The 50 Most Influential Indie Rock Bands

By Caitlin White

Indie rock has transmogrified into one of the hardest genres on earth to define. Bands trying to break through love to title themselves as “indie rock” as though it were a specific sound, while critics love to point back to scions of the underground scene in an attempt to pinpoint when the genre began. Questions of mainstream success and major label affiliation also enter the ring—are there really sell-out points and did bands that cavorted with the majors disqualify themselves from indie status forever?

These debates and many others, (such as my current favorite, what is the line between indie rock and folk, but that’s for another piece) are fringing themselves into tinier and more complex questions, even as you are reading this. Here at P&P we may not hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the indie universe, but we have selected what our 50 most influential bands on the indie rock scene and sound are. In the case of these selections, bands were regarded for their contribution to their present time, as well as the way their sound infiltrated future generations. Bands were not disqualified for signing with the majors (Hello—Sonic Youth even did it guys), but certain levels of mainstream success (read: The Beatles) were taken into consideration.

Is 2013 the year we go post-indie? Is 2013 the year we stop using the prefix post plus an old genre name to describe new things? Only time will tell. For now, read through our picks and get really disgruntled or really happy, then tell us your thoughts—because we know you’ll have them—on Twitter.

Years active: 2000 - 2004

Influenced: Islands

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Jam: "I Was Born A Unicorn." An ode to the multi-faceted, drama-ridden history of the unicorn, one that is full of far more sorrow than we imagined.

The outside-of-the-margins lyrical style of The Unicorns contributed to their quick rise to fame. A Montreal-based band, the duo of Nick Thorburn and Alden Ginger released quirky, fast-paced pop rock that landed them spots opening for the likes of Cat Power, The Walkmen and Hot Hot Heat to name a few. Their colorful, DIY dynamic preceded the major rise of such elements in the forthcoming decade. Combining flutes and noisemakers with some pretty standard post-rock elements, the group released two albums before disbanding in dramatic fashion in 2004 when Thorburn opted to publicly say he was done with the band and walk offstage at their show in Houston, Texas. Nevertheless, the band bridged a gap between harder rock and the charmingness of new indie that helped lead the genre in new directions.

Years active: 1993 - present

Influenced: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Vampire Weekend

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Jam: "Nobody Gets Me But You." An-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink track about that one person who makes everything else disappear.

Post-punk, pop, and brash, Spoon took the intense individuality of the Texan spirit and transmuted it into an eclectic rock that captured the attention of listeners from every region. Welding whiney vocals and repetitive, noisy guitar licks with a particular emphasis on drummer Jim Eno's sound, the group grew in notoriety when the film Stranger Than Fiction featured their track "The Way We Get By" and a number of television shows, including Veronica Mars and The O.C., opted to use their songs in episodes. Spoon utilized tried and true indie-pop motifs like hand claps alongside piano driven hooks and even occasional fuzzed out guitars that evoke the rebellion of a more political era, but the group has a distinct sound that encapsulates the direction that indie rock has taken in more recent years.

Years active: 1995 - present

Influenced: Pedro the Lion

Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska

Jam: "First Day of My Life." A song for when it feels like love might actually be real this time, cracks and all.

Conor Oberst and his emo band Bright Eyes were the rallying flag for a whole group of confused, fucked up emotional teenage music lovers. The years of Bright Eyes adoration have retrospectively come to an end for most of their initial fanbase, but this was one of those groups that really got inside the mentality of their audience and brought those emotions directly into the music. Oberst's quavering, pining voice echoed the many concerns and qualms of teenagers (or just emotionally unstable adults) scattered across the country, stuck in their own lonely nights and diary-thoughts. His confessional narratives and bony guitar work are vertebrae in the back-bone that became the "emo" genre. Oberst later split off for his own solo career into myriad other groups, but Bright Eyes was a foundational part of his own fame, and it seems, self-awareness.

Years active: 1999 - present

Influenced: Monotone vocals stylings, Local Natives

Hometown: Cincinatti, Ohio

Jam: "Gospel." This one isn't about the good news, but the religions of consumerism, nationalism, boredom and warfare that do battle with our best intentions.

Despair fringes the edges of Matt Berninger's baritone, and his deep-throated prophecies and poetics separate The National from a myriad of other compelling alt rock bands in the '90s. Mixing politics, unrequited love and often hopeful, tiny observations about obscure elements of life, the impact of this group on the early 2000s was incredible and cited by critics and casual music listeners alike. It is impossible to give Berninger all the credit, though; brothers Aaron and Bryce Dressner's guitar work shackled against Bryan Devendorf's on-point drumming provide the perfect backdrop for unfurling emotional admissions. The dark space of the mind that The National inhabited was an indicator of the confusion that the turn of the century and quickly changing state of the world had enacted on—literally—the national psyche.

Years active: 2000 - present

Influenced: A "New York" sound, folk and rock elements

Hometown: New York City, New York

Jam: "Blue As Your Blood." A study in how to break your own heart beautifully.

The unhurried, slow-building rock of The Walkmen led the group to become yet another distinctively New York band, growing in over-all acclaim in the last decade or so. Their incorporation of circuitous folk rock and anthematic climaxes results in a sound that is distinctly their own. Heavy on piano and vintage instrumentals, the group is reminiscent of earlier decades of rock music, but Hamilton Leithauser's warm and winding voice anchors them firmly in the present time. Slow celebrations and majestic claims—The Walkmen took rock and turned it royal again.

Years active: 2007 - present

Influenced: A rejuvenation of folk influences in indie rock

Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Jam: "Blood Bank." Turning veins into roads and plasma into palpable emotion, Vernon's poetic license flows freely in this oddly formed lullabye.

