The Most Significant Indie Records

Suicide - Suicide (Red Star, 1977)

Keyboardist Martin Rev and vocalist Alan Vega's minimalist, synth space performance art rock was not generally well liked when the pair first hit the New York scene as Suicide, and one doubts that it would go over well today. What made the pair so difficult probably has something to do with the average human being's attention span. Simply put, most people cannot stand in a club and listen to the same two or three notes played over and over again on a buzzy synthesizer while the singer shrieks about the Western Civilization or some variation thereof. Suicide's music was never meant to be accessible, but liking it doesn't make you a better person. Understanding it just means you're patient.