Neutral Milk Hotel

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)

This is not a "punk" album in the traditional sense of the word, but if you have an open mind you may be able to really get into it the way I did. The album is basically a guy with an acoustic guitar singing. Odd instruments join in some of the songs, instruments like accordian, banjo, singing saw, bagpipes among many others. Although the lyrics don't make much sense, don't let that throw you off. Just listen to the way he sings/yells and listen to the incredibly catchy melodys. These are the type of songs that grow on you immediatly after your first listen.

The album has a raw, gritty sound to it, which is a nice change from overproduced sounding albums of today. The singers voice is also rough sounding, which adds to the coolness of it. If anyone is considering downloading a song by these guys I'd start with "Holland, 1945" as it is the most punk-ish sounding out of the lot. If you like that one then go to the title track. If you like what you hear, go for the rest of the album. I'm not one to listen to anything outside of the punk genre, but this is one of my favorite albums - punk or