Top Ten Slacker Rock Acts of all Time
To some ‘slacker rock’ is a derogatory term for the cluster of college rock bands that came out of America in the late 80’s / early 90’s – to me it’s a term too often ignored, and a genre too often forgotten.
Even in 2011, ‘slacker rock’ stands strong, influencing new, up-and-coming acts like Yuck, Morning Teleportation and Chad VanGaalen.
So who are Slacker Shack’s, Top Ten Slacker Rock Acts of all Time? These:
1. Pavement
2. Guided by Voices
3. Beck
4. Modest Mouse
5. Grandaddy
6. Built to Spill
7. Silver Jews
8. Dinosaur Jr
9. Neutral Milk Hotel
10. Swearing at Motorists
I don’t consider Sonic Youth to be slacker rock, for those wondering why they’ve been omitted. They’re a bit too avant-garde and droney for this list.
So why, slacker rock? Well, it’s not because these acts slack-out of producing lots of quality music. It’s all about a looseness and a slack-eyed way of looking at things. Off kilter lyrics, loose guitar playing and quirky sounds all unite these artists and between them they’ve produced some of the greatest music of the last 30 years – FACT.
Note – a few years since writing this I’ve followed it up with a Top Ten new ‘Slacker Rock’ acts – check it out here and send me your thoughts…
Slacker Shack 
June 4, 2013 at 12:09 am
I dig the slacker rock
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July 23, 2013 at 9:53 am
I honestly can’t believe you haven’t put mac demarco here.
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July 23, 2013 at 6:59 pm
This blog post dates back to 2011 – Mac DeMarco didn’t start releasing stuff until 2012 – his stuff does fit the bill though 🙂
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September 13, 2013 at 7:01 pm
I would kind of consider Real Estate to be Slacker Rock. Doesn’t sound anything like Dinosaur Jr. or Pavement, but the slacker style is there. lazily ringing out great melodies from the guitar. and a ” I don’t care” vocal style with lo-fi production.
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September 13, 2013 at 7:57 pm
Real Estate kind of fit the bill and I do like them – like the term itself there’s a certain looseness to the definition anyway! The original list was an ‘all time’ list but you’ve given me an idea – maybe I should draw up a Top Ten list of current ‘slacker rock’ bands still plying their trade!
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November 22, 2013 at 8:23 pm
where is the breeders
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November 22, 2013 at 8:32 pm
It’s a good question – I guess I’ve never thought of them as ‘slacker rock’ but it’s such a vague genre – I may have made a mistake there!
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February 17, 2015 at 12:34 am
Sebadoh??
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February 17, 2015 at 12:38 am
Yeah. They should definitely be in. Let’s call it a Top Eleven.
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March 24, 2015 at 1:00 am
[…] in 2011 in a moment of 90’s nostalgia I compiled a list of the Top Ten Slacker Rock acts of all time. I’m a massive fan of Pavement, Modest Mouse, Beck, Guided By Voices and Grandaddy, so the […]
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March 24, 2015 at 1:02 am
So I’ve finally decided to put together a Top Ten list of new slacker rock acts – https://slackershack.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/top-ten-new-slacker-rock-acts/
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December 3, 2015 at 6:42 pm
what about good morning?? or foxygen or hippo campus??
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December 9, 2015 at 1:37 am
It was years before them. I’m talking original early 90’s acts. I’ve done a new list for current acts but even that’s short of loads of even newer stuff now. I’ll check out Hippo Campus (if only for the name). I don’t like Foxygen and not overly keen on Good Morning either, although both could probably fit the bill otherwise.
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December 9, 2015 at 1:42 am
And it’s a no to Hippo Campus. Too polished and planned.
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November 13, 2017 at 12:39 am
[…] back in the summer of 2011 I compiled a list of the Top Ten Slacker Rock Acts of all Time. I was going through a lengthy phase of revisiting albums by the likes of Pavement, Guided by […]
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April 26, 2018 at 11:42 am
WTF where is Local H?
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May 9, 2019 at 11:53 pm
[…] of my most popular early blogs was the, Top Ten Slacker Rock acts of all time. To this day it still gets loads of hits and I stand by each and every one of my […]
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May 19, 2019 at 2:37 am
Years after writing this I realise it should really be a Top Twelve. How could I have missed out Sebadoh and The Breeders? It still occassionally irks me! haha
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