Polyvinyl Records began as an outgrowth of a fanzine, with a simple business model and a pure passion for the music its co-founders, Matt and Darcie Lunsford, loved. That is how the label describes itself in its notes on its most famous release, and the description still fits. Its catalog runs from Midwest emo to indie pop to bedroom-recorded rock, and these eight albums are the best way in.
Every description below draws on Polyvinyl's own notes, and each title links to its page in the Polyvinyl store.
American Football, American Football
According to Polyvinyl, American Football was cut in four days as the spring of 1999 slid into summer. Steve Holmes, Steve Lamos and Mike Kinsella were college kids in Champaign, Illinois, who expected to break up at the end of the school year, and they did, after only a handful of house parties and club shows. The album was recorded at Private Studios in Urbana with Brendan Gamble, and its photos and layout were the first Polyvinyl design by Chris Strong.
Polyvinyl says the record slowly found its audience over two decades, going from cult classic to emo linchpin, with reunions, reissues and new albums to follow. It also says the little white house on its cover became a musical landmark. When the band announced in 2014 that it would play live for the first time in 15 years, it sold out three nights at Webster Hall in New York City in a matter of hours. For the 25th anniversary edition, original mastering engineer Jonathan Pines remastered the album from the original digital audio tapes at the studio where it was recorded.
Rainer Maria, Look Now Look Again
Polyvinyl calls Rainer Maria arguably the most important band in its history: the first band it signed and the first full-length album it released. The trio came up in Madison, Wisconsin, before moving to New York. The label says Look Now Look Again, the band's second album, is the definitive Rainer Maria record, built on open-tuned guitar, rolling melodic bass and the vocal trade-off between Kaia and Caithlin. The label says the album has become a Polyvinyl classic and set the standard against which the band will always be judged. It was made with Mark Haines and Elliot Dicks at Smart Studios.
of Montreal, The Sunlandic Twins
Polyvinyl says songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Barnes followed of Montreal's 2004 Polyvinyl debut, Satanic Panic in the Attic, with The Sunlandic Twins, which became the band's most commercially successful album to that point. Originally released in April 2005, it marked a shift toward a more electronic, dance-oriented sound. The label singles out "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" and "The Party's Crashing Us" as iconic tracks.
of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Polyvinyl calls Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? the band's landmark 2007 album and its masterpiece. The label describes it as a logical extension of the indie-disco sound of The Sunlandic Twins, and also the most personal of Montreal album to that date. Play the two back to back.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Broom
Polyvinyl says the Missouri band's lo-fi MP3s made it an online sensation in 2005. Broom, the band's debut, was recorded in the attic and living room of guitarist Will Knauer's home. The label calls it an expertly crafted indie pop gem and notes that the band's original ambition was simply to make the local releases bin at a record store.
Alvvays, Alvvays
In Polyvinyl's telling, Molly Rankin and Kerri MacLellan grew up as next-door neighbors in Cape Breton, then met Alec O'Hanley, Brian Murphy and Philip MacIsaac and formed Alvvays in Toronto. The label describes the self-titled debut as both sun-splashed and twilit, nine songs of pop that glitters like sea glass. It was recorded at Chad VanGaalen's Yoko Eno studio and mixed by Graham Walsh and John Agnello.
Jay Som, Everybody Works
Everybody Works is Melina Duterte's first proper album as Jay Som. Polyvinyl says she wrote, recorded, played and produced nearly every sound herself in her Oakland bedroom studio, making the album in three weeks in October and writing half of it on the spot. The label points to "1 Billion Dogs," "Take It," "Remain" and "One More Time, Please" as highlights.
Pedro the Lion, Phoenix
Polyvinyl says Phoenix began in August 2016, when David Bazan, touring alone in an aging minivan, stopped in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, and drove past the house he grew up in. That detour led him back to Pedro the Lion, the project he had built years before. The label notes that Bazan has always recorded and arranged the skeletal parts for the band himself.
Where to start
Start with American Football. Polyvinyl says it became one of the label's best-selling releases, and calls it one of this century's most influential rock records. Then go to The Sunlandic Twins for something brighter and Everybody Works for a modern bedroom-pop high point. For more label guides, see our starter guides to Matador Records, Sub Pop and Temporary Residence.
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