News The best indie albums, according to Kurt Cobain
As the figurehead of the grunge movement during the late 1980s and early ’90s, Kurt Cobain retains an immortal legacy. While Nirvana couldn’t claim to have been the instigators of grunge, Cobain’s absorbing lyrical flair and provocative demeanour helped bring the indie/alt-rock genre to a wider audience in the ‘90s.
Cobain gained much of his songwriting ability from an insatiable thirst for literature, especially any material that gave a cathartic release of spiritual escapism. Like The Beatles, The Doors and Bob Dylan before him, Cobain was particularly enamoured with the Beat Generation, which included the progressive, creative ideas of William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg.
Beyond abstract literature and an innate rockstar outlook were more direct, tangible influences, namely grunge progenitors like Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, R.E.M. and ‘The Godfather of Grunge’ himself, Neil Young. Cobain frequently praised such artists in his interviews and once noted some of their essential records when listing his 50 favourite albums in the early ‘90s.
Before he died in 1994, Cobain befriended some of his contemporary heroes. Famously, he established a warm acquaintanceship with his R.E.M. counterpart, Michael Stipe. Towards the end, the Atlanta singer saw that his friend was in a tough spot and tried to extend a branch in choppy waters.
In 1994, Stipe wrote the Monster cut ‘Let Me In’ about his vain attempt to help Cobain. “There were a lot of phone calls before that imagined one. [I was] really trying to pull him out of a very, very dark place. We all knew it, and we were doing everything we could to help – but it wasn’t enough. I wrote the lyrics in five minutes and recorded it in as much time. It was our – my – plea to Kurt. Too bad.”
Nirvana’s unflinchingly derivative sound could bring very little comfort to his Pixies counterpart, Black Francis, however. On several occasions, the Pixies singer and songwriter accused Cobain of “ripping” off their sound. Following the success of 1991’s Nevermind and its lead single, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, Nirvana admitted to fearing that they had borrowed too much from Pixies’ associative loud-quiet-loud approach.
During a 2013 interview, not long after Pixies had reformed, Reuters asked Francis to pick out his greatest contribution to rock. Francis replied sarcastically: “Being original, influencing Nirvana so they could rip a song. I’ll admit it — if Kurt Cobain’ fessed up to it, fuck it, I’ll agree with it, you ripped us off.”
As Woody Guthrie once said, “That guy stole that from me, but I steal from everybody.” Nirvana fashioned a nuanced sound using a rich and diverse history of rock evolution. Cobain’s tastes reached as far back as Leadbelly’s work in the 1940s, but most of all, his tastes lay in the post-punk era, during which the arbitrary term “indie” first reared its head.
Below, collated from Kurt Cobain’s 50 favourite albums, we list his selections that fall under the indie banner.
Kurt Cobain’s favourite indie albums:
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
The Breeders – Pod
The Vaselines – Dying for It
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
R.E.M. – Green
PJ Harvey – Dry
Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth
Mazzy Star – She Hangs Brightly
Wipers – Is This Real?
Wipers – Youth of America
Wipers – Over the Edge
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff
Daniel Johnston – Yip/Jump Music
Flipper – Generic Flipper
Beat Happening – Jamboree
Half Japanese – We Are They Who Ache with Amorous Love
Rites of Spring – Rites of Spring
