A few months ago we gave you a gigantic list of 100 Underrated Indie Rock Songs. Well, we left quite a few important gems off that list. So here’s 10 more old school indie rock jams that will either take you down memory lane, or introduce you to a song/band that might change your life forever (I take my indie rock very seriously.) If you have Spotify, you can listen to the song embeds, or you can access the whole playlist here. Otherwise, click the name of the song to watch it on Youtube.
1. Thalassocracy – Frank Black
As a card-carrying indie rock fan, I, of course, know every Pixies song by heart and have an enduring love for them that is deeper than the love I feel for most family members. When they broke up, I took it pretty hard. But when I saw the world premiere of Frank Black’s “Los Angeles” on MTV’s 120 Minutes I didn’t give a shit about the Pixies anymore. Well, to be clear, I didn’t care that they had broken up as much as I had before seeing Frank Black ride around on a hovercraft to the back drop of some amazing combination of shoegazer heavy metal. Even though Black Francis was dead, Frank Black looked like he was alive and very fucking well. It was all so clear in my teenage brain at that moment. As a huge fan of the Breeders first album (1991’s Pod), it seemed like The Pixies turned one awesome indie rock band into two. That’s a win for everyone, right? So, the next week I confidently drove the 65 miles to Lexington, KY to the record store (remember those?) that was selling Frank Black’s first album the day it was released and put my hard-earned busboy money down. As I drove home and listened it, it dawned on me that, no, this wasn’t good. This wasn’t what I wanted at all. Sure, “Los Angeles” was awesome, but the rest was…uhh, sucky. Oh no. OH FUCK! I was hurt. I felt betrayed by Frank. He teased me with “Los Angeles” and then took it all away. So I stopped listening to him. When “Teenager of the Year” came out the following year to rave reviews I didn’t even buy it. Kind of unheard of for 1994 me. Recently I came across this album and I just want to say, I’m sorry Frank. Teenager of the Year is an amazing album and the second song, “Thalassocracy” is one of those I’ve been playing very loudly on repeat. I also have to Google its spelling every single time I type it out (I’m not very smart.)
2. Tell Me What You Want – Human Television
This is a good song by a band that not enough people have heard of. Now you’ve heard of them. I am doing the lord’s work here.
3. This is How It Feels – Inspiral Carpets
If you’re British, you’re probably saying something like “Underrated? Blimey, this song was number one for 10,000 weeks straight, mate. Now make us some tea.” But if you’re American, you’re probably saying something like “Inspiral whatnow? I have diabetes.” Since we live in America, this is going on the list.
4. This World Is Not My Home – His Name Is Alive
The problem with telling friends about a band named His Name Is Alive (or with Guided By Voices) is you always have to couch it as “No, they aren’t some shitty Jesus band, they just have a weird name.” And the name of this song doesn’t help either. And let’s be honest, they might be the best experimental Jesus rock band ever. What the hell do I know? Don’t worry about what I just wrote, just listen.
5. Math – Supernova
All you really need to know about the song are the lyrics “Bein’ with you is like math class.”
6. Strange Powers – Magnetic Fields
This band has, like, 100,000 songs. If you started listening to them now, you would be dead before you made it through one listen of their catalog. To save your life, I’m letting you know that you should listen to this one first.
7. I’m So Tired – Fugazi
Everyone knows “Waiting Room” but this Ian Mackaye piano ballad on one of Fugazi’s final releases is the perfect ender to an epic band’s epic career. It’s also a nice song that even your mom might like, and you can’t say that about many Fugazi songs. I wouldn’t fault you if you want to quibble with this song being included on a “old school indie rock” list. But here we are.
8. Sturdy Wrists – Rocket From The Crypt
RFTC once claimed that Interscope paid them $70 million to sign. While I’m guessing that’s not entirely “true,” it does make me “like them a lot more for trolling record labels even back in the 1990s.”
9. My Insatiable One – (London) Suede
Sure, Suede were the overly gay version of The Smiths (for the record, Brett Anderson couldn’t carry Morrissey’s vegan, free range soy-based water), but they had some high points. This is one of them (which Morrissey actually used to do a great cover of live.) (Sorry for all the parenthesis.) (OK, one more: this is the only song I think in the history of the world that has the lyric ‘On the escalator we shit Paracetamol’ which I think is worth noting.)
10. Williamsburgh Will Oldham Horror – Jeffrey Lewis
If the true definition of indie rock is bedsit nerds singing brainy lo-fi songs with references that require actual reading to comprehend, then someone should turn this song into a flag and fly it over the Indie Rock Headquarters. Anyway, this song is a work of art, with an epic set of lyrics with an even more amazing ending. If I ever meet Jeffrey Lewis I might give him a hug. And not one of those bro-hugs that’s basically a handshake with a back pat. I will give him the full embrace that I usually reserve for my mom or the pizza guy.
