True Alternative: The Top 100 Songs of the ’90s Underground

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41-Morphine-Cure_for_Pain_(album_cover)40. Morphine – “Thursday
from Cure for Pain (1993; Rykodisc)

The most aggressively noir band of ‘90s alternative, Morphine’s mere arrival on your speakers signaled the possibilities of dispossession and something potentially very bad around the corner. Mark Sandman’s cool detachment was alienated but effective, one of the few voices that was unforgettable after your first minute of hearing it. Dana Colley’s grimy and lascivious sax playing made up for all the crimes the instrument committed in the 1980s. “Thursday” is an adulterous potboiler worthy of Barbara Stanwyck and a hapless stand-in, one who realizes too late that he should have been perfectly happy with what he’d already had and sent those internal, dreamlike voices straight back down I-10 eastbound. This business ain’t for suckers. Cue sax. – PP


40-220px-Carbuttoncloththelemonheads39. The Lemonheads – “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You
from Car Button Cloth (1996; Atlantic)

You’d be forgiven if all you know of Evan Dando’s power-pop outfit was “It’s a Shame about Ray” and their “Mrs. Robinson” cover. Following the two albums on the Atlantic label that brought us these and their other big hits, the band faded just about into nothingness while Dando himself phased in and out of sobriety. Full of deceptively innocent and simple melodies suggesting drug-induced fantasies and side effects, this song embodies a time before grunge and stardom yet it shows up on an album three years after The Lemonheads’ peak of popularity. – AB


39-220px-Gybeinfinity38. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “The Dead Flag Blues
from F♯ A♯ ∞ – (1997; Constellation/Kranky)

Call it what you will—post-rock, experimental, dark, progressive, cinematic, alienating. Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s music, especially at the time of their debut release, was all of those things. But one also got the sense that the band wasn’t trying to be any of those at all except, maybe, for experimental. Godspeed consisted of so many members that the real challenge, the real art, seemed to come from the risk of making something that could consist of so many individual parts but still come across as a cohesive, powerful statement. “The Dead Flag Blues” opens with a reading that has the ominous feeling of a science fiction novel turned epic film. And that’s no mistake; the words there come from an unfinished screen play by guitarist Efrim Menuck. But the true journey takes place after that introduction, as this massive collective slowly twists its dark noise into the form of a looming, western-themed instrumental ballad. It’s a striking, beautiful and menacing piece; timeless in more ways than one. But, as would become the band’s modus operandi, Godspeed can’t be helped from taking the song up a level before closing it out; the last two minutes showcase the band breaking into a beautiful, loosely formed melody; firm enough to make for a proper closing but free-spirited to the point that it very well could have been improvised at the time of recording. – ATB


38220px-Unwound_-_Repetition37. Unwound – “Corpse Pose
from Repetition (1996; Kill Rock Stars)

There’s something in the game plan of Unwound that’s defied the march of time. They wielded a powerful, constantly moving attack, but wouldn’t be satisfied to let their instruments fall into the conventions of the time. “Corpse Pose” is an immaculate example. Vern Rumsey’s thick bass line hook establishes the ground, but reaches into new melodic ranges you’d normally associate with, well, Paul McCartney. Justin Trosper’s guitar is certain and complicated by the addition of just one or two stray notes your standard power chords would rather leave out, and even Sara Lund’s immovable drum line is flared out by a curiously memorable open hi-hat. There’s a lot with Unwound you don’t necessarily catch the first time, which is fine because it’s music not made to be played just once. – PP


38-220px-Laughing_stock36. Talk Talk – “After the Flood
from Laughing Stock (1991; Verve/Polydor)

In the 1980s, Talk Talk carved out an impressive but short-lived career as synth-pop hitmakers, crashing U.S. and UK charts with songs like “Talk Talk” and “It’s My Life.” But the British group grew weary of this path pretty quickly, and not-so-gradually transitioned from hook-laden synth-pop to lush art-pop on 1986’s The Colour of Spring, atmospheric experiments on Spirit of Eden, and eventually a masterpiece of space and composition on Laughing Stock. That album’s sprawling, nine-minute centerpiece, “After the Flood,” is where Talk Talk completes their decade-long transformation, having shed their more immediate new wave tendencies in favor of improvisation, soul, grace and beauty. During the recording sessions, the group’s leader, Mark Hollis, reportedly lit candles and incense to set the mood, and between brushes of snare, Hammond chords and the feedback solo in the middle, you can practically see and smell those wicks burning. – JT


35-220px-IseeaDarkness35. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “I See a Darkness
from I See a Darkness (1999; Palace/Domino)

One could make a solid argument that Will Oldham (who performs under the name Bonnie “Prince” Billy) is one of the best songwriters living today. He pens ballads that fit well among the dark observations and stark honesty that inhabited much of the ’90s, but does so with a wistful, understated sense of awareness that both reveres and mocks the classic forms of American folk and country music. The titular track from his solo debut (definitions like that tricky when Oldham uses so many monikers for his bands), “I See a Darkness” is a visitation to a moment we’ve all had: The realization that we have thoughts and feelings that we’d be scared or ashamed to share with those we call friends. This song wouldn’t get much of anywhere beyond Oldham’s fanbase until a year later, when Johnny Cash covered it for this third entry in the American records project (with Oldham himself supplying background vocals). It makes sense that Oldham and Cash would cross paths at some point. Both have a knack for making honest observations on the darker side of human nature, but with empathetic spirit and a melody that you can’t help but hum along to. – ATB


