# What is the best indie album of the 2000s?

> Blog rock, post-punk revival, and experimental folk all collided in the 2000s to create an unforgettable era for independent music. Vote for the decade's defining album.

*By YPB Team · Published April 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-indie-album-of-the-2000s*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Funeral**
   Arcade Fire's 2004 debut, an expansive orchestral indie rock album about loss and community that launched a generation of epic indie bands.
2. **Is This It**
   The Strokes' 2001 debut that reinvigorated rock music with a razor-tight, New York cool aesthetic.
3. **Yankee Hotel Foxtrot**
   Wilco's 2002 art-rock landmark, famously rejected by its label before becoming one of the most acclaimed albums of the decade.
4. **Turn on the Bright Lights**
   Interpol's 2002 brooding post-punk debut, one of the definitive records of the early 2000s NYC scene.
5. **Sound of Silver**
   LCD Soundsystem's 2007 masterwork merging dance-punk, emotional sincerity, and disco.
6. **Illinois**
   Sufjan Stevens' 2005 sprawling concept album about the state of Illinois, blending chamber pop and folk with orchestral ambition.
7. **Transatlanticism**
   Death Cab for Cutie's 2003 emotional breakthrough, beloved by a generation of indie fans for its heartfelt lyricism.
8. **You Forgot It in People**
   Broken Social Scene's 2002 Canadian indie rock masterpiece, a sprawling collective effort with an extraordinary sense of warmth.
9. **Alligator**
   The National's 2005 breakthrough record, bringing literate post-punk to a wider audience.
10. **Apologies to the Queen Mary**
   Wolf Parade's 2005 debut, produced by Isaac Brock, a vital piece of the mid-2000s indie rock renaissance.
11. **Merriweather Post Pavilion**
   Animal Collective's 2009 psychedelic pop landmark, beloved for its euphoric emotional textures.
12. **Boxer**
   The National's 2007 melancholic indie rock album, a landmark of articulate emotional songwriting.
13. **Vampire Weekend**
   Vampire Weekend's 2008 self-titled debut, blending Afropop rhythms with Ivy League indie pop for an immediately distinctive sound.
14. **Fleet Foxes**
   Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut, a lush pastoral folk album of layered harmonies that announced a new era in indie folk.
15. **I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning**
   Bright Eyes' 2005 alt-country/folk album, Conor Oberst's most cohesive and emotionally direct statement.
16. **Good News for People Who Love Bad News**
   Modest Mouse's 2004 major-label breakthrough featuring 'Float On,' the perfect indie crossover hit.
17. **Silent Alarm**
   Bloc Party's 2005 debut, a post-punk revival record that defined UK indie's angular sound of the era.

Tags: 2000s, music, rock, bands, indie