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Get ready to dust off your skinny jeans and grab your digital camera! Join us as we count down our picks for the greatest songs that defined the indie sleaze era of the 2000s and early 2010s! Our countdown includes tracks from The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, MGMT, and more! What's your favorite indie sleaze anthem? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Well, somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last
00:08year
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:10And today, we're counting down our picks for the top 10 songs that define the indie sleaze era of the
00:162000s and early 2010s.
00:2610. Take Me Out
00:29Franz Ferdinand
00:38There might not be a song in the 2000s indie movement that brings as much guitar-driven ferocity to the
00:44table as Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand.
00:46Its greatest trick? Leading with a frenetic and tense rhythm before settling into an unexpectedly swaggering groove.
00:53It's a fantastic U-turn that gives each of the song's two distinct sections way more impact.
00:58Well, I say, don't you know? You say that you don't know? I say, take me out!
01:08There's a precision to the guitar work on this one, and its riff is widely regarded as one of the
01:13best of the decade in question.
01:14It wasn't the only hit single Franz Ferdinand carved out for themselves, but they really did create a masterful four
01:21minutes of indie rock gold with this one.
01:31Number 9. Chelsea Dagger
01:34The Fratellis
01:44Few songs of the 2000s capture the leery and rowdy vibes of A Night Out in the UK quite as
01:50well as the Fratellis' Chelsea Dagger.
01:52It's not a song that will win any awards for complex composition, but it is so simple and catchy that
01:58it was destined to become a favorite.
02:06It also became very popular at sporting events, where its enormous chant is almost impossible to resist.
02:12Chelsea Dagger represents the sweaty, drunken, and undeniably sleazy side of radio-ready indie music.
02:18To this day, it is by far and away the Fratellis' most successful single, and an anthem you'll likely still
02:24be hearing decades from now.
02:33Number 8. A-Punk
02:35Vampire Weekend
02:43Released in February 2008 as the second single from Vampire Weekend's debut album, A-Punk condensed the band's entire early
02:50mission statement into a ridiculously catchy two-and-a-half minutes.
02:54Its clipped guitars, rapid-fire bass line, hand percussion, and almost absurdly cheerful melody make it too much fun to
03:01pass up on.
03:09There's a clear indie influence there. A little Paul Simon, some African flavors, but it's a sound that the band
03:16made their own.
03:16Vampire Weekend certainly had a preppy and well-put-together image, but their early releases tapped into a carefree and
03:23summery style that earned them a unique place in the late 2000s.
03:27Vampire Weekend
03:35Number 7. Maps
03:37Yeah Yeah Yeahs
03:48Trust us when we tell you that Heads Will Roll very nearly took home our vote, but in the end,
03:53we had to go with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs breakthrough hit, Maps.
03:56For as much as the band all clearly succeed in their own individual roles, it's Karen O's vocals that steal
04:03the show.
04:04There's a remarkable level of restraint and vulnerability in the way she pleads with the subject of the song.
04:17The iconic music video captures that emotional rawness beautifully, particularly her honest and authentic reaction before and after the performance.
04:27It was a song that showed transparency could be just as enticing as bravado when it came to capturing an
04:33audience.
04:34Vampire Weekend
04:40Number 6. House of Jealous Lovers The Rapture
04:45As one of the major releases in early 2000s dance punk, The Rapture's House of Jealous Lovers had an incredibly
04:59fresh and exciting energy to it.
05:01The result is frantic, sweaty, and slightly unhinged.
05:05It almost sounds like a rock band discovering in real time that a nightclub could be just as exciting as
05:10a concert venue, something that the indie sleaze movement was all about.
05:21The wild vocals and unrelenting pace of the performance hold up to this day, and it succeeds in merging influences
05:27that range from 70s New York punk to British New Wave.
05:31A truly dynamite performance on all fronts.
05:41Number 5. Time to Pretend
05:47MGMT
05:53Although MGMT's time to pretend masquerades as a euphoric and uplifting anthem, there is quite a lot bubbling under the
06:00surface.
06:01In reality, the song almost makes fun of the ridiculousness of the rock star existence, painting a pretty bleak picture
06:07in spite of its surface-level tone.
