There’s no shortage of indie and alternative rock bands who struck gold with their debut albums. Think of the Strokes with Is This It, Bloc Party with Silent Alarm, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Fever to Tell. These bands became critical darlings with significant fanbases seemingly overnight. Obviously, this early success can be a blessing and a curse, since every subsequent release is compared (usually unfavorably) to the band’s debut, but at least they made their mark.
Then there’s acts like the ten listed here, who took a bit more time to gain recognition. After languishing in obscurity for a while, they suddenly found themselves with a hit song or album that gave them some hard-earned mass appeal. Those newfound fans could then take a look at these artists and think “wait, they’ve been around for how long?” It’s an encouraging reminder for any band to see that success doesn’t always come immediately, and patience sometimes pays off.
10. The White Stripes
How you know them: If you watched music videos in 2002 like I did, you’ll definitely remember the groundbreaking video for the White Stripes’ “Fell In Love With a Girl” that was animated with Lego bricks. The song itself was short and simple, consisting of a few chords and lots of cymbals, and fell neatly into the garage rock revival of the day. The following year, the single “Seven Nation Army” propelled their fame even further, with its stomping kick-drum and immediately recognizable melody (which is actually played on a pitch-shifted guitar, not a bass). “Seven Nation Army” remains a staple of sports games to this day, and Labour voters in the UK used its melody for a pro-Jeremy Corbyn chant in the late 2010s. The White Stripes themselves were always an intriguing duo, with singer and guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White perpetually clad in black, white, and red, and their shared surnames inviting many “are they spouses or siblings?” questions (they’re ex-spouses).
But before that: “Fell in Love With a Girl” is from the White Stripes’ 2001 album White Blood Cells, and “Seven Nation Army” is from their 2003 album Elephant. These are their third and fourth albums, respectively, since the White Stripes started back in 1997. They released their self-titled debut album in 1999, which had the same bluesy garage rock style that made them famous, albeit with a much more raw, minimally-produced sound. It didn’t make much of a splash outside of their native Detroit, but the duo started to open for bigger names like Pavement and Sleater-Kinney soon after. They released the slightly more hi-fi De Stijl in 2000, which gained a bit of traction, but the group were still very much a “cult” act at this point. When White Blood Cells came out in 2001, it became a smash hit in the UK, with a well-timed arrival around the great garage-rock revival and its acts like the Strokes. That fame bounced back to the US, and by 2002 a bigger label and a captivating Lego music video ensured the band would become one of the biggest names of the decade.
Since then: The White Stripes quietly disbanded in 2011 after releasing their sixth album Icky Thump in 2007. Meg White hasn’t really been heard from since, but Jack White has had a prolific solo career and released music with side projects the Dead Weather and the Raconteurs.
9. Peter Bjorn and John
How you know them: I’ve always considered Peter Bjorn and John to be quite a bit underrated, so it’s a bummer that they’re known as “the band that made that song with the whistling.” Yes, I’m referring to their 2006 hit “Young Folks” here. The play counts of this track on Spotify and Last.fm blow all of their other songs out of the water, and the song has been covered and used in TV spots more times than you can count. While a woman sings on this track (Victoria Bergsman), she is actually a guest vocalist, as the band is otherwise just three Swedish dudes named Peter, Bjorn and John.
But before that: “Young Folks” comes from the band’s 2006 album Writer’s Block, which is actually their third studio release. The trio started making music together in 1999, but would not release their first EP Failing and Passing until 2001, followed by their full-length self-titled debut in 2002. Both this debut and its 2004 follow-up Falling Out had a strong 60s pop influence, especially from the Beatles, but with the occasional electronic effects thrown in. Like the Hives, who you’ll read more about below, the band opted to sing in English rather than their native Swedish, presumably to reach a wider audience, but their albums were released exclusively on Swedish labels until 2005. Once the band released Writer’s Block on the label Wichita Recordings in 2006, they finally found success in the Anglosphere, almost entirely due to “Young Folks.” It wasn’t until Writer’s Block became successful that Witchita would re-release their first two albums, revealing to listeners outside of Sweden that they’d been around a little while.