Well, back in 2007 it had been a long time since the modern indie world truly embraced a folk star. Cue a heartbroken guy with a killer falsetto recording a bunch of songs in the woods—the world rejoiced. Never has the entire community of indie music so strongly swelled in support for a musician, only to rescind their love quicker than the tide before a storm surge. Maybe Bon Iver got too mainstream for the indie fan base? His infamous Grammy win for "Best New Artist" in 2012 drew guffaws from many, considering For Emma, Forever Ago was released back in 2008. Either way, Justin Vernon's impact on the world of indie rock will be felt for years to come—mostly through dudes trying to have falsettos and the uprise of folksy elements. Both of these changes seem like good news, but don't peg Vernon as a one-hit-folk-wonder, he's also worked with Kanye and helped produce a a number of projects for other artists. Our money is on Justin as a long-haul music industry mover and shaker.

Years active: 1993 - present

Influenced: Toro Y Moi, Influenced artists to produce their own music

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Jam: "Go It Alone." An indolent ode strolling down a bass line through the inner-workings of Beck's meandering mind.

His latest release was an album that came out as sheet music, not recorded by him—does that even count as an album? Part of the craft of being an indie musician includes performance, but we all know Beck can do that. As one of the most varied musicians and eclectic composers of the last decade, Beck draws hip-hop, blues, anti-folk and grunge into his tracks, sounding simultaneously futuristic and vintage. Lo-fi, world music elements and self-deprecation all meet in Beck's slow drawl. Beat-heavy and stereo-friendly, Beck circulated the rock scenes of America like a new drug, passed on cautiously but with much enthusiasm. Throughout the course of his career the singer has released records that are satirical, non-existent (re: sheet music), romantic, psychedelic, gritty—the list goes on. Beck is a major figure in the direction of indie rock in the 2000s, opening up the post-modern ideas of pastiche and simulacru to a whole new generation.

Years active: 2002 - present

Influenced: Orchestral arrangements, harmonies

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Jam: "Stillness is the Move." Never did a paradox sound so majestic. R&B undertones map out potential futures and forgotten pasts.

David Longstreth is a modern day David Byrne to many, so it comes as no surprise that Byrne deigned to throw his undulating voice into a collaboration with the orchestral and harmony-based group. Buoyed by the twin siren-like voices of Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian, Longstreth feeds out line on the group's soaring kite of a discography, now adding new vocalists and tensions, now paring the group back down to his solitary voice with an acoustic guitar. For such a young group, winning over collaborations with likes of Byrne and Icelandic superstar Björk is an indicator of their prowess and staying power. Deroordian has since left the group to pursue her own career path, and Coffman often collaborates with other musicians—most recently her work with Major Lazer—Longstreth is clearly the heart and brain behind the operation. But his use of harmony and extensive strings and horns in mostly pop-based music has sparked new attention to brass and orchestra in the gleeful realms of pop that is refreshing.

Years active: 2002 - present

Influenced: Harmonies and folk elements in indie rock

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Jam: "Two Weeks." A song whose "oh oh ohs" and piano refrain wove itself not just into the fabric of indie rock but throughout the entire year of 2009.

Another group that helped bring elements of folk back into the more widely recognized indie rock scene. Especially known for their harmonies, Grizzly Bear brought a tenderness and intuitiveness to their music, a familiarity that made the albums easily accessible. Atmospheric in nature and introverted in tone, Grizzly Bear's music featured a new, relatable kind of emo not rooted in punk elements or counter-culture per se, but more in the already established forms of the genre's new focus on pastoral reverence and relational disharmony. This band changed the game for indie rock as another group that broke out of the electric guitar mold while still achieving a relative level of success.

Years active: 1992 - 1995, 1997 - 2001, 2009 - present

Influenced: Emo rock.

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Jam: "In Circles." The absolute apotheosis of the slow-fast-think-about-your-problems-then-yell-about-them movement."

If you've been sad and wanted to listen to a very direct song about sadness, you should drop whatever you're doing and tweet a thank-you to Jeremy Enigk and Hoerner, because they're the OG's of all that shit. With their depressed-dude opus Diary, they managed to sulk their way into the annals of music history, taking post-hardcore and using it for a jumping off point to be as upset as humanly possible. A gazillion really crappy emo bands might have spawned in their wake, but that's just a testament to how hard it is to pull off the stuff that Sunny Day Real Estate were doing effortlessly. It's not every day bands manage to hijack the narrative of punk rock, but then again it's not every day that a Sunny Day Real Estate come along. "In Circles" over everything.

Years active: 1999 - present

Influenced: Supergroup as a practice

Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

Jam: "Challengers." The perfect soundtrack to a night so full of bravery it feels like the sun won't expose the truth.

A super group of sorts, the New Pornographers rotating cast of members featured even Neko Case at one point—before her solo career took off. Members of Immaculate Machine, Destroyer, and The Evaporators all united to make a set of albums that were widely regarded as some of the best in the indie rock genre. As a Vancouver-based band, it was also telling that the group became so popular in America. Their peppy, power-pop sound was bolstered by tight harmonies, batches of organ music and ringing guitars. As one of the fledgling bands in the category of supergroup, the New Pornographers paved the way for musicians of a certain caliber to pool their talents after other groups had run their course.

Years active: 1996 - present

Influenced: '50s style innocence, pop-folk

Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland

Jam: "Step Into My Office, Baby." An office affair never sounded so alluring—but the power dynamics won't hold up even for a band as charming and innocent as Belle & Sebastian.

Pop gems from a male/female duo seem like a dime a dozen now, but the intimate whimsy of Belle & Sebastian made precious music with such pizazz that everyone forgot to feel embarrassed for liking them. The Scottish group shyly snuck their way into stardom, never once apologizing for their sweetness and embedded in such a web of organs, tambourines and shakers, that even sinister-sounding one liners assume an air of gleaming amiability. Belle & Sebastian are important because they brough back some of the innocence of '50s sounds without the accompanying blandness. A far cry from the punk, rock and noise that pervaded most of the '90s, but a welcome, jangly addition to indie rock.

