The term “alternative rock” is already hard enough to define, especially if you need to go deeper than just saying “it’s a vibe” or whatever, but then labeling something as alternative more broadly? Naturally, it’s trickier, but if something that’s alternative rock has a little more edge than something more pop rock-focused, and isn’t the kind of thing that seems like it was written for the mainstream, then an alternative song or album is the same, but across other genres.
So, below, you’ll get some alternative rock songs and then some tracks that might be considered more new wave or synthpop without necessarily being true “pop,” as well as some that might’ve been influential in classifying what later came to be understood as indie rock/pop. As best as possible, there will be reasons given why these songs are being counted as alternative, and they’re also all from the 1980s, obviously. And yes, some of them have become famous and quite well-known, but something can get popular without necessarily easily fitting into the category of “pop music.”
10
“This Is the Day” (1983)
Like a bunch of the other songs that’ll be mentioned below, “This Is the Day” best and most succinctly lays out the appeal of the artist behind it. Said artist is The The, which has always been a headache of a band name, though it’s one of those bands that’s really just the one guy (an underappreciated singer-songwriter by the name of Matt Johnson, and he’s different from the Nirvanna the Band the Show guy) with other musicians filling out certain roles as needed, albeit without necessarily being consistent band members.
“This Is the Day” is one of a handful of lengthy and emotionally complicated songs found on the pretty much perfect album Soul Mining, with this track in particular striking such an admirably unique tone. It can sound some level of uplifting, depressing, or somewhere bittersweet and in between depending on where your head’s at when you listen to it, so it’s one of those songs that does indeed somehow always have your back, so to speak.
9
“Downtown Train” (1985)
Tom Waits
In the 1970s, Tom Waits got his start without fully committing to that gruff and raspy voice he’s now best known for, and some of those slower and gentler albums he did when he was first starting out are probably his most approachable. But if you’re looking at Waits when he is in that iconic and still-ongoing gruff/raspy phase, Rain Dogs is probably the best place to start, even though it is quite eccentric still.
There are songs on the album that feel like the soulful and gentle tracks of the Closing Time (1973) era, but done with the gruff voice, and they are some of the best and most interesting Tom Waits has ever released. “Downtown Train” is the highlight in this regard, and is such a powerful song, being so easy to enjoy and feel moved by once you get on board with that voice that undeniably sounds so strange the first time you come across it.
8
“Kangaroo” (1984)
This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil is a fascinating band, if you can even call them a band. It’s easier to see This Mortal Coil described as a collective or a supergroup, because it was made up of people associated with the 4AD record label, and those artists were all already alternative and/or lesser-known, like Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance… artists that make strange but beautiful music.
And This Mortal Coil mostly did covers, reshaping and making some already underrated or alternative songs their own, doing so most famously with Tim Buckley‘s “Song to the Siren,” but doing so perhaps most impactfully with Big Star‘s “Kangaroo.” The original song is odd and somewhat affecting, but the version by This Mortal Coil is next-level, and one of the most emotionally stirring songs of its decade (as well as far too slept-on generally speaking).
7
“Can’t Hardly Wait” (1987)
The Replacements
There’s another link to Big Star when it comes to The Replacements, and specifically the latter band’s 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me, because one of the best songs on that album was called “Alex Chilton,” and he was the frontman of Big Star. So, safe to say, alternative and indie musicians tend to revere Chilton. But “Alex Chilton” is only getting an honorable mention here, because it’s the second-best song on Pleased to Meet Me.
The best, and probably the greatest track The Replacements ever recorded, is “Can’t Hardly Wait,” which is getting counted here as an alternative rock/pop song, even if it’s probably the most mainstream-sounding song the band did. They did that so well, though, and the catharsis offered here is just too undeniable to pass it over for present purposes.
6
“The Downtown Lights” (1989)
The Blue Nile
Hats is an album with a bit of a silly name, like how The The was a band (or act) with a silly name, but that shouldn’t put you off what’s one of the greatest albums of its decade. The Blue Nile (the band, and at least that band name is a little better) only ever released four albums, and each one took years to make. They might be on hiatus, or they’re probably more likely over for good, which is a shame, but then again, Hats being the kind of thing you can listen to so many times without it getting old makes it all a little easier to swallow.