Since then: While Peter Bjorn and John are sadly regarded as a one-hit wonder, they are still together and have released a half-dozen albums since Writer’s Block. They’re all pretty good (I reviewed their 2018 album Darker Days here), but for better or worse, none include whistling.
8. Sufjan Stevens
How you know him: In retrospect, indie bands used a lot of weird gimmicks to stand out back in the day. They would throw in unusual instruments like accordions, or dress like it was the 1800s, or incorporate random world music influences. In the mid-2000s, singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens upped the ante on gimmicks by releasing two albums themed around U.S. states: Michigan in 2003 and Illinois in 2005. Yes, each track on these two albums were about their respective states, and Stevens claimed he was going to release an album for each U.S. state. This set off a firestorm of hype, with American fans outside of Michigan and Illinois hoping their state would be next, and that Stevens’ ridiculously-long track titles would contain a shout out to their particular locale. Illinois in particular became a critical favorite, and honestly was very good, but it’s hard to determine how much of this attention was from the state-focused gimmick.
Before that: Michigan and Illinois are Stevens’ third and fifth studio albums, respectively. He released his first album A Sun Came! in 1999, and it was all over the place musically, ranging from medieval-sounding folk to traditional Arabic music. Two years later, he released the electronic Enjoy Your Rabbit, where every song (bar one) was based on the Chinese Zodiac. This showed his knack for gimmicks, and got some critical praise, but the music world did not really start to pay him much attention until he wrote an album about his home state of Michigan. This 2003 album had 15 folk songs all about the Great Lake State, with most of the (very long) track titles namedropping a specific location within the state. The album’s warm praise was part genuine appreciation for its music, part intrigue over the concept, and part “do my state next!” However, instead of amping things up further, Stevens took a detour the following year to release Seven Swans, a delicate folk album with Christian themes. It was very well received, but the second state-themed album, 2005’s Illinois, was what really propelled Stevens to indie fame.
Since then: Although Stevens made an instrumental piece about New York’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in 2007 (The BQE), this was his last geography-based release, and he admitted in 2009 that the whole “fifty states” project was just a promotional gimmick he didn’t intend to complete. He’s only released three typical studio albums since Illinois, but has otherwise been very active with collaborative albums and has probably released more Christmas songs than any other indie act. Most recently, he released Convocations, which consists of 49 instrumental tracks organized into five separate volumes, showing he still has a knack for conceptual albums.
7. The Hives
How you know them: The Hives’ single “Hate to Say I Told You So” from their album Veni Vidi Vicious became a hit outside of their native Sweden in 2002. It used just a handful of chords to create a very distinctive melody with an audible Kinks influence, and frontman “Howlin’ Pelle” Almqvist went between shouting and squealing his words throughout. If this high-octane song weren’t enough, the song’s offbeat music video shows the band donning uniform black shirts with white ties, highlighting their 60s-esque penchant for formal wear when performing. The Hives rode a wave of success by releasing two more albums in the 2000s: Tyrannosaurus Hives in 2003 and The Black and White Album in 2007. The latter contained a second hit, “Tick Tick Boom.” This song has been used in a bunch of TV shows and video games, along with the occasional sports match.
But before that: The Hives are usually lumped in with all of the “The (Noun)s” bands that were big in the 2000s, and most would assume they’re a ripoff of bands like the Strokes with their similarly retro style. However, they’re anything but a “Swedish Stokes,” since the Hives have been around since 1993. They released Veni Vidi Vicious in 2000, over a year before the Strokes’ Is This It, and this was not even their debut. That title belongs to their 1997 album Barely Legal, which was in turn preceded by the 1996 EP Oh Lord! When? How?. Both of these early albums have the exact same type of sound heard on “Hate to Say I Told You So,” and songs like “How Will I Cope With That?” could be mistaken as outtakes by other 2000s garage rock bands (namely the Libertines). Even though the band always sang in English rather than their native Swedish, they wouldn’t find success in the Anglosphere until everyone else was doing what they had started several years prior.
