The Best Indie Rock Albums Of 2020

Indie rock is a loosely-defined genre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was initially used interchangeably with alternative rock or "guitar pop rock".^[1] In the 1980s, the use of the term "indie" (or "indie pop") started to shift from its reference to recording companies to describe the style of music produced on punk and post-punk labels.^[2] During the 1990s, grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream, and the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning. The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained dedicated to their independent status.^[3] By the end of the 1990s, indie rock developed several subgenres and related styles, including lo-fi, noise pop, emo, slowcore, post-rock, and math rock.^[3] In the 2000s, changes in the music industry and a growing importance of the Internet enabled a new wave of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term.^[4]

Arbor Labor Union-New Petal Instants(Arrowhawk)

Bacchae-Pleasure Vision(Get Better)

Beabadoobee-Fake It Flowers(Dirty Hit)

Beach Bunny-Honeymoon(Mom + Pop)

Beauty Pill-Please Advise EP(Northern Spy)

The Beths-Jump Rope Gazers(Carpark)

Boat-Tread Lightly(Magic Marker)

Born Ruffians-Juice(Yep Roc)

Bright Eyes-Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was(Dead Oceans)

Built To Spill-Plays The Songs Of Daniel Johnston(Ernest Jenning Record Co.)

Anna Burch-If You're Dreaming(Polyvinyl)

Will Butler-Generations(Merge)

Car Seat Headrest-Making A Door Less Open(Matador)

Chemtrails-The Peculiar Smell Of The Inevitable(PNKSLM)

Bobby Conn-Recovery(Tapete)

Sam Coomes-True Death(Self Released)

Coriky-Self Titled(Dischord)

The Cribs-Night Network(pias)

Deerhoof-Future Teenage Cave Artists(Joyful Noise)

Dehd-Flower Of Devotion(Fire Talk)

Disq-Collector(Saddle Creek)

Extraa-Baked(Requiem Pour Un Twister)

Fox Academy-Rabbit(Self Released)

Happyness-Floatr(Infinit Suds)

Hinds-The Prettiest Curse(Mom + Pop)

Hollow Ship-Future Remains(PNKSLM)

The Homesick-The Big Exercise(Sub Pop)

Honey Cutt-Coasting(Kanine)

Hum-Inlet(Polyvinyl)

Illuminati Hotties-Free I.H.: This Is Not The One You've Been Waiting For(Self Released)

Jade Hairpins-Harmony Avenue(Merge)

Jealous Of The Birds-Peninsula(Atlantic)

Hanni El Khatib-Flight(Innovative Leisure)

Kiwi Jr.-Football Money(Mint)

Knot-Self Titled(Exploding In Sound)

Emma Kupa-It Will Come Easier(Fika)

Land Of Talk-Indistinct Conversations(Saddle Creek)

Little Kid-Transfiguration Highway(Dinked Edition)

Low Cut Connie-Private Lives(Contender)

Melkbelly-PITH(Wax Nine/Carpark)

Me Rex-Stegosaurus(Big Scary Monsters)

Mild Orange-Self Titled(Self Released)

Moon Attendant-One Last Summer(Big Potato)

The Mountain Goats-Getting Into Knives(Merge)

The Nude Party-Midnight Manor(New West)

Other Lives-For Their Love(ATO)

The Pack A.D-It Was Fun While It Lasted(Self Released)

Dre Perish-Bail Me Out Of Here EP(Self Released)

Dre Perish-Breathe Like A Dragon (Self Released)

Porridge Radio-Every Bad(Secretly Canadian)

Pure X-Self Titled(Fire Talk)

Ratboys-Printer's Devil(Topshelf)

Remo Drive-A Portrait Of An Ugly Man(Epitaph)

ROOKIE-Self Titled(Bloodshot)

Daniel Romano-How Ill Thy World Is Ordered(You've Changed)

Sad13-Haunted Painting(Wax Nine)

Samia-The Baby(Grand Jury)

Katie Von Schleicher-Consummation(Ba Da Bing!)

2nd Grade-Hit To Hit(Double Double Whammy)

Shamir-Self Titled(Plum Crown)

Smoke Fairies-Darkness Brings The Wonders Home(Year Seven)

Soft Plastics-5 Dreams(Paper Bag)

Sore Eros-Self Titled(Feeding Tube)

Sports Team-Deep Down Happy(Island)

Squirrel Flower-I Was Born Swimming(Polyvinyl)

The Strokes-The New Abnormal(RCA/Cult)

The Third Mind-Self Titled(Yep Roc)

Tina-Positive Mental Health Music(Speedy Wunderground)

TORRES-Silver Tongue(Merge)

M. Ward-Migration Stories(Anti-)

The Withers-In 3-D(Self Released)

Young Jesus-Welcome To Conceptual Beach(Saddle Creek)