Years active: 1983 - present

Influenced: Carnival and absurd elements in rock

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Jam: "Do You Realize??" The best song to ever employ a double question mark, and the best string of mundane facts about life that reveal it to be quite wonderful after all.

When Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips penned "Do You Realize??" he probably didn't realize the song would become one of this generation's most beloved love songs. Lush rock, space rock and psychedelic overtones populate the band's extensive discography, and their concerts are well-known for elaborate, circus-like set ups. Coyne's absurdist song titles and lengthy album names have long puzzled onlookers who are put off by the band's all-hands-on-deck embrace of weirdness. But what else would a band from Oklahoma City be like? As one of the only bands from Oklahoma to ever hit the big time, the group has certainly left an irreplaceable stamp on the indie rock climate.

Years active: 1999 - 2011 (currently on hiatus)

Influenced: Orchestral and baroque influences in indie rock

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Jam: "World Sick." Rotating casts of positive and negative reactions to the world we live in -- a study in the love and hate of mankind.

More of a musical collective than a band, Broken Social Scene helped perpetuate the idea of baroque or chamber rock by combining orchestral influences with more traditional, and chaotic noise-based music. The resulting swells of the band's size, and from the member's various musical projects, made them an integral part of the indie rock scene of early 2000s. Drawing on different lead vocalists, sampling techniques, and traditional strings and horns the compelling variety of their sound cemented them as another important band to emerge from Tornoto's bubbling music scene. Featuring cameos from Feist, Emily Haines of Metric and members of Stars, the group feels fleshed out in ways that other bands simply can't—the fluctuation of contributors is part of what contributes to the group's uniqueness.

Years active: 2001 - present

Influenced: Post-punk and electronica

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Jam: "Wolf Like Me." That beat never quits and the snarling vocals and guitar riff are tempered only by a cave-like lull midway through.

Aside from having one of the best band names of all time, TV on the Radio took post-punk and imbued it with electronica and bleeding harmonies that fuzzed their way through loops and into the critical consciousness. Kyp Malone's visceral, raspy voice drives a line of intensity through the group's enormous sound, encompassing electro, soul and rock and wrapping it all in raging vocals. Their 2006 release Return to Cookie Mountain is largely considered to be their seminal album and features David Bowie along with many other well-known musicians. Their follow up record in 2008, Dear Science, received even more accolades. While the group was on hiatus, founding member Dave Sitek and Kyp Malone both released solo albums and pursued other production projects. Sadly, bassist Gerard Smith passed away in 2011 following a battle with lung cancer. The group plans to reunite this year to headline and curate All Tomorrow's Parties.

Years active: 1991 - present

Influenced: Folk rock, story-telling in indie rock

Hometown: Claremont, California

Jam: "This Year." An unabashed declaration to survive through the juvenile nightmares and grown-up fears.

John Darnielle has been chronicling the human experience through folk music under the moniker The Mountain Goats since 1991, and doing a pretty fucking phenomenal job. His confessional, lo-fi music superseded the typical acoustic jams of the nineties through their uncommon specificity and cutting metaphors. More of a writer turned musician than anything else, Darnielle brings literary skill to his songwriting, sweeping through topics like political boundaries and true love with a fresh perspective and a rare, dry humor.

Years active: 1994 - present

Influenced: Folk rock and Dad rock

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Jam: "Jesus, Etc." A song that surprisingly isn't really about Christianity, but addresses in broad strokes the transience of life and the unshakeable power of love.

Wilco is such a good band that they almost made country cool again—almost. Seriously, their incorporation of alternative country into rock and experimental music has not really been surpassed. Formed from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, frontman Jeff Tweedy is most commonly associated with the band, as they've gone through countless lineup changes and made several collaborator albums. Most frequently, the group collaborates with folk musician Billy Bragg, who they've done three albums with. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the group's spotlight moment—ironically so since their label at the time, Reprise Records, dismissed the album as unsellable and wouldn't distribute it. 670,000 copies of the record later, those guys have to feel a little bit like noobs.

Years active: 1996 - present

Influenced: Christopher Owens, Kurt Vile, Outsider rock, Weird rock

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Jam: "Schnitzel Boogie," An ode to post-modern life under the guise of a German food obsession.

Weirdo rocker Ariel Pink seems to thrive on the edge of sanity, carefully detailing his psychotic tendencies into insanely creative art rock. Psychedelic in sound and lyric, Pink is endlessly prolific and has produced hundreds of songs under various permutations of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and solo work. One eye on the pop and rock sensibilities of the 70s/80s and one eye on the zany, unorthodox and unthought-of, Pink is only just beginning to show his hand.

Years active: 2000 - present

Influenced: Female lead singers in rock, The Knife

Hometown: New York, New York

Jam: "Maps." This song serves as a foolproof guide to finding true love: if your beloved doesn't know it, dump them.

When he Yeah Yeah Yeahs blazed onto the New York City music scene with their electro-punk (that was also danceable) and  the howling pipes of female vocalist Karen O— it quickly became clear that they were destined for success. Touring as support for The White Stripes and The Strokes, Karen O and Brian Chase gained considerable buzz, but it wasn't until 2003 when they released their debut album Fever to Tell  that the group achieved significant success. The combination of electrified rock and Karen's unforgettable, energy-ridden vocals made them shoe-ins for the indie rock crowd. Their single "Maps" is still one of those songs that gives you chills down the back of your spine every time you hear it—and Rolling Stone even named it one of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" so you know it's real. On another note, the feminist perspective that this group brought to the indie rock scene of the late 2000s made a considerable impact on other female musicians—Karen O cemented the fact that girls were rocking just as hard as guys.

