Of all the many genres in music, indie is probably the most crowded. What began as an anti-establishment movement by bands in the 1970s and ’80s snowballed into a massive sonic category by the 2000s. What does the genre even mean anymore? It’s tough to define, but indie music tends to be less FM dial and more college radio. It’s undeniably approachable but maintains a certain streak of defiance. It’s something that biggest labels often pass on. Settling on the top 10 indie rock records was difficult and will always grant debate. Here are heavy contenders for the best ever Indie Albums.
Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest (2009)
After spending 2008 opening for Radiohead and appearing on late-night TV shows, Grizzly Bear was suddenly everywhere. But while they were on stage they perfected the material that would comprise their third full-length release, Veckatimest. The album is a masterpiece. It sounds like the final product of a meticulous and exacting evolutionary process.
Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlantacism (2003)
This record encompasses every appealing indie rock music trait, from clever lyrics and catchy choruses to moody interludes and epic slow-builds. Like a single organism, the album progresses as one, with plenty of acts, scene and mood changes along the way.
Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
Isaac Brock and company remind listeners that indie-rock should have some edge to it! The band’s outstanding sophomore record from 1997 includes iconic tracks like “Cowboy Dan,” “Trailer Trash,” and “Out of Gas.” Played back to back this three-song sequence is one of the best in the entirety of the genre.
Bon Iver: Bon Iver (2011)
Typically, Justin Vernon operates under a sonic landscape better described as indie-folk or even cerebral pop. But the Bon Iver frontman’s self-titled album is more indie-rock than anything else.. Atmospheric and freewheeling, this album is built for a reflective road trip.
Feist: Let It Die (2004)
Feist loops her vocals and guitar riffs, creating hauntingly good and beautifully lush indie-rock. This 2004 record is inventive and playful, with nods to jazz and plenty of nuance.
Feist made her entry into the much-ballyhooed Canadian Invasion of the ‘00s with this cozy and concertedly atmospheric major-label debut. Tapping a fertile market with her pseudo-jazzy spare/lavish stylings, the album exposed a genuine talent to the wider herds.
Arcade Fire: The Funeral (2004)
Arcade Fire’s high-energy first release almost set the bar too high. Many of the tracks we associate with the genre, like “Wake Up” and “Neighborhood #2 (Laika),” are on this delicious 2004 album. It demonstrates the band’s uncanny ability to weave sheer might with grace and finesse.
TV on the Radio: Dear Science (2008)
Releasing something on par with Return to Cookie Mountain is a tough task but iconic New York City act TV on the Radio surpassed it with this 2008 classic. Dear Science flexes the percussive, groove-kissed side of indie-rock, with an intoxicating effect that’s downright irresistible.
The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
Immortalized by Natalie Portman and Garden State in 2004, The Shins was well on its way to indie stardom already. A year prior, the New Mexico act released this album, which is decidedly bigger and bolder than prior releases. Not many in the indie game can make you feel all the feels quite like James Mercer and crew. A long time ago, the notion of this band changing your life was less the stuff of cringe-inducing Zach Braff screenplays and more plain truth. Today the idea seems just as unlikely as meeting your soulmate in a psychiatrist’s waiting room, but by some odd musical alchemy, all of Chutes Too Narrow’s unassuming parts—those tweaky guitars, bedroom symphonics and James Mercer’s wobbly self-harmonizing—gelled into the kind of album that demands to be proliferated by forcing headphones upon friends.
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)
Jeff Tweedy and indie go hand in glove. The Wilco frontman delivered a masterpiece with this record, which wrapped in 2001 but was refused by the band’s original label. So, Wilco and Warner Brothers parted ways and the album flourished. It doesn’t get much more indie than that.
Band of Horses: Cease to Begin (2007)
“Southern rock” has traditionally evoked muttonchops and the devil going down to Georgia, but the genre’s tapestry also includes the kaleidoscopic psychedelia of early R.E.M. and the reverb-limned keening of My Morning Jacket. Band of Horses arrived firmly aligned with the latter camp, but born of Seattle’s omnipresent rainstorms and attendant coffeehouse culture.
