Shop our Big Takeover store for back issues, t-shirts & CDs
Follow The Big Takeover
Ten favorite 1991 indie-rock albums
In 1991, Nirvana’s Nevermind was released on Geffen, bringing the underground to the mainstream. Major labels signing seemingly hundreds of indie bands, but there was plenty of talent ignored, and some that spurned the majors’ advances.
This is where BoS made the move from sonically interesting to musically riveting. Robert Poss’s masterminded guitar sound (achieved in collaboration with Anne Husick and Mark Lonergan) achieved new density, while the anthemic “Now Is Now” raised their level of songwriting to a new height. And the cover of Rhys Chatham’s “Guitar Trio” shows the rock crowd where Poss was coming from. In terms of current obscurity, I guess it means something that when I pop this CD into my computer, Gracenote can’t identify it!
Even during an explosion of creativity in indie-rock, this stood out as extremely imaginative and distinctive. There are 23 tracks here, 5 under a minute in length and only one topping four minutes, often flowing directly from one to the next; together it functions as a 48-minute suite. Even in the midst of great beauty, there’s often an ominous tone, as on “There’s Something Between Us and He’s Changing My Words.” Most tracks are quiet, making the occasional outbursts frighteningly intense. This remains Warn Defever’s great masterpiece.
An album near and dear to readers of this website, I assume. Mitch Friedland’s guitar sound is very distinctive in its application of shoegaze techniques to acoustic guitars. The songs are strong enough – especially “Layers,” “Eskimo,” “Alone,” and “Open Your Eyes” – that even without effects they would communicate well. And the Eskimo EP is also notable for its three non-album songs, including a cover of The Saints’ “Angels.”
Powerful punk from Chicago (members of Naked Raygun, Effigies, Bhopal Stiffs, Bloodsport) that blisters from the opening title track onward, with the ringing “Field of Darkness” a special favorite.
Lycia’s first full-length. While its dark wave influences show, Mike Vanportfleet’s icy, desolate sound is truly unique. His effects-heavy guitars and doomy synths evoke the absolute chill of outer space
Perfect pop from New Zealand, specifically ex-Clean bassist Robert Scott. Featuring jangling guitars and sterling female vocal harmonies from Kaye Woodward, it’s irresistibly tuneful from start to finish.
Another great Steve Albini recording job helped make this Superchunk’s best album. Chapel Hill’s finest established an important indie-rock template here, a sound that would be heard as played by many bands over the rest of the decade, but few ever managed to match their exuberance.
This was ERP’s third album; like the previous two, it was issued on cassette tape only at the time. I wrote in my Big Takeover #31 review, “F.M. Cornog’s aspirations are fairly mainstream, but it’s an idealized mainstream. Simple but lovely overdubbed vocal harmonies, jangly guitars and warm keyboards, unprepossessing, rock-solid bass and drums, and an unerring melodic sense bring the catchy, thoughtful songs to life. Very few people anywhere convey yearning and understated angst so well.” Much, but not all, of it was included on ERP’s first CD, Shining Hours in a Can.
Post-rock innovators reach their peak of intelligibility and accessibility, not that many people noticed at the time, it seemed. But it came to be one of the most name-checked indie albums of the decade, and slowly but steadily grew in influence and prestige.
Back when death metal was nearing its peak of critical respectability (relatively new and original), these guys ranked among the best in the genre, and also one of the few to prominently feature a female member (bassist Jo Bench). This is the album where they toned down their debt to grindcore and established their own sound, sorta. It remains thrilling.
