These three albums all fall under different aspects of the often-debated indie rock style. But there are two things we can’t deny. One, they’re all no-skip albums. And two, they’re all 15 years old now.
‘Twin Fantasy’ by Car Seat Headrest
The 2011 release of Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest, aka Will Toledo, is often overshadowed by the 2018 re-release. For an understandable reason, as this version, later subtitled Mirror to Mirror, is rough, raw, and lacking polished production. The reissue remedies that, and the songs are exactly the same lyrically and emotionally. But this early version has character that often gets lost within competent production.
Sometimes a clean-up later can bring out the gems on an album that were hidden by technical restrictions. To revisit a project after several years and only improve the production value is a rare feat. The songs are perfect, and Twin Fantasy is an undisputed no-skip album. But something about how the 2011 version sounds like it was recorded using a can-and-string makes it the perfect vehicle for these lyrics.
‘Suck It and See’ by Arctic Monkeys
In all my many years as an Arctic Monkeys listener, I’ve only been known to skip two songs: “The Bad Thing” and “Riot Van”, and the latter only in specific vibes-based situations. So maybe this entry is biased, or maybe it’s just misguided. But even Suck It and See is a no-skip album in my humble opinion. Is this their best album? Not even close. And to be honest, sometimes I forget about it. That’s the curse of Suck It and See.
It features incredible tracks like “Love is a Laserquest”, “Piledriver Waltz”, the near-unintelligible “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”. And don’t even get me started about the misunderstood hit “Library Pictures”. But it’s often considered a filler album, just a stop along the way to bigger and better things (the fast-approaching AM, though I can argue that’s one of their laziest albums). Overall, Suck It and See doesn’t get enough love, and you can just try to take “Brick by Brick” from my cold, dead hands.
‘Vacation’ by Bomb The Music Industry!
Vacation is the final album of pop-and-power punk band Bomb the Music Industry!, led by Jeff Rosenstock. This album showcases the group’s identity as more of a style-fluid music collective than a clear-cut punk band. It also features several guest artists, including members of Fake Problems, Bayside, Andrew Jackson Jihad, and Good Luck.
Rosenstock’s attitude at the time was unconcerned with fitting into a specific genre. The band was orbiting its influences in an opaque way already, never really landing anywhere concrete. So, as Rosenstock said later, he just did whatever anyway. “I got the courage to say, ‘F**k it, I’m going to make the record that I want to make, and I know some people are going to not like it no matter what,’” he told VICE in 2015. That freedom to create beyond genre and style makes Vacation a no-skip album all the way down.