The Strokes – Is This It

The debut from one of New York’s most famous musical exports is what kicked off the indie scene and started the biggest musical movement of the century thus far, one that we are still in the grip of. Though the album displayed a simple, bare-bones approach it provided a blank canvas for the vast multitude of bands which followed.

The Libertines – The Libertines

The most notorious British band of the 21st century. Though they received plenty of critical acclaim and commercial success during their brief heyday, they were more famous for the drug fuelled exploits of Pete Doherty. Despite the fact that Doherty was completely out of it, spent time in prison and avoided bandmate Carl Barat like the plague, the band produced a classic British album.

The Killers – Hot Fuss

Arguably the most commercially successful indie band around. Though they have produced their fair share of hits across their career, they could never match Hot Fuss as far as albums are concerned. Inspired by new wave and post punk it features the massive hits ‘Somebody Told Me’, ‘Smile Like You Mean It’, ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ and of course their signature song ‘Mr Brightside’.

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

Having already established themselves as one of indie rock’s biggest success stories with their first two albums, Vampire Weekend then delivered a stone cold modern classic. All together more sophisticated, both musically and lyrically, it plays like a coming of age story of the band. Rather than focus on privileged youth the lyrics are more world weary with a more experimental musical backdrop.