34-220px-Slanted_and_Enchanted_album_cover34. Pavement – “Here
from Slanted and Enchanted (1992; Matador)

Perhaps the quintessential ’90s alternative band (not to be confused with ’90s alt-rock, though that’s also apt), Pavement were single-handedly responsible for teaching a generation that they didn’t need to care if they didn’t want to. Their superlative debut album Slanted and Enchanted was at times spiky, scuzzy and noisy, but never without a crystallized, studiously crafted song lurking underneath. And yet rarely, if ever again, was that craft left as exposed and unencumbered as on this heart-worn, melancholy slice of slacker rock. The inscrutable poetry of the brilliantly oblique lyrics, and the rueful, longing desire in Malkmus’ voice for things to just work out better next time are in absolute synchronization with the slow-dripping, languid pace of the track. It was the moment when even the most ardent Pavement skeptic had to concede that they were indeed the real deal. – MP


33-220px-TomWaits-BoneMachine33. Tom Waits – “Goin’ Out West
from Bone Machine (1992; Island)

Tom Waits grabs life by the balls. The growly-voiced genius is a national treasure with an incredible ear for sound—and his favorite sound is bacon frying in a pan. Here, Waits plays drums that recall colliding trash cans and barks lyrics in a way that could not be reproduced by anyone else. Bone Machine, which won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, was recorded in an “echo” room at Prairie Sun Recording—just a cement floor and a hot water heater occupied the space—as it eventually became known as “the Waits Room.” Bone Machine is the realest of the real when it comes to stripped-down blues, and “Goin’ Out West” is sinister Voodoo stew. Waits’ growl and rugged drums are the storm, but Joe Gore’s lazybones guitar is the tumbleweed that never gets blown off course. There’s originality, and then there is Tom Waits. – JJM


31-220px-GZALiquidSwords32. GZA/Genius – “4th Chamber” [feat. RZA, Ghostface Killah] from Liquid Swords (1995; Geffen/MCA)

“Choose the sword, and you will join me, or choose the ball, and you will join your mother in death.” Of all the samurai-film samples that open countless songs in the Wu-Tang universe, this brief clip from Shogun Assassin is the eeriest, marking the beginnings of a child’s path toward vengeance. Its connection to “4th Chamber” itself is tangential—a brief bit of aesthetic coolness that colors a darkly dazzling posse cut, much in the same way a ’70s AM radio hit makes a Tarantino film more than crime pulp. And aesthetic is everything here; like all vintage Wu-Tang, this GZA standout is caught in that vague space between the trap and the dojo, where Ghostface, RZA, Killah Priest and the Genius himself each take turns wielding their liquid swords and severing spines (metaphorically, of course). There’s no immediate danger—except for Haiti bitches, you know they throw hex—but the combined lyrical talents and spine-tingling atmosphere put this on par with Wu at their peak. – JT


30 - 220px-The_magnetic_fields_holiday_album_cover31. The Magnetic Fields – “Take Ecstasy With Me
from Holiday (1994; Feel Good All Over)

The final track on their 1994 release Holiday, “Take Ecstasy With Me” is an endearing, bubbly-yet-tragic perspective on an otherwise innocent relationship. Stephin Merritt’s vocals ooze with melancholic yearning, while the instrumentation is creative and full of synth that echo the ’80s yet usher in an aesthetic novel for the decade it was released. The track has a child-like vibe to it, as it opens with wooden rhythm sticks. Synths and quaint guitar provide a dreamy sensation, while Merritt’s deep vocals are kept relatively monotone. It’s melancholy whimsy, as only The Magnetic Fields could pull off. – VC

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View Comments (10)
  • Perhaps it’s a perversion on my part but I read a lot of these lists. I say perversion because I often hate this kind of list yet read every one. Most are pretty obvious with just enough off the beaten path selections to make the reader sense a larger depth. This by far is the most thoughtful list I’ve ever read. I know fewer of the track than on any other list I’ve read but the ones I know I love. It makes me want to explore so much music that is new to me, which should be the purpose of every such list. All I can say is Thank You.

  • The fact that this list is spread out among 10 pages, and not even to flood me with stupid ads like many spam sites do, is absolutely baffling. Excellent list, shame on you for making me click 9 times for nothing. (and by “you” i more mean the admins for this website. I’m sure KC Mars wouldn’t do that to the world)

  • The most seamless integration of Bob Mould’s Huskers-era merciless guitar attack with his Sugar-era sense of accessibility, with one of his best lyrics to boot. Should’ve been about 50x bigger a hit than it was, but you could say the same about how many dozens of other songs Mould released in his first decade-and-a-half?

  • This list seems to willfully omit any act that was once considered a darling of alternative music but then for shame attained any level of broader success….

      • It’s all there in the opening paragraphs. We wanted to highlight some lesser known stuff. No disrespect to any bigger artists of the ’90s, which we certainly enjoy, we just tried something different this time, and ended up with 100 songs that look a little different than your usual ’90s tracks list. Hope you can enjoy it anyway!

  • I don’t understand the hate – this is an awesome list! An eclectic sample platter of underground 90’s jams – with well-thought out commentary. “Leave it to Kurt Cobain to include mash potato in a song and sound angry doing so” – hilarious.

  • I grew up in the 90s first learning how to navigate music and find what I loved. This list brought me right back to intravenous childhood. Thanks.

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