The 25 most underrated bands of the 2010s

Alvvays hit the ground running with the dreamy indie pop of their self-titled debut, and then the Canadian band followed up with the excellent Antisocialites. They returned, after a pandemic-related hiatus, with a shoegaze-influenced third album Blue Rev, which was different but no less good. Few bands boast an output as impressive as Alvvays.

Young the Giant debuted and quickly became an alt success story, specifically on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart. While the 2010s were a different era for Billboard and charting music, Young the Giant was quite successful, releasing four albums in the decade that make up a truly successful run.

When the New York City indie rock scene of the 2000s ebbed, what rose in its place? Arguably, a sound best exemplified by Parquet Courts. Bringing a more cerebral energy, Parquet Courts catered to a particular brand of music fan that finds them as good as any band currently out there.

It’s nice to know that snide punk never truly died. Bands like Canada’s PUP keep it going with songs such as “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will.” There’s no need for PUP to pull punches, and they never do. It’s infectious stuff.

Cloud Nothings is one of those bands that feels like it really revolves around a central creative force — in this case, Dylan Baldi. However, other than a brief time as a solo project, Cloud Nothings has been a band. They’ve had the same drummer since 2010 when the band released its full-length debut. Since then, they have consistently churned out quality lo-fi indie rock.

Detroit’s Protomartyr gets called a post-punk band, mostly because lead singer Joe Casey does less singing and more tossing off his lyrics with sardonic aplomb. And yet, they remain clever and hard-hitting, with accomplished musicianship. Not everybody digs this style of music, but post-punk fans rejoice for Protomartyr.

The emo revival of the 2010s was spearheaded by bands like Modern Baseball. They only released three albums, all within four years, but what a run that was. Band member Jake Ewald then went on to head Slaughter Beach, Dog, another fine emo outfit.

Joyce Manor could be called Guided by Voices for Millennials. There’s just something about a band that can cram 16 songs into a 20-minute album and have it absolutely rip. They don’t stick around longer than necessary when churning out energetic punk anthems.

The British punks of Idles (who don’t always love being called punks, but we digress) wear their hearts and politics on their sleeves. If you’re with them, they’ll love you to death and aren’t afraid to tell you. If you’re against them, well, there’s the door, and they aren’t afraid to show it to you with fervor. Oh, and the music is great too.

Duos are bands too, and Tennis is a duo consisting of a husband-and-wife team who have proven fairly prolific. Hey, it’s hard to keep a band together and a marriage together, and Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore have managed to do both. Their lo-fi, dreamy sound has always befit a band that called their debut “Cape Dory” after they returned from a sailing expedition, but the sound has never wavered.

Big Thief isn’t afraid to swing for the fences. In 2019, they released two albums, which were really good. Then, in 2022, they dropped a double album. Oh, and two strong albums before that. Big Thief keep challenging themselves, and they keep delivering.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s favorite sister trio has polarized some. Alaina co-starring in Anderson’s Licorice Pizza likely didn’t help on that front, either. However, Haim was not some novelty sister act or just buddies with an auteur filmmaker. They’ve made some really catchy music that earned them their attention in the first place.

Car Seat Headrest started as a solo project for Will Toledo, but it has been functioning as a full band for quite some time. Toledo and company even did a full-band re-recording of 2011’s Twin Fantasy, which at the time was a solo release. When a band goes that far, you can consider them a true band — a really good one, for good measure.

To call a band “bubblegrunge” is fun, or perhaps annoying, depending on your expectation. Well, Charly Bliss is bubblegrunge, and whatever you call it, they’ve released two top-notch full-lengths. Their second album, Young Enough, had a more robust sound, but this is an occasion where a band changed their sound for their second album but didn’t take a step back. Plus, their guitarist was the voice of Dash in The Incredibles!

Irish post-punk outfit Fontaines D.C. got in right under the wire. They dropped their debut, Doggrel, in 2019, but immediately it found acclaim. They even got a nomination from the Grammys for their second album, A Hero’s Death. Now, the Grammys aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but some people are going to find them that way, and that’s a good thing.

Frankie Cosmos was originally a bedroom pop outlet for Greta Kline, who released a lot of stuff before ever releasing a proper full-length album. However, Frankie Cosmos has existed as a full band, with regular members, for a few albums now. They remain quite prolific, but the sound of a full band really rounded things out around Kline’s lyrics.

Originally called Deers, Spanish indie band Hinds don’t sound like any other band out there. Mixing in their Madrid roots and singing in both English and Spanish, they sometimes can sound almost cacophonous but never sloppy. As self-described fans of garage rock and lo-fi musicians like Mac DeMarco, don’t expect them ever to lose that winning vibe.

Chumped released a couple of EPs, then in 2014, dropped a full-length album called Teenage Retirement. Then, fittingly, they never released another album, calling it quits as a band. However, Teenage Retirement is one of the decade's top five or 10 pop punk albums, and the EPs aren’t too shabby either. Call it ending things on a high note.

The most famous New Zealand musical outfit is probably Flight of the Conchords, the comedy duo. Well, get to know The Beths, a pop punk band that absolutely riffs. Clever but never showy, and just always seeming like a good time, their ripping music belies their chill demeanors.

Originally called Sports, a band name that led to a decent amount of confusion, the group released a couple of albums while they were still in college. Then, they took a few years off and returned as Remember Sports. They have since released two more albums, just as good as the ones from the Sports days, ensuring we’ll never forget them.

Great Grandpa released two albums at the tail end of the 2010s, both of which were among the best albums of the year. Plastic Cough is arguably the best album to end with a lengthy song about a zombie uprising that begins while you are incredibly stoned. Four of Arrows is an even better album with no zombies-related songs we can recall.

Lo-fi outfit LVL UP is a 2010s band through and through. They released their first album in 2011, and after dropping a couple more albums called it quits in 2018. Hey, not every band lasts forever. LVP UP gave us three quality releases during their several years together, and some bands that have been around for decades can’t say the same.

Another band that has called it quits, Cayetana stopped making music together in 2019 after releasing two albums. Those two albums are packed with indie rock gems, though, and they are one of the best bands to come out of the Philadelphia indie scene that gave us a lot during the 2000s and 2010s.

It’s odd that Wolf Alice started as an acoustic duo, as they are now known as one of the top purveyors of British alt-rock. Granted, they didn’t release any albums during the duo days, having waited until they were a four-piece rock band before dropping My Love is Cool in 2015. In England, Wolf Alice is better known, but elsewhere, they remain underrated.

We started with a band that replaced the “w” in their name with two vs, and we end with a band that replaced the “u” with one "v." In a time when Stranger Things is making British synth artists like Kate Bush popular again, why not get into Chvrches? They have released four albums worth of synth music that can be bombastic but rarely is ever over the top.