Years active: 1978 - 2002, 2011 - present

Influenced: British rock, 90s rock.

Hometown: Sheffield, England

Jam: "After You." Don't let the polite title fool you, this song rocks far outside the laws of decorum.

Jarvis Cocker and Peter Dalton founded their band as teenagers, taking the name from the Michael Caine film of the same name. The band stayed in obscurity for years, releasing albums for years without much interest from anyone. Until the rise of "Britpop" in the early nineties with groups like Oasis, Suede and Blur, along with these groups Pulp too suddenly became popular… maybe the short one word name was a winning technique as well? Either way, after years of making music the group finally had caught on, and continued to make excellent dancey, new wave rock with dark disco undertones until they went on hiatus in 2002 so Cocker could pursue a solo career.

Years active: 1993 - present

Influenced: Poetic, plaintiff and anxious emo-rock

Hometown: Modesto, California

Jam: "Blame it on the Tetons." Scapegoats aside, this song encapsulates that whether it be loud or soft, the level of emotion that Modest Mouse conveys within rough, jumbled vocals is unmatchable.

As a band whose name derives from a passage by Virginia Wolfe and whose latest lineup includes a member of The Smiths, Modest Mouse was destined for greatness among young, emo folk from the get-go. But the surprising, poignant and just plain weird poetry of the songs, supplemented by warped electric guitar sounds and blurred out vocals created a sound that was completely unique, while still couched in the same basic elements of the indie genre. The band's sound is anxious, often depressed, and littered with inconsistencies and oppositional juxtapositions—in essence it resonated perfectly with an audience of confused and wandering teenagers. But the anthematic climaxes of songs like "Float On" and "Dark Center of the Universe," or even the later "Dashboard" became emblems for a generation who fell in love with the idea of wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

Years active: 1989 - present

Influenced: Dude, they FOUNDED Merge Records

Hometown: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Jam: "Slack Motherfucker." Stick it to the man with some sweet '90s guitar solos.

If nothing else, Superchunk earns their spot on this list for founding Merge Records, on which acts from The Mountain Goats to Neutral Milk Hotel to a little band called Arcade Fire have released albums. Still, the slack, shrew rockers from Chapel Hill have been releasing absolutely flawless meat-and-potatoes pop-punk since probably before you were born. They thought to work with Steve Albini way before Nirvana did, made songs with an emphatic, dry shrug that helped define a lot of the perceptions of "indie rock" when the term was still congealing, and brought well-deserved attention to the Chapel Hill, NC music scene.

Years active: 2004 - present

Influenced: Bar band as a viable mainstream concept

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Jam: "Stuck Between Stations." Transience, pianos, lovelorn lyrics... The Hold Steady transport the listener directly into their world with tracks like this one.

It's not that the bar band ever went anywhere, necessarily. But when Craig Finn and Tad Kubler threw in the towel on their musical ambitions with the band Lifter Puller and diverted themselves with a classic rock project called The Hold Steady, it was awfully nice to have them back in the bar. Indie rock needed some guitar solos to counterbalance all the Postal Service bleepy-bloops and the Andrew Bird whistling. It needed bands without bow ties and string sections. It needed people who liked Oasis more than they liked Radiohead. The Hold Steady is a band about music—and the drinking, drugs and drama that so often accompanies it. Their music is a self-contained universe in which certain songs get scratched into our souls, in which the same kooks disappear and reappear, are lost and then resurrected. It turns the tiny frame of drunken misadventures in the Minneapolis hardcore scene into a canvas for massive existential exploration as well as massive nights. Whether as a direct influence or simply as an act reminding audiences of rock's beer-chugging beauty, The Hold Steady paved the way for bands like Titus Andronicus and Japandroids to continue keeping indie rock earnest without becoming too precious.

Years active: 1996 - present

Influenced: Quiet, acoustic rock with literary elements

Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Jam: "New Slang." A winsome, wordy foray into the tension between rejection and romance.

Garden State was a turning point for The Shins. That Grammy-winning soundtrack exposed a whole new crowd to indie music, and the movie so casually romanticizes it when Natalie Portman urges Zach Braff to listen to "New Slang," by the group. "You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life, I swear." It was a moment, and from that moment on, The Shins were at the forefront of a culture that was starting to shift, and the strangest part was that by the time of the movie release, they were already on a major label. As the group married their high-pitched, lilting harmonies with their newly romanticized image they broke a record for their label Sub Pop by selling over 100,000 copies of 2007's Wincing the Night Away. Although last year's album Ports of Morrow garnered less attention, it was still widely regarded as a success and received mostly positive feedback.

Years active: 1984 - present

Influenced: The quintessential indie band

Hometown: Hoboken, New Jersey

Jam: "Barnaby, Hardly Working." Long and lingering guitar strolls and obscure, rich lyrics.

Ira Kaplan, who founded Yo La Tengo along with his wife Georgia Hubley, was a music writer before becoming a musician, making the New Jersey band the perfect choice to be a critic's darling. Spanning several decades, their overall sound is most consistently compared to The Velvet Underground, but the group have established their own niche as well. Slowly building a following through the late '80s, in 1989 they released President Yo La Tengo, which established them as a solid presence in the indie rock world. Aside from original material, the band is also well-known for covering acoustic and classic rock songs extremely well. They released their thirteenth studio album, Fade, just this January and it has already garnered praise—this is a band that will probably be around for another ten years.

Years active: 1986 - present

Influenced: Sarcasm as a milieu, facetious rock

Hometown: New Hope, Pennsylvania

Jam: "Bananas and Blow." Tongue-in-cheek wandering through island influences and uh, bad habits.

