The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever — #90 to #81
Posted Thursday 11/15/2007 1:00 AM in
Guide
by
Jon Dolan, Josh Eells, Will Hermes, Jonah Weiner and Douglas Wolk
Filed Under:
90. Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam, Domino, 2007These New York weirdos fashion deceptively hummable melodies out of burbling, buzzing, fidgety synths.
Download: “Peacebone”
89. Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll, Fierce Panda, 2005
Eddie Argos is indie rock’s finest stand-up comic. While his bandmates chug along punkishly, he reels off fantastic one-liners.
Download: “Formed a Band”
88. Daniel Johnston, Yip/Jump Music, Stress, 1983
This mentally ill Texan’s homemade tapes, championed by the likes of Bowie, Beck and Matt Groening, are so lo-fi they make Guided by Voices sound like Jefferson Starship.
Download: “Speeding Motorcycle”
87. Wolf Parade, Apologies to the Queen Mary, Sub Pop, 2005
Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug bellow like existential carnival barkers over desperate skronks.
Download: “I’ll Believe in Anything”
86. Flipper, Album—Generic Flipper, Subterranean, 1982
The slowest, heaviest hardcore-punk band; Will Shatter’s dogmatic optimism turned stage dives into trust falls.
Download: “Sex Bomb”
85. The Clean, Anthology, Merge, 2003This two-disc set spans the bright-eyed bashes of their teenage years, their ’80s breakneck jams and their ’90s psychedelia.
Download: “Odditty”
84. Beat Happening, You Turn Me On, K/Sub Pop, 1992
For onetime childish primitivists, their final album was the sound of growing up, with all its pain and joy.
Download: “Godsend”
83. The Misfits, Walk Among Us, Ruby/Slash, 1982
Fronted by a rabid Glenn Danzig, this crew of Jersey kids channeled their obsession with vintage horror flicks into fist-in-the-air hardcore.
Download: “Skulls”
82. The Embarrassment, Heyday 1979–83, Bar/None, 1995
The Wichita wiseacres yelped ironic choruses like “I’m a Don Juan!” over nervy power pop, as if being regular was way weirder than being weird.
Download: “I’m a Don Juan”
81. The Vaselines, The Way of the Vaselines, Sub Pop, 1992
Sky-high on their own hormones, trading jabs and uncertain harmonies, this Scottish duo bounced through songs like they couldn’t wait to get back to making out.
Download: “Son of a Gun”
The Greatest Indie-Rock Album Ever