06:19It's a track that questions the values that indie rock had been presenting us with over the years that preceded
06:25it, although many listeners might have missed that initially.
06:28To this day, it remains one of MGMT's signature songs, and is also one of the most memorable music videos
06:34the genre had to offer.
06:43Number 4. I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor
06:46Arctic Monkeys
06:56Now revered for their genre-melding, loungy, experimental side, long before the Arctic Monkeys achieved global success, they were pumping
07:04new life into rock music in the UK.
07:07I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor is a riveting piece of danceable garage rock, the opening guitar
07:12attack is iconic, and Matt Helders' drum beats give it an energy that never once dips.
07:27However, it is the lyrics of Alex Turner that really bring the whole thing home.
07:31During this period of the band's career, he had a real knack for bringing his listeners right into the thick
07:37of a Saturday night on the town.
07:38There's a reason that it remains by far the group's most performed live track.
07:43It's a classic of the genre.
07:53Number 3. Somebody Told Me… The Killers
08:06For as much as Mr. Brightside is the more enduring anthem, when it comes to tracks that really encapsulate a
08:13moment, the frantic energy of Somebody Told Me is too perfect to ignore.
08:17It takes new wave, glam, disco, and indie rock and compresses them into three minutes of superbly efficient songwriting.
08:31The chorus says the type of hook that most bands would kill for — enormous, repetitive, and instantly singable —
08:38all wrapped up in a club-ready driving rhythm.
08:40There's a lot going on with singer Brandon Flowers' performance on the track — a swaggering, direct, but also uncertain
08:47performance that ranks right up there with the best songs The Killers ever released.
08:57Number 2. Losing My Edge… LCD Sound System
09:01Yeah, I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge.
09:08On the long list of great debut singles that really make a strong statement of intent, LCD Sound System's Losing
09:15My Edge is always going to rank pretty highly.
09:17James Murphy essentially turned insecurity about aging and musical relevance into a dance track, boasting about possessing obscure records while
09:26gradually revealing how ridiculous that obsession is.
09:38It's almost a parody, but also quite a vulnerable way to announce yourself to the world artistically.
09:43Those who pegged LCD Sound System as a major player on the indie scene after this track would have their
09:49prediction proven correct time and time again.
10:01Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:05Don't Look Back Into The Sun — The Libertines
10:08One of 2000's indie's punchiest crowd-pleasers
10:12They'll never forgive you, but they won't let you go
10:15Baby, come!
10:17She'll never forgive you, but she won't let you go
10:20Standing in the way of control — The Gossip — a powerfully delivered anthem with a real rebellious streak.
10:27I'm doing this for you, because it's easier to lose
10:31And it's hard to face the truth, when you think you're dying
10:361901 — Phoenix — As smooth, joyous, and memorable as any song of its era.
10:42I know I wouldn't let you think so
10:45Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it
10:51Banquet — Block Party — Infinitely danceable and punchy track from the British indie icons.
11:06Bohemian Like You — The Dandy Warhols
11:10An insanely catchy radio rock classic from the year 2000.
11:14Cause I like you, yeah I like you
11:18And the feelings of bohemian like you
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11:50Number 1. Last Night — The Strokes
11:53Last Night — She said
11:57Oh, man, I feel so down
12:00See you, turn me on
12:02Sure, it takes a few ideas from Tom Petty in The Heartbreakers' American Girl,
12:07but The Strokes took that formula and undeniably created something entirely their own with Last Night.
12:14Spearheaded by a punchy vocal performance from frontman Julian Casablancas, the track's intro is a real crowd-pleaser, building momentum
12:21up to the point where the verse hits.
12:23And the sound like I'm out with me
12:26Open it now
12:27Whenever I feel so down
12:29See I don't know why
12:31Casablancas somehow sounds bored, fired up, and maybe a little hungover all at the same time.
12:38As far as tracks that sum up 2000's nonchalance, Last Night is just about as clear-cut an example as
12:44you will ever find.
12:45It was the song that set the Strokes on their path towards becoming one of the standout rock bands of
12:50their time.
12:58But what do you consider to be the greatest indie sleaze song of all time?
13:02Let us know in the comments below.
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