Hop Along, The War On Drugs, more Philly acts make ‘Pitchfork’s’ best indie rock albums list
What albums do you think should have been included on this ‘definitive’ list?
Two weeks ago, we told you about a bunch of your, and our, favorite local artists making a new list from Rolling Stone. Mannequin Pussy, Japanese Breakfast, Low Cut Connie, and more were all named to the publication’s list of “The 200 Greatest Rock Songs of the 21st Century So Far.”
While that list has a built-in “well actually” kind of clause with its “so far,” a new list that features a handful of Philly artists is much more concrete. Pitchfork Monday released “The 100 Best Indie Rock Albums of All Time.” Move over, “so far”: we’re getting into definitive ranking!
And would it shock you that some artists on the Rolling Stone list made this list as well? We hope not, because these Philly acts should be well known to the audience.
According to Pitchfork, indie rock, in part, features guitars, drums, and a singer; is released on independent labels; speaks to and incorporates other genres; and, ideally, rocks. They also asked artists, writers, and more to give their definitions of indie rock. Whether you agree with that definition is another topic; we’re here to shout out the Philly albums that made the list.
No. 91
Speedy Ortiz — Major Arcana
No. 85
Mirah — You Think It’s Like This but Really It’s Like This
No. 86
The War On Drugs — Lost In The Dream
No. 83
Sharon Van Etten — Are We There
No. 64
Hop Along — Painted Shut
No. 57
Kurt Vile — Wakin On A Pretty Daze
No. 53
Alex G — House of Sugar
But wait, there’s more!
Pitchfork published another list: “The Best Indie Rock Albums According To Artists.” Among those who offered up takes for this piece were Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13 and Eric Slick of Dr. Dog. Anthony Fantano, Hamilton Leithauser, Neko Case, and more also contributed lists, which are broken down by era: pre-2000 and post-2000.
Slick himself named Major Arcana in his post-2000s list, and Dupuis named records from artists such as Liz Phair, TV On The Radio, and more in her lists. Mirah, who was born in Philly but came up in Washington, called out records by Team Dresch, The Microphones, and Christy Armstrong, in both her lists.
Karly Hartzman of Wednesday put They Are Gutting A Body Of Water’s 2019 release Destiny XL on her post-2000 list, and Randy Randall of No Age named Mirah’s You Think It’s Like This but Really It’s Like This.