Since then: The Hives never really changed their sound much, and they released their fifth album Lex Hives all the way back in 2012. They are still together and touring, and I saw them last year! They put on a great live show, so see them if you get a chance.
6. Future Islands
How you know them: Future Islands are best known for their 2014 album Singles and its lead single “Seasons (Waiting On You).” In a somewhat unusual story, the band attracted a significant amount of fame following a live performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. The band performed this aforementioned single, but with a level of panache rarely witnessed before. Far from being a simple synthpop act, the band’s singer Samuel T. Herring acted like he was the lead role in a musical, delivering his lyrics in such an expressive manner that he occasionally beat his chest or raised his arm to the camera. He also threw in the odd death metal growl, because why not? The video of this performance went viral, and soon the indie world was abuzz with discussion of Future Islands. A bunch of music websites dubbed “Seasons (Waiting On You)” the best song of 2014, and the band extended the tour for Singles because of their new-found attention.
But before that: Future Islands had been around since 2006, and Singles was their fourth studio album. Prior to forming the band, its members started as a gimmick-heavy, Kraftwerk-influenced synthpop act called “Art Lord & the Self Portraits,” which was active from 2003-2005. They formed Future Islands the following year so they could perform without hiding behind so much irony, and released their first EP Little Advances in April 2006. They moved from North Carolina to Baltimore, Maryland after recording their first full-length Wave Like Home in 2007, and found themselves working alongside Baltimore indie musicians including Dan Deacon, Wye Oak, Double Dagger, and Celebration. The band gained a following within this scene, and their music always combined 80s-styled new wave synthesizer melodies with Herring’s impassioned vocal delivery. Future Islands released their second album In Evening Air in 2010, followed by their third On the Water in 2011, and toured extensively during this time. However, if you had not heard of the other Baltimore acts I just named, there’s a good chance you would not have heard of Future Islands either, since much of their pre-2014 popularity centered around indie devotees in the mid-Atlantic.
Since then: Future Islands have released two studio albums since Singles, and continue to record new music and tour. They haven’t had a similar viral moment like their 2014 performance, but remain one of the most famous indie acts from Baltimore, next to Animal Collective and Beach House. Speaking of which…
5. Animal Collective
How you know them: Animal Collective had slowly been picking up steam throughout the late 2000s, right alongside the (thankfully now-extinct) archetype of the mustached hipster that lived in Brooklyn and rode a fixed-gear bike. Their name was passed around in these hip circles as a “band you haven’t heard of” until 2009, when Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavilion. For a band that had long been described as experimental and esoteric, this album was surprisingly accessible, and the Beach Boys-esque single “My Girls” had enough of a pop sound for anyone to love it. Critics lauded the album, and it’s the highest-rated album of 2009 according to Metacritic. It won Animal Collective a ton of new fans, was their most commercially successful album, and remains their most popular release by far.
But before that: Merriweather Post Pavilion was Animal Collective’s eighth studio album, after the band started making music together a decade prior. Their 2000 debut Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished is credited to founding members Avey Tare and Panda Bear, and the group did not start using the name “Animal Collective” until 2003 when they released their fourth album Here Comes the Indian. Music-wise, their debut album is surprisingly melodic in parts, while their next three albums were full of discordant noises and chanting. Their 2004 album Sung Tongs leaned into folk music and made for a less “challenging” listen, and was their first album to receive significant praise. The indie/hipster crowd caught onto the band around this time, and hyped up the band as they released Feels in 2005 and Strawberry Jam in 2007. By this point, the band embraced a mix of psychedelia, electronica, and rock that would sound extremely unconventional one moment and then full of sunny pop hooks the next. Relatedly, the year 2007 also saw member Panda Bear release his hugely influential solo album Person Pitch, which significantly informed the pop melodies that made Merriweather Post Pavilion into such a success.
