Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel emerged from the American lo-fi underground in the mid-1990s, led by Louisiana songwriter Jeff Mangum. The project became synonymous with a particular strain of indie rock that valued raw emotional intensity over polish, combining distorted guitars, singing saws, brass instruments, and Mangum's nasal, often anguished vocals. Their 1996 debut On Avery Island introduced their surrealist aesthetic, but 1998's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea became their defining statement. The album's oblique references to Anne Frank, combined with its lo-fi production and baroque pop arrangements, created something between fever dream and folk requiem.

The band dissolved shortly after Aeroplane's release, with Mangum retreating from public life entirely. This absence only intensified the album's cult status throughout the 2000s, as new generations discovered its peculiar alchemy of noise and melody. The project's influence spread through indie rock's emphasis on unvarnished emotion and literary ambition. A brief reunion tour occurred in 2013-2015. Their catalogue remains slight but seismic in its impact on alternative music's possibilities.