Before it was thrust into the mainstream, the term "indie rock" literally meant just that — independent rock. Many of these bands started off making rock music without the backing of a major record label, allowing them to push the envelope sonically and expanding the horizons of rock music without the pressure to sell albums. However, in today's music world, nearly every non-pop or hip-hop act that even somewhat eschews the sound of  Top 40 is slapped with the label of "indie" — even if they're signed to today's biggest megalabels.

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Talk to your Jimmy Eat Worlds,  your Arcade Fires, your Modest Mouses (Modest Mice?), your Death Cab(s) for Cutie (fine, I'll stop) of the world and there's no doubt you'll find bands from the list above in their list of influences. Each artist only has one song on the playlist (with the only exception being Stephen Malkmus' solo work and Pavement landing songs on the list), and spans several decades of bands and songwriters whose music helped shape the sound of modern rock music. Enjoy!

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-Trevor Paxton