Decade-End Round-Up: Top 40 Indie Rock/Album Rock Albums

Alright gang, please enjoy the squarest indie rock album list on the entire internet. What you will not find on this list: Radiohead, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, TV on the Radio, anyone who had any indie buzz in the past decade. If anything, the albums below are torchbearers of the '80s college rock/Amerindie scene, with jangly guitars and a rockist bent. And hell, they made me happy these past 10 years. That's gotta count for something in the absence of cred, right?


40 The Body The Blood The Machine, Thermals (2006)
39 The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird (2005)
38 Almost Killed Me, Hold Steady (2004)
37 To Be Loved, Ian Moore (2007) ▲
36 Momofuku, Elvis Costello (2008)
35 District Line, Bob Mould (2008)
34 The Beatific Visions, Brakes (2007)
33 Accelerate, R.E.M. (2008)
32 Candylion, Gruff Rhys (2007)
31 White Bread Black Beer, Scritti Politti (2006)

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30 In Rock, Minus 5 (2004)
29 Born Again In The USA, Loose Fur (2006)
28 Gimme Fiction, Spoon (2005) ▲
27 Ole Tarantula, Robyn Hitchcock
26 Down With Wilco, Minus 5 (2003)
25 Mobilize, Grant-Lee Phillips (2001)
24 Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus (2001)
23 Devil's Workshop, Frank Black (2002)
22 Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, Nick Cave (2008)
21 The Woods, Sleater-Kinney (2005)

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20 Deliverance, You Am I (2003)
19 Yours to Keep, Albert Hammond, Jr (2006)
18 Furr, Blitzen Trapper (2008)
17 Night Falls Over Kortedala, Jens Lekman (2007) ▲
16 A Ghost is Born, Wilco (2004)
15 Sea Change, Beck (2002)
14 Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Pt 2), XTC (2000)
13 Love Travels at Illegal Speeds, Graham Coxon (2006)
12 Life on Other Planets, Supergrass (2002)
11 Girls Can Tell, Spoon (2001)

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10 Face the Truth, Stephen Malkmus (2005)
09 Z, My Morning Jacket (2005)
08 The Obliterati, Mission of Burma (2006)
07 Living With The Living, Ted Leo (2007)
06 Happiness in Magazines, Graham Coxon (2005)
05 Kill The Moonlight, Spoon (2002)
04 Tanglewood Numbers, Silver Jews (2005) ▲
03 Hearts of Oak, Ted Leo (2003)
02 If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry, Marah (2005)
01 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco (2002)

Still to come: Garage rock!