Ween married elements of aburdism and humor with a more serious musical aesthetic that actually won them a substantial cult following. The group presented albums in nearly every genre, but could never do so with a straight face—they seemed determined to mock the practice of making music itself. Yet, this kind of brazen indifference just didn't matter to the large cult following of fans they assembled. After growing up in a culture that worshiped rock stars and placed musicians up on pedestals, seeing a group take the practice a little less seriously appealed to many. Plus, these guys do cover just about every genre with equal ease—and that alone takes talent.

Years active: 1994 - 2003, 2010 - present

Influenced: Dark and somber instrumental/chamber rock

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Jam: "Their Helicopters Sing." Off their most recent album, this song exemplifies how the band slowly builds tension in long instrumental stretches.

Described as post-rock, experimental and ambient in turn, Godspeed You! Black Emperor may not be on the mainstream radar per se, but those who love this band do so with the same fiery passion that loyal citizens reserved for their monarchs. The group's chamber rock and slow-building crescendo based sounds coupled with their anti-government, anarchist leanings make them an easy entry into the indie rock influential band ledger. But seriously, the incorporation of orchestral elements into rock music has made a major comeback in the last decade or so, and many point to groups like GY!BE as inspiration for this.

Years active: 1994 - 2006

Influenced: Girl rock as a viable band, not just a Riot Grrrl movement

Hometown: Olympia, Washington

Jam: "Modern Girl." Folk, rock, carefree lyrics and girl power.

Crediting Bikini Kill for much of their inspiration, the girl power trio of Sleater-Kinney brought feministing back into the forefront of indie rock with Carrie Brownstein's thunderous guitars and Corin Tucker's impossible-to-ignore vocals. A former couple, the two recorded most of their debut album in one night and won acclaim with their first self-titled release and subsequent follow-ups. Inspired by a lot of the grunge and punk music being made in the Northwest during the '90s, it wasn't until 2005's The Woods that the group wound back toward classic rock, but kept their rebellious and gender-bending lyrics on deck. One of the only all female groups to receive critical acclaim and attention as a rock band, Sleater-Kinney set the tone for the outpouring of female musicians who sprang to fruition in the next decade.

Years active: 1983 - 1997, 2007 - present

Influenced: Shoegaze

Hometown: Dublin, Ireland

Jam: "To Here Knows When." Ethereal feminine harmonies matched up with guitars that attack like weapons—shoegaze that makes you want to look up from the floor.

Arguably the initial purveyors of "shoegaze," My Bloody Valentine took distortion and reverb in a new direction, eschewing traditional rock or noise sounds, as well as the anti-rock artsy inroads, to create something that sounded both mysterious and brutal. Originally the term "shoegaze" was meant to describe the band's motionlessness onstage but soon developed into shorthand for the band's intricate dream pop sound. Airy vocals and menacing guitars sound like an obvious combination now, but it was MBV who helped ring in the oppositional elements that make up much of "intellectual" pop's grooves in the current musical climate.

Years active: 2001 - 2011

Influenced: Dance music elements in indie rock.

Hometown: New York, New York.

Jam: "All My Friends." Insistent piano spills into a slow build play-by-play about growing up.

LCD Soundsystem manged to be a band that turned the tensions and discussions within the musical community back into songs, "Losing My Edge" of course caught the attention of critics and aficionados alike. Conspiring with dance music, pop and new wave influences, James Murphy brought all these elements together to create music that still felt like rock. Referencing very real-life, absurd situations with an uncanny clarity, he manages to poke fun at the music obsessed while outing himself as firmly among their ranks. Creating self-aware yet danceable tracks is a feat unto itself, pulled off flawlessly by the ever-malleable Murphy.

Years active: 1997 - present (on hiatus since 2011)

Influenced: Post-punk and emo lyrics

Hometown: New York, New York

Jam: "PDA." This song careens through apathy, invitations and loneliness—but the guitar solos at the end are enough to feel loved again.

It's hard to imagine Interpol's sound existing without Joy Division, Paul Bank's nearly monotone intonation invokes Ian Curtis almost instantaneously. But the post-punk band is firmly a New York band, first building their fan base in the city before a brief tour to the UK, and getting signed by Matador Records, helped catapult their debut album Turn on the Bright Lights into mainstream fame. Their subsequent records cemented the group's place as an important part of the indie rock legacy, if for no other reason than their ability to capture both the spacious energy and depressing cloy of New York City in their sound.

This song careens through apathy, invitations and loneliness -- but the guitar solos at the end are enough to feel loved again.

Years active: 1979 - 1991, 2006, 2012

Influenced: The musician as party animal stereotype

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jam: "Here Comes a Regular." Of course the band that was known for drinking too much makes a song encompassing the feeling of being a regular at a bar.

What's more indie than a band that gets so drunk they can't perform and accidentally say "fuck" on national television? Nothing! Okay maybe that one time Beck put out an album on sheet music instead of in recorded form—but not much else. Seriously though, Paul Westerberg's Minnesota based outfit The Replacements relied on a combination of heart-on-their-sleeve vocals and classic rock influences that almost led them to major stardom on several occasions. But they couldn't get out of their own way—between disastrous opening tours for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and several live television fiascos, the group self-sabotaged themselves out of being stars. Sure seems like they had a hell of a good time doing it though.

Years active: 1997 - 2011

Influenced: Return to focus on classic guitar riffs in indie rock

Hometown: Detroit, Michigan

Jam: "Seven Nation Army." One of those guitar riffs that steps outside the realm of music and walks right into memory with nothing holding it back.

Jack and Meg White turned the indie rock world on its head with the beginning riff of "Seven Nation Army" alone. Part of what many deem the "garage rock revival," with The White Stripes, the couple created some of the most evocative, stressful and playful rock 'n' roll of the era. Although they initially claimed they were brother and sister in an attempt to direct attention away from their relationship, it eventually came out that the two were married, and soon before they hit it big—divorced. Jack White's incorporation of rootsy blues into his guitarmanship redirected the musical leanings of the time—he effectively changed the source material for his fellow nouvea rockers. The White Stripes won Grammys and loads of critical acclaim, but their die-hard position always seemed to be that of fringe, indie-rockers—doing it for the love.