It’s not the literal centerpiece, since it’s the second of seven songs on the album, but “The Downtown Lights” serves as the emotional centerpiece of Hats. It wouldn’t feel like a stretch to call it one of the most evocative and cinematic songs of all time, because it conjures up images (and other senses) of a time and a place almost unnervingly well.
5
“Streets of Your Town” (1988)
The Go-Betweens
Another song about streets, more specifically than “The Downtown Lights,” and then it’s also not quite as moody, “Streets of Your Town” is the greatest song by The Go-Betweens, a band that’s somewhat known but still underrated in Australia, and then (obviously) even more overlooked elsewhere. It should be acknowledged that even if you haven’t heard this song before, you’ve probably heard part of this song before, since it was sampled (admittedly well) in “Just the Way You Are” by Milky.
“Streets of Your Town” is mostly happy and upbeat, but there is a slightly bitter edge to it thanks to some of the lyrics, so it’s yet another great alternative rock/pop song from the 1980s that balances some contrasting stuff within just one brief song. An honorable mention should also go out to “Cattle and Cane” by The Go-Betweens, since that one’s iconic too, and is probably the band’s second-best song overall.
4
“Here Comes Your Man” (1989)
“Here Comes Your Man” is to Pixies what “Downtown Lights” is to Tom Waits. Like, both are songs that represent two offbeat artists at their respective poppiest, and it’s a flex in both cases, almost saying “Yeah, we could dominate the radio if we wanted to, but we don’t really want to.” Though Pixies is generally a bit more approachable than Waits, with it still being accurate to say that “Here Comes Your Man” is a good bit gentler than most of their songs.
It’s one of many highlights off Doolittle, which is easily one of the greatest alternative rock albums of all time, and one that came out around the time that you could almost label it as an early and highly important indie rock album, too. With “Here Comes Your Man,” its capacity to be an earworm is undeniable, and if you want to find one song that has the highest chance of making someone become a Pixies fan within minutes, then this’d be a good pick.
3
“Pictures of You” (1989)
The Cure
To be the standout track on the standout album by a band as good as The Cure is quite the achievement, but that is “Pictures of You” in a nutshell, with the album in question being Disintegration. The songs on this one are generally lengthy and moody, which add to the alternative qualities found on the album, though getting past the track lengths and what’s being gone for emotionally, much of Disintegration is quite approachable.
It’s engrossing and very atmospheric, above anything else, and even if there’s no single song that encompasses everything about The Cure within a matter of minutes, “Pictures of You” probably comes the closest.
With “Pictures of You,” it doesn’t feel like it goes on for seven and a half minutes, because it passes by in a flash, somehow, even if the track itself can’t exactly be called fast-paced. It’s engrossing and very atmospheric, above anything else, and even if there’s no single song that encompasses everything about The Cure within a matter of minutes, “Pictures of You” probably comes the closest to doing that.
2
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980)
Joy Division
Originally, “Blue Monday” by New Order was in this spot, but it felt a little more appropriate to highlight the crowning achievement by Joy Division rather than New Order. They’re almost the same band, though Joy Division’s frontman was Ian Curtis, and he took his life in 1980, leading to New Order being a new band of sorts formed after his passing.
Joy Division was kind of post-punk, and then New Order had more of a synthpop sound, so New Order did come to be more definitively a 1980s band. Still, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is one of the greatest songs of all time, and the best track if you look through the entirety of the Joy Division and New Order discographies. It’s also the perfect middle ground between the two bands, since it’s bleak like most of Joy Division’s output, but then it’s quite infectious and energetic (at least in sound, discounting the lyrics), like most of New Order’s discography.
1
“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1986)
The Smiths
Like a good many artists already mentioned, The Smiths are tremendously well-known nowadays, but a great alternative song isn’t the same as a great song that’s also underrated. Something can be slightly indie or alternative rock and still get popular enough to be comparable to, well, pop music in terms of popularity. The Smiths still aren’t going to be on the radio as often as Michael Jackson or Madonna, but some songs might, and then some are definitely within popular culture, too.
See “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” which marks one of those wonderful instances where a band’s signature song also just so happens to be their very best. This is the whole package Smiths-wise in a single song, and maybe a little more, since there are small amounts of warmth here that shine through, even with certain lyrics here still being darkly funny and cynical (dying because of a double-decker bus and all that). It’s the contrast here that really elevates this particular song.
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