What is the best American indie album of all time?

From the college rock of the American South to New York City noise and Midwestern despair, American indie has a sound as vast as the country itself. Which album best captures the restless spirit of homegrown independent music? Cast your vote!

Murmur

R.E.M.'s 1983 Athens, Georgia debut, the bedrock of American college rock and indie music.

1/16

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth's 1988 New York noise-rock double album, the artsy vanguard of American independent music.

2/16

Doolittle

Pixies' 1989 Boston indie rock masterpiece, a blueprint for alternative rock's loud-quiet dynamics.

3/16

Slanted and Enchanted

Pavement's 1992 Stockton, California debut, the quintessential lo-fi American indie rock record.

4/16

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 Athens, Georgia folk-rock epic, one of the most cherished American indie records.

5/16

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco's 2002 Chicago-rooted art-rock landmark, a distinctly American experimental rock album.

6/16

The Moon & Antarctica

Modest Mouse's 2000 Issaquah, Washington existentialist epic, vast and lonely like the American West.

7/16

Either/Or

Elliott Smith's 1997 Portland-era acoustic indie folk album, intimate and deeply American in its heartbreak.

8/16

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens' 2005 orchestral folk concept album dedicated to the state of Illinois, a distinctly American vision.

9/16

Bee Thousand

Guided by Voices' 1994 Dayton, Ohio lo-fi monument, a scrappy Midwestern indie classic.

10/16

Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem's 2007 New York dance-punk masterwork, a deeply NYC indie album.

11/16

Boxer

The National's 2007 Brooklyn-born melancholic indie rock album, articulate and deeply American.

12/16

Punisher

Phoebe Bridgers' 2020 Los Angeles-infused indie folk album, a new American indie classic.

13/16

Puberty 2

Mitski's 2016 raw indie rock album about American alienation, identity, and desire.

14/16

Lost in the Dream

The War on Drugs' 2014 Philadelphia-rooted Heartland rock album, hazy and majestic.

15/16

Exile in Guyville

Liz Phair's 1993 Chicago debut, a defining statement of American indie feminism.

16/16