The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever — #1

1. Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted, Matador, 1992
The album that lit the quietest pop-cultural explosion ever

Forming after college in Stockton, California, recording in their crazy, 40-something drummer’s home studio, Pavement were low-key geniuses casually turning the random noises in their heads into pop perfection. Eighties indie rock often felt like a safe space for desperate castoffs. These were well-adjusted suburban boys from good schools; they seemed drawn underground because they loved the sounds, not because they needed the subculture. The casual vibe gave their music a sense of style and grace, a detachment that felt like freedom. Singer-guitarist Stephen Malkmus hummed alluringly opaque poesy like, “Lies and betrayals/Fruit-covered nails/Electricity and lust” in songs that mixed the screwed-up buzz of English art-punk with the easy catchiness of ’70s am radio. Slanted sounded cheaply made, but the elegant, layered guitar static and crosscutting melodies were lovingly pastiched, like a hip-hop record. Sad but sexy, breakup-tape dramatic but leisurely and fun, it came out of nowhere and touched a nerve, quickly selling 100,000 copies and inspiring scores of bands to strive for a similar mix of beauty and brains. Indie rock’s insular scene and harsh sounds often scared people away. Pavement said in their tossed-off, übercool way: Forget that, let’s party.

Download: “Summer Babe (Winter Version),” “Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17,” “Here”

The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever100 – 91 | 90 – 81 | 80 – 71 | 70 – 61 | 60 – 51 | 50 – 41 | 40 – 31 | 30 – 21 | 20 – 11 | 10 – 2
The Greatest Indie-Rock Album Ever