Years active: 1990 - 1997

Influenced: Riot Grrrl

Hometown: Olympia, Washington

Jam: "Rebel Girl." What sounds like a rock song is actually about two riot grrls becoming best friends—which really is the perfect form of revolution.

Feminists everywhere still breathe the words Bikini Kill with bated and adoring breath—and with good reason. Not only did these female rockers bring their distinctive identity politics into their music with fierceness and style, but they made some excellent music regardless of agenda or affiliation. Kathleen Hanna almost single-handedly originated the riot grrrl movement associated with third wave feminism and addressing major issues like rape, domestic abuse, patriarchy and female empowerment. The band formed in Olympia, WA in 1990 and were known for their abrasive, hardcore sound and encouragement of a female-centric environment. They originally began working together on a 'zine called Bikini Kill, but a band of the same name quickly developed. The band's debut album Pussy Whipped is regarded as a sort of treatise on the riot grrrl movement. Although the group disbanded in 1997 after only three full-length records, their feminist, rock ideals are still pervasive in current critical culture.

Years active: 2001 - present

Influenced: Large orchestral groups, incorporation of strings and organs with more traditional rock

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Jam: "Rebellion (Lies)." A song that quintessentially captures the emotions of escape, youth and freedom within its shifting surface.

For those of us who actually started listening to Funeral independently from Pitchfork's seal of approval, for those of us who chanted the lines of "Rebellion (Lies)" on long car rides home under freeway underpasses and pedestrian streetlamps, for those of us who studied Neon Bible with the same fervor pastors study the original—Arcade Fire is an important band. So when the Montreal group won Album of the Year out of nowhere at 2011's Grammys for their third album The Suburbs, it felt like a really important moment for this generation's claim to indie rock. Here's an interesting dilemma within indie—bands aren't supposed to sell out or gain commercial mainstream success, but critical success is always lauded. Perhaps it's the idea that we were right all along about the music, and seeing the larger culture award a band their rightful recognition feels good—but seeing that music accompany messages to sell cars doesn't. Either way, Arcade Fire have become kind of an emblematic band for twentysomethings that worship at the throne of indie rock, and their next record slated for sometime this year will probably only cement that further.

Years active: 1967 - 1977

Influenced: Glam Rock

Hometown: London, England

Jam: "Jeepster." Shouts to T.Rex for coining his own term for being in love, and also for having enough sexiness to make "girl I'm just a vampire for your love" actually sound sweet and not creepy.

T.Rex has the best band name in the history of indie rock, so there's that. Naming his musical outfit after the greatest dinosaur to ever roam the earth, Marc Bolan and his assorted crew of musicians helped usher in the era of glam rock, even while incorporating folk elements into their sound. The group originated very much in the folk, pop-rock vein of the late 1960s, but as the hippy era phased into the glistening '70s, Bolan's songwriting morphed into surreal tales filled with allusions to ancient cultures and complex, baroque features. It was when the group dropped the lengthy title Tyranosaurus Rex and adopted T.Rex that things really started to gel for them. Is there anyone reading this that hasn't heard "Bang a Gong (Get it On)?" Point proven. Bolan took sexualized imagery, disco, folk, purist adherence to guitars and rock, and united them all under the moniker of T.Rex. Even now, critics are only recently wising up to the immense impact of Bolan's catchy, shifting sound.

Years active: 1989 - 1999 (on hiatus)

Influenced: Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Beirut, Franz Ferdinand, The Decemberists, Bright Eyes, The Mountain Goats

Hometown: Ruston, Louisiana

Jam: "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea." This song has soundtracked far too many personal moments for far too many people to ever fully be represented in a sentence, but, the sentiment of carpe diem in the solitary little universe of this song never gets old.

Mixing lamenting literary allusions with noise-based guitar rock, Jeff Mangum's magnum opus In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was one of two full-length albums that Neutral Milk Hotel produced, but it was enough to firmly cement them in the foundations of indie rock forever. The incorporation of ghostly organs and synths, boisterous horns and full-fledged electronic guitar rock met the strange companionship of Mangum's dream-like, disconnected poetry. The criss-cross of sound and lyric in this album, and their few other projects, attracted little praise at first, but soon cultural attention snowballed and now Mangum is lauded as a visionary—and rightly so in our book.

Years active: 1984 -1997, 2005 - present

Influence: Larger than life guitar solos, lengthy, instrumental tracks

Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts

Jam: "Start Choppin'." Always, always recognize the songs that make guitars more important than the vocals. On this track the guitar speaks more clearly that Mascis' words ever do.

J. Mascis changed the way the world thought about "guitar solos" during his tenured existence as the frontman for Dinosaur Jr. The band, originally known as just Dinosaur, had a strange mixture of punk, garage rock, country twang, metal riffs and even goth darkness—but riding over the top of all of this is just a wave of guitars. If the guitar had ever been on the downturn in popular music, Mascis brought it right back to the top of the heap. Dinosaur Jr. paved the way for a lot of the sound that erupted in the grunge movement—Nirvana even opened for them at one point—and remain an important bastion in the realm of rock in favor of guitar-driven music.

Years active: 1985 - present

Influenced: Ambient noise and electronic sounds in indie rock

Hometown: Abingdon, England

Jam: "Creep." Self-deprecating yet endearing, this song almost manages to be a love song even after all the sadness.

