What is the best indie album — band or solo artist?
Whether it's a full band or a solitary artist with a four-track recorder, indie music thrives on creative independence. Which album — band or solo — is the genre's finest?
Funeral — Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire's 2004 debut band album, a communal orchestral indie rock achievement about loss and community.
Either/Or — Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith's 1997 solo record, intimate acoustic folk of extraordinary personal depth.
Boxer — The National
The National's 2007 band album, a collective literary indie rock statement of melancholic brilliance.
Illinois — Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens' 2005 solo orchestral folk vision, one man's sprawling 50-state concept.
Is This It — The Strokes
The Strokes' 2001 band debut, five New Yorkers reinventing rock cool for a new century.
For Emma, Forever Ago — Bon Iver
Bon Iver's 2007 solo debut, Justin Vernon alone in a cabin creating something miraculous.
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot — Wilco
Wilco's 2002 band album, a collaborative experimental rock deconstruction of Americana.
Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers' 2020 solo album, a singular indie folk vision of quiet devastation.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea — Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album — technically a band but driven entirely by Jeff Mangum's singular vision.
Merriweather Post Pavilion — Animal Collective
Animal Collective's 2009 band album, a collective psychedelic pop experiment yielding euphoric results.
Carrie & Lowell — Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens' 2015 solo grief album, voice and guitar stripped to their most vulnerable.
The Record — boygenius
boygenius' 2023 band debut, three indie solo stars becoming greater than the sum of their parts.
Sound of Silver — LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem's 2007 band album, James Murphy leading a dance-punk collective to a career peak.
Puberty 2 — Mitski
Mitski's 2016 solo album, one artist's raw and urgent indie rock statement.
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