A look at one of the greatest indie bands to ever do it
Neutral Milk Hotel is a name synonymous with the indie genre. They released album after album of some of the greatest music the genre has ever seen. The Louisiana-based band started in 1989 as the brainchild of musician Jeff Mangum. The band’s official start was in 1995 when Mangum flew to Denver to record the first album, On Avery Island. During the runtime, you can tell what the band was shooting for when it came to their aesthetics. The lo-fi, introspective tone drew in ears because of its unique sound.
While On Avery Island would receive positive reviews, it was not until the band’s second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, where they would receive a boost in popularity. They recorded the album over the summer of 1997 and continued many of the same themes in their music as their debut with a few polishes. It had a bit more of a pop appeal and sold relatively well within the first months of its release. Mangum and his friends received a huge boost in popularity thanks to a bunch of publications talking about their albums as well as early-internet message boards. This took a toll on Mangum’s health which led to the hiatus of the band not too long later. The mark he left on the music scene is one of the greatest and most influential ones that led the indie folk revival.
The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel may not be something you listen to if you are already a fan of Neutral Milk Hotel. Instead, it serves as a great entry point into what the band has to offer. You have most of, if not all, the band’s songs in a track list to choose from so it is useful for new listeners to pick and choose each song they like or don’t like. The problem with this format is that it can take away from the individual album aspect of the discography. If you want nonstop Neutral Milk Hotel, regardless of what album it came from, look no further than here.
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