It's almost pointless to write about Radiohead, because I'm pretty sure that people outside the indie world think that indie and Radiohead are synonymous. Let's dive into the dark, murky electronic waters of the rockers anyway though -- citing OK Computer as their breakout moment, but not failing to mention that their last two records In Rainbows and King of Limbs show no signs of decline. Also in the most bad ass move ever Thom Yorke and his boys released 2007's masterpiece album In Rainbows through a pay-what-you-will model with no PR fanfare. Smug indie people the world over rejoiced at their band's avant-garde system-skipping efforts—and then took the album for free. Oh well, after the odd success of "Creep," a song that turns self-loathing into self-identity, most of us probably borrowed Pablo Honey from our cooler, cutting edge friend or older brother. Also the ease with which their songs shift from scientific-seeming noise rock to lullabye-like indie gems is a testament to their adroit musicianship and artistic vision.

Years active: 1983 - 2004, 2010 - present

Influenced: Composition in rock music, use of analog equipment

Hometown: Dayton, Ohio

Jam: "Glad Girls." A song that's ostensibly celebrating girls, but also digs deeper into the spiritual realm.

Robert Pollard's prolific output was perhaps only inhibited by his insistent use of the four-track recorder to capture the thousands of commiserating pop melodies he made. Aside from a plethora of musical records, the mastermind behind the Guided By Voices sound also released a record solely dedicated to his rambling, drunken stage banter—and it's banter that somehow crosses the line from incoherent musings back over into actual philosophical gold. The masses of GBV fans will point the fact that though they won major label success, and went through numerous lineup changes, GBV never changed their recording style—recording on cheap tape decks all the way to the bitter end.

A song that's ostensibly celebrating girls, but also digs deeper into the spiritual realm.

Years active: 1980 - 2011

Influenced: Drawl/monotone vocal stylings; musicians taking part in politics

Hometown: Athens, Georgia

Jam: "Losing My Religion." Michael Stipe's reedy voices traces a path through spiritual transitions and universal wonderings.

One of the first of many excellent bands to emerge from Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. sauntered onto the charts propelled by their ever-growing cult following. Even in present day, there are still some people who swear by Michael Stipe and his droning, guitar-pop sound—their distinctive sound is mostly due to Stipe's insistent, mumbled vocal presence. Seen largely as a forerunner for groups like Nirvana and Pavement, they didn't achieve quite as much critical acclaim, but probably received more lauding from critics for, in essence, paving the way for other indie bands to hit it big. Seen as a group who managed to make it "big" themselves while maintaining authenticity, R.E.M. were also vocally outspoken on behalf of causes like feminism, human rights, and gun control.

Years active: 1975 - 1991 (reunited in 2002)

Influenced: Orchestral influences in indie rock, world music elements, comoposition style

Hometown: New York, New York

Jam: "Once In a Lifetime." A slog through David Byrne's underwater world full of unrecognizable memories and places.

As with many former alternative bands that have retrospectively gained an immense level of fame, it is hard to classify the Talking Heads as indie, but it is even harder to imagine the current landscape of music without them. David Byrne's oddball, intelligent songwriting, paired with the art-funk, melodic guitars and twisted pop sound of the band quickly had ears pricking up all over the world. If Byrne was the heart of the strangely intellectual pop-funk the group created though, producer Brian Eno was the brain. He took the many instincts of Byrne—the African and world music elements, the uncomfortable, innovative vocal rhythms—and concisely threaded them into experimental albums that felt dynamic, but organized. The group did release several albums without Eno's oversight, including Speaking in Tongues, Little Creatures and Naked, which proved that though his insight led to a honing of the Talking Head's sound, it wasn't essential. In 1991 the group broke up and David Byrne has since gone on to collaborate with the likes of St. Vincent, the Dirty Projectors, and other younger musicians whose music he has clearly influenced. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential songwriters and musicians of the last few decades.

Years active: 1986 - 1993

Influenced: Spoon, Nirvana

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Jam: "Where Is My Mind?" Wander through existential questions that become alarmingly physical and lean on that backbeat that never quits.

Black Francis (aka Charles Thompson) and his fascination with extraneous subject matter and psychedelia propelled The Pixies to the cutting edge of music in the late '80s. The group reportedly selected their band name at random from the dictionary, deciding they liked the image of mischievous elves only after landing on the word by chance—so even their band name is firmly rooted in indie-ness and obscurity. One of the first groups to use elements of "surf rock" sound that really gained any attention, their album Surfer Rosa for indie label 4AD earned them a bid from major label Elektra by the end of 1988, for whom the recorded albums Doolittle and Bossanova . Tensions between band members—namely Thompson and Deal—marred the group through most of its existence, which eventually resulted in Deal forming several side projects including The Breeders, and Thompson inverting his stage name to Frank Black for solo projects. They released their final album Trompe le Monde in 1991 and toured with U2 the next year, but officially announced their disbanding in 1993. Though their popularity was greater in the UK and Europe, their influence on the American indie scene is undeniable. There would probably be no Nirvana without the noisy missives that The Pixies blasted out—and where would any of us be without the best existential-crisis-self-doubting track "Where Is My Mind?"

Years active: 1964 - 1996

Influenced: British Invasion, R&B/Blues in rock

Hometown: London, England.

Jam: "You Really Got Me." The Kinks take take a crush and turn it into the impetus to act without regard for the consequences.

Aside from The Beatles, The Kinks are one of the most beloved "British Invasion" bands to make the leap across the pond. Incorporating influences as diverse as Little Richard, jazz, R&B and even early rock 'n' roll, The Kinks partially gained success through the "taboo" nature of their name which referenced sexual behavior in a veiled way—you know "kinky"—so cutting edge! By the time "You Really Got Me" hit airwaves, The Kinks had established themselves a presence within the British music scene and their use of striking, dynamic power chords sparked a trend. However, after touring America in 1965, the government issued a strange, unspecified ban that prohibited the group from re-entering the countryfor the next four years. In all honesty, this ban could be one of the reasons The Beatles achieved the crowning position of this time period instead of The Kinks. Either way, the band's success continued to build in Britain, and in 1969 when they were once again allowed to tour America they were bigger than ever. Although they continued releasing albums into the '90s, the band's success peaked in the beginning of the '80s and went downhill from there. Their influence on modern indie rock, along with their incorporation of folk, R&B and country elements, has left an indelible mark on the current music scene.

