With their fractured songs, unexpected blasts of feedback, laconic vocals, cryptic literate lyrics, and defiant low-fidelity, Pavement were one of the most influential and distinctive bands to emerge from the American underground in the '90s. Pavement, along with Sebadoh, were the leaders of the lo-fi movement that dominated U.S. indie rock in... [+] Read More

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Canadian indie pop combo Wolf Parade formed in 2003 in Montreal, where their first show was opening for the Arcade Fire. From there Dan Boeckner, Spencer Krug, Hadji Bakara, and Arlen Thompson recorded and self-released a four-song EP, and followed that with a six-song recording in 2004. They eventually gained the attention of Isaac Brock, and... [+] Read More

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The self-described "fuzz-folk" project Neutral Milk Hotel was one of the primary outgrowths of the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups -- including the Apples (in stereo), the Olivia Tremor Control and Secret Square -- who shared musicians, ideas, and sensibilities. While ranging in sound and... [+] Read More

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Combining jagged, roaring guitars and stop-start dynamics with melodic pop hooks, intertwining male-female harmonies and evocative, cryptic lyrics, the Pixies were one of the most influential American alternative rock bands of the late '80s. The Pixies weren't accomplished musicians -- Black Francis wailed and bashed out chords while Joey... [+] Read More

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Liverpool's art punk four-piece Clinic formed in 1997 out of the ashes of Ade Blackburn and Hartley's previous band, Pure Morning. The duo added Brian Campbell and Carl Turney to the fold and released the thrashy debut single IPC Sub-Editors Dictate Our Youth on the group's own Aladdin's Cave of Golf label; it reached number nine in John Peel's... [+] Read More

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Combining elements of punk, gypsy music, and Brecht-ian cabaret, Gogol Bordello tells the story of New York's immigrant diaspora through debauchery, humor, and surreal costumes. Leader and singer Eugene Hütz's taste in music was spun out of black-market tapes of the Birthday Party and Einstürzande Neubauten in his native Ukraine. After being... [+] Read More

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Austin, TX, twee pop trio Oh No! Oh My! are not quite as precious as their faux naïf name suggests, but they do come close, favoring a blend of acoustic guitars and vintage keyboards that recalls Belle & Sebastian, Of Montreal, and all those '80s U.K. bands inspired by Young Marble Giants. Singers and songwriters Greg Barkley and Daniel... [+] Read More

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Conjuring a fiendish witches' brew of primal rockabilly, grease-stained '60s garage rock, vintage monster movies, perverse and glistening sex, and the detritus and effluvia of 50 years of American pop culture, the Cramps are a truly American creation much in the manner of the Cadillac, the White Castle hamburger, the Fender Stratocaster, and... [+] Read More

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Combining a knack for infectious melodies with a quirky, bizarre sense of humor and a vaguely avant-garde aesthetic borrowed from the New York post-punk underground, They Might Be Giants became one of the most unlikely alternative success stories of the late '80s and early '90s. Musically, the duo of John Flansburgh and John Linnell borrowed... [+] Read More

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