Since then: Animal Collective have released three studio albums and two “visual” albums since Merriweather Post Pavillion. Although the band won a new following with this album’s pop sound, it turned out to be something of a one-off. The following studio album Centipede Hz got a tepid response three years later, and then 2016’s Painting With caused people to jump off the bandwagon in droves. Animal Collective never seemed like the type of band who was in it for mass appeal, so I have to imagine they aren’t all that bothered by having a smaller, more dedicated fanbase once again. Last year’s Time Skiffs was something of a refresh for the band, making for fairly easy listening, so maybe they’ll have a comeback moment.
4. Modest Mouse
How you know them: In 2004, Modest Mouse released their global hit “Float On.” It’s hard to think of a more optimistic tune, with a reassuring chorus of “we’ll all float on” set to a cheerful, marching beat like you’re watching a parade. Modest Mouse’s frontman made the song just because he wanted to feel good and make something positive, and it’s hard to deny his success with that here. It’s even from an album very fittingly titled Good News for People Who Love Bad News. “Float On” hit the number 1 spot on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay tracks, and there’s a good chance you’ve heard it on a TV show, on the radio, or while shopping. Even though it was released during a time when cynicism and doing things “ironically” was really taking off (see: hipsters), it delivered a much-needed message of “this too shall pass.” It’s basically the indie rock version of Monty Python’s “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life.”
But before that: Good News for People Who Live Bad News was Modest Mouse’s fourth studio album, and they had released their debut EP Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect? a full decade prior in 1994. Their first full-length album, This Is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, didn’t attract much attention, but 1997’s The Lonesome Crowded West earned the band a loyal cult following. The Lonesome Crowded West is now considered one of the most influential indie albums of all time, and its message of disillusionment with modern life is the opposite of “Float On.” Modest Mouse’s third album The Moon & Antarctica was another critical darling, considered one of the best albums of 2000. Despite all of these accolades, it’s important to note that they were only really adored by existing indie rock fans by this point, and this attention would be nothing compared to what they gained from “Float On.”
Since then: Modest Mouse are still making music and touring, but have released only three full-length albums since Good News for People Who Love Bad News. They had a couple additional hits that ended up number 1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart—“Lampshades on Fire” from 2015’s Strangers to Ourselves and “We Are Between” from 2021’s The Golden Casket—but nothing with the mass appeal of “Float On.” Instead, they’ve gone back to being a band that’s primarily beloved by indie rock fans (who are now mostly in their 30s and 40s). You can read about their latest album, The Golden Casket, here.
3. Portugal. The Man.
How you know them: If you’ve listened to an alt-rock radio station in the past five years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard a song with a chorus of “Oooh, I’m a rebel just for kicks now.” That song is “Feel It Still,” by Portugal. The Man., from their 2017 album Woodstock. “Feel It Still” topped Billboard’s “Alternative” charts for a whopping 20 weeks, breaking a record set by the stadium-filling Muse. The song reached number one on six different airplay charts, becoming the first song to do so since Gotye’s ubiquitous 2012 hit “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The YouTube video has 337 million views as of the time of writing, and it’s safe to call “Feel It Still” a megahit.
But before that: Portugal. The Man. had been around for 13 years before “Feel It Still” became popular, and Woodstock is their eighth studio album. Their 2006 debut album Waiter: “You Vultures” was much heavier and more prog-rock sounding than what you’d expect if “Feel It Still” was your first exposure to the band, and their first three albums all took an experimental approach to rock. It wasn’t until their fourth album The Satanic Satanist in 2009 that the band would begin to embrace a more pop-oriented sound. This really came to the fore in 2013, when the band released their seventh album Evil Friends, produced by none other than Danger Mouse. Woodstock is essentially a pop album with a few tinges of rock, and the band’s change to a more radio-friendly style over the course of their career gives more context to the success of “Feel It Still.” That said, I don’t think anyone expected that single to blow up as much as it did.
Since then: Portugal. The Man. have not released new music since Woodstock, and presumably have spent much of their new-found fame admitting that their band name is ridiculous.
