What is THE greatest indie rock song of all time?

[Dayne1234]

I would have to go with TEENAGE RIOT by Sonic Youth or DEBASER by the Pixies.

What does everyone else think?

[Susan Kirk]

There isn't just ONE.

[Dayne1234]

UNSATISFIED by The Replacements

[jef]

Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key

[sharpsponge]

American Pie as per Killdozer

or to be serious ... Tortoise Djed

[bitterfruit]

Tied at:

GBV - Tractor Rape Chain

Superchunk - Slack Motherfucker

[maroonwalrus]

ah hmm

Beat Happening - Cast A Shadow

Pavement - Trigger Cut

I also agree with the Sonic Youth & Tortoise choices above.

[tinobeat]

why limit yourself to one?

as if there's only one song that could stand above the eNORMous world of independent rock.

silly silly thread...

[sharpsponge]

it's because in America we win, win, win!! dammit, soldier!

so let's bury the ones that we like less ...
sorry, but we're at war, kiddo
SMASH SMASH SMASH

[anagrama]

Originally posted by tinobeat
why limit yourself to one?

as if there's only one song that could stand above the eNORMous world of independent rock.

silly silly thread...

agree.

one is just inane.

there are many GREAT songs in team indie rock.

but just to contradict this all.

ill pick the greatest song, by the greatest indie rock band (IMO)

Modest Mouse - Stars Are Projectors

[romanp]

Roman P. - Psychic TV

[tinobeat]

Originally posted by anagrama
ill pick the greatest song, by the greatest indie rock band (IMO)
Modest Mouse - Stars Are Projectors

I know its just YMO, but you need to listen to more music if they're the greatest. I like 'em fine, but there's so much more interesting music out there...

and if I had to pick a song by them, I'd pick "Custom Concern" or "Might"

The Moon and Antarctica is such a massive disappointment. until then they hadn't released a song I didn't love, and then they made an album of mostly songs I could care less about or didn't like. kinda ruined the whole band for me. also the incredibly annoying fans at the shows... nothing worse than having a band's fan base ruin a band for you. I try not to let it happen, but its tough.

[bcleland]

second on debaser

[anagrama]

Originally posted by tinobeat
I know its just YMO, but you need to listen to more music if they're the greatest. I like 'em fine, but there's so much more interesting music out there...

and if I had to pick a song by them, I'd pick "Custom Concern" or "Might"

The Moon and Antarctica is such a massive disappointment. until then they hadn't released a song I didn't love, and then they made an album of mostly songs I could care less about or didn't like. kinda ruined the whole band for me. also the incredibly annoying fans at the shows... nothing worse than having a band's fan base ruin a band for you. I try not to let it happen, but its tough.

See...I completely disagree on that album, I loved it.
It was actually the first MM album I bought and it I thought it was just incredible. I like it when the band is sort of ambitious about the songs, while I love the earlier stuff, the Moon... stuff just seems a little more matured and ambitious and creative than some of the earlier MM stuff.

*shrug*

[abevigoda]

Not my favorite, but the quintessential indie-rock song for me will always be Web in Front by the Archersand

[Paul]

...matured and ambitious and creative...

That's rockcrit code for "borrrrr-ing."

[Dayne1234]

I second that on Archers of Loaf's "Web in Front". That song is killer! That album (Icky Mettle) is one of the greatest indie rock albums...right up there with "Slanted and Enchanted" and "Doolittle"!

[dola]

there's just something about them that makes me not really care about looking around much. i was basically only into jimi hendrix and nirvana not long ago, and my girlfriend made me this mix tape see...

ian mackeye put it well in an interview. some people can be almost totally satisfied with 20,40,60 (whatever, depending on the person) classic/timeless albums. you can imagine what he then said about how these days the industry really encourages that sort of thing.

[impossible]

Probably not THE GREATEST, but I think these two could only exist in "indie rock."

Guided By Voices .:. Hot Freaks
Modest Mouse .:. Custom Concern (I didn't know the title of this song until I looked at the disc... we may be onto something. Maybe a small statuette is in order.)

Just two that immediately came to mind. I am in the "there is no one best song" camp. My tent is orange.

[tinobeat]

Originally posted by Paul
...matured and ambitious and creative...

That's rockcrit code for "borrrrr-ing."

exactly...

Bob Pollard says in "Watch Me Jumpstart" that the Beatles were the best when they were recording on 4-track (Sgt. Pepper, though its not really a 4-track like he knows it) and were forced by their limitations to be more creative musically, and when they hit the 8 track (white album) they didn't need to work as hard to get a good sound, so they just didn't work as hard. I don't necessarily agree with him on that, but the parallel works for MM.

Once modest mouse discovered all the effects a big studio afforded them, or what sounds like a big studio, they put all sorts of effects on everything at the expense of writing intricate, interesting, engaging songs. And no, this isn't a major label vs. indie argument, because Built To Spill matched their greatest indie album with their major album "Keep It Like A Secret." I'm not like that, just to clear it up.

but yeah, so modest Mouse's "maturity," to my ears, is just "luxury of time and a nice studio," and the drive for greatness isn't there. I think the albums they were making before are far more mature in their own fucked up ways, and TMaA was an enormous letdown.

To whomever mentioned Archers...

yes! they might be the quintissenial american indie rock band. a little dumber than pavement, a little weirder than superchunk, a little less morose than sebadoh, and goddamn if Icky Mettle and ...Vs greatest of all time and Vee vee aren't packed head to toe with nonstop anthems. It makes me sad that most kids under 23 or so that I talk to have no idea who they were until I say that they're related to Crooked Fingers, and then only sometimes do they know who I'm talking about.

Web In Front or Underdogs of Nipomo are possibly two of the greatest rock songs ever written.

[abevigoda]

I always sort of thought of the Archers as Indie-Rock Jock Jams...with a little more marketing, the football players when I was in school could have beat somebody up to Fabricoh or Harnessed in Slums...that said, their last ever show in New York was a great show

Another topic might be indie rock songs about indie rock, e.g.

the very same archers in the greatest of all time..."the underground is overcrowded"...although I believe bachmann always insisted it was about the london underground

cut your hair...obviously...but I've always had a whimsical notion that steve screams korea because it was the forgotten war..that indie rock could have been or probably was for a lot of bands we'll never hear of

replacements...left of the dial

[impossible]

Originally posted by abevigoda


cut your hair...obviously...but I've always had a whimsical notion that steve screams korea because it was the forgotten war..that indie rock could have been or probably was for a lot of bands we'll never hear of



I always thought that "Korea" he screams was an ambiguous "Career." Malkmus was always good with double entendre and ambiguity through pronounciation. We all seem to get different messages from his lyrics.

[scurvy=rad]

How about bettie serveert "something so wild"

Was J Church indie? they were to me, so about "Ivy League College"? anyone remember that song?

Actually, just from seeing the question, "Web In Front" immediately popped in my head, so that has to be it.

[ný batterí]

pixies: GIGANTIC.

[dola]

i remember when i was told what that song was about, being sorta disgusted, then having to face my own racism.


thanks Pixies!

[muscleman_14]

A second on "Cut Your Hair"
Also, "I am A Scientist" Guided By Voices

[openorgan]

i have no idea how to answer a question like this,

and frankly am repulsed by the term "indie rock".

[saved]

Since most of the results we've mentioned have come from three bands, I give you the 3 greatest indie rock songs ever.

Pavement - Texas Never Whispers
Archers of Loaf - The Greatest of All Time
Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven

and, of course:

Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay