made an accidental masterpiece of screwed-up, desperate self-expression.
Download: “My Pal Foot Foot”
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”
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”
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”
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”
95. The Dismemberment Plan, Emegency & I, DeSoto, 1999Travis 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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
The Greatest Indie-Rock Album Ever