2. My Bloody Valentine
How you know them: If you’ve heard of the oddly-named subgenre “shoegaze,” there’s a very good chance you’ve heard of My Bloody Valentine. If you’ve ever listened to My Bloody Valentine, it was almost definitely their 1991 album Loveless. The album is basically the platonic ideal of what shoegaze sounds like, and the “is this shoegaze?” metric could be fairly restated as “how similar does this sound to Loveless?” I’ve written about how influential this album is previously, and there are countless indie bands who were inspired by the droning, fuzzy guitars of Loveless.
But before that: To start, Loveless was My Bloody Valentine’s second studio album. Their first studio album Isn’t Anything was released three years prior, in 1988, and it contained a lot of the same shoegaze guitar effects, albeit in smaller doses. It received a lot of praise upon its release, topping the UK indie album chart, but remains overshadowed by Loveless in almost all discussions of the band. More surprisingly, My Bloody Valentine had been around since 1985, and had nothing to do with shoegaze when they started. Their first-ever release was the mini album This is Your Bloody Valentine, which was rooted in goth rock and explains the band’s name. From there, the band experimented and genre-hopped over a series of EPs, changing their lineup along the way. They didn’t start hitting their stride until they added significant distortion and noise to the mix, laying the groundwork for shoegaze—which is why My Bloody Valentine earned their spot on the Indiecator’s “bands who changed their style the most” list.
Since then: My Bloody Valentine effectively broke up in 1997 without a follow-up to Loveless. They reunited in 2007, but did not release their third album m b v until 2013. They haven’t released anything since then, or toured much at all, but do claim that a fourth album is in the works.
1. The Flaming Lips
How you know them: Right around the turn of the millennium, the Flaming Lips released two back-to-back, critically acclaimed albums. The Soft Bulletin from 1999 is considered one of the best albums from both that year and that decade, thanks to its inventive use of MIDI synthesizers to create an incredibly full and lush sound. It received an elusive 10/10 from Pitchfork, and retrospective views are no less fawning. The more electronic-oriented Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots from 2002 likewise received significant praise, albeit slightly less than its predecessor. However, what Yoshimi lacked in uniform acclaim, it made up for with its commercial performance. The album remains the band’s most popular release on Last.fm and Spotify, and was even made into a musical in 2012.
But before that: The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots are the Flaming Lips’ ninth and tenth studio albums, respectively, and the band formed all the way back in 1983. Their first self-titled EP from 1984 featured Mark Coyne on vocals, but by the time they released their first full-length album, 1986’s Hear It Is, Mark’s brother Wayne took over vocals and has been the band’s frontman ever since. Their first few albums were heavily based around distorted electric guitar riffs, with a fairly rough, punk-inspired sound. They started to mellow out in the 1990s, starting with fourth album In a Priest Driven Ambulance, and in 1993 released their landmark sixth album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. This had the band’s first hit single, “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which made the band an alt-rock staple in the 90s and allowed them to tour with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, this one modest hit did not translate into lasting success, and their 1995 album Clouds Taste Metallic was a commercial let-down. As if to say “screw it” after this, the band’s eighth album Zaireeka was an experimental piece consisting of four CDs designed to be played simultaneously, with each CD containing only one part of the music. It got attention, but it was more for the concept than the music, since few people owned four CD players. Somehow, just two years after this offbeat project, the Flaming Lips released The Soft Bulletin, which was much more accessible in every sense of the word, becoming their big breakthrough album.
Since then: The Flaming Lips have been extremely prolific since Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, releasing six studio albums, three track-for-track cover albums, an EP for (almost) every month of 2011, and countless collaborations. They have also continued to embrace various gimmicks, like releasing music on flash drives encased in gummy fetuses or skulls (or even real human skulls), and reprising the Zaireeka schtick with music meant to be played simultaneously from 12 smartphones. Most of their releases from the past two decades have received “good but not great” reviews, and the band are now as well-known for their grandiose live performances as they are for their music.