Years active: 1984 - 1994

Influenced: Grunge

Hometown: Aberdeen, Washington.

Jam: "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Unwittingly, this song served as the gateway drug through which alternative rock slipped into the mainstream.

Kurt Cobain and Nirvana brought the grunge scene of Seattle to the forefront of the American music scene with their debut album Bleach for the independent label Sup Pop in 1989. Cobain was unhappy with the lack of promotion for the album by Sup Pop and they took Kim Gordon's advice to sign to a major label. Is it possible to claim that Nirvana and Sonic Youth aren't indie because they joined the mainstream through major label deals? Of course it is a plausible/possible argument, but not one we'll be making here. These two groups, along with plenty of others, still definitively changed the course and pervasiveness of indie rock, partially through the very mainstream success that their peers eschewed. The group was heralded as the emblematic band of "Generation X" after the success of their first major label release Nevermind and its lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Cobain's tragic suicide in 1994 cut short what might have been one of the greatest legacies in music itself, let alone indie rock.

Years active: 1989 - 1999, 2010

Influence: Slacker Rock

Hometown: Stockton, California

Jam: "Cut Your Hair." Possibly the best song on earth about hair cuts, plus it also has doo-wop harmonies, rebellious spirit and makes fun of new bands in a totally meta way.

While Sonic Youth was using screwdrivers to tune their guitars in New York, on the other side of the country Pavement was kicking around one of the worst towns in California recording indie jams and distributing them on cassette tapes. The Stockton-based group came about as a studio recording project and only later became a full band capable of doing live shows. As one of the original indie rock bands, their isolated formation on the west coast, along with a refusal to ever sign to a major label, leads many to anoint Pavement as the innovators of indie rock as a mindset and a moral stance. However, as Mark E. Smith of British rock band The Fall pointed out, their sound was highly influenced by his group, if not entirely indebted to it. After a solid ten years that yielded five full-length albums, nine EPs and a a cult following, the band broke up mostly due to unhappiness on the part of Stephen Malkmus, who went on to a number of side projects, most notably The Jicks. In 2010 the band did a reunion tour that was extremely well-received but have said they won't reunite again and no new material is in the works.

Years active: 1976 - 1980

Influenced: Interpol and other post-punk bands; dark, sad rock

Hometown: Salford, England

Jam: "Love Will Tear Us Apart." The strongest ties also hurt the most when broken, but we will love the synths in this song forever without fail.

If you haven't sat in your room alone with "Love Will Tear Us Apart" on repeat and cried over your latest crush, math test grade etc., then you sorry but you've never really been indie. Joy Division helped pioneer the post-punk movement by abandoning punk "sounds" while maintaining the energy and rawness of the genre. Inspired by the Sex Pistols, the band's momentum grew in England due to exposure in NME and a supporting gig for the Buzzcocks. The post-humous release of Curtis' haunting single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" along with the tragedy of their late frontman's struggle with epilepsy and eventual suicide on the eve of their first American concert, is undoubtedly a big part of what catapulted Joy Division to their sacred place within the musical canon—but is certainly not the whole story. The slow deadliness of the band's sound helped usher in a whole new era of rock and Curtis' intense, poetic lyrics warrant recognition. Joy Division's legacy was carried on by the surviving band members in the form of New Order, a band that almost earned a place on this list in their own right.

Years active: 1982 - 1987

Influence: Monotone vocal style, confessional lyrics, British invasion

Hometown: Manchester, England.

Jam: "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." The single greatest ode to the human experience ever written.

The Smiths are a quintessential indie band. Morrissey's dead-pan depressed songs wove themselves into the very fabric of indie music—a genre dedicated to woeful lamentations and rages of a domestic, detached nature. Driven by the contrasting muses of traditional Johnny Marr and the forlorn, subversive Morrisey, the group rocketed to the top of UK charts and cult fame, but never quite became stars. Larger political struggles dipped in and out of the band's material, but the particularly personal nature of The Smith's songwriting opened the door for a whole host of confessional rock sounds. By elevating the every day feelings of the everyman to the pedestal of rock 'n' roll superstar, Morrissey and Marr stumbled into roles as genre creators. The indie musician became the ordinary rock star, shrouded simultaneously in both mystery and fame.

Years active: 1981 - 2011 (indefinite hiatus)

Influence: Alternative rock sound in mainstream music culture, avant-garde use of instruments

Hometown: New York, New York.

Jam: "Candle." It might be named after a calming object but this song flickers flames of punk that won't be blown out.

Many would argue that the bandmates-turned-lovers story of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore was the first case of indie rock royalty love—their already impressive musicianship and creativity somehow buoyed by their IRL romance. In essence, Sonic Youth was the New York indie act that "made it" by breaking out of the initial forays of DIY noise rock and punk, and gaining mainstream attention. Despite their early affiliations with the "no wave" (anti-new wave) and noise rock movements in New York, the group are best known for going beyond the traditional sounds of the time and establishing new directions. For instance, their use of alternative guitar tunings and using tools like screwdrivers or drum sticks to change the sound of their guitars was unheard of at the time. Continuing to release critically acclaimed albums all the way through the late 2009, the musical community was shocked and saddened when Gordon and Moore announced their divorce—and hiatus for the band—in 2011. Alas, is the break up of indie rock's first royal couple a sign that "indie rock" as a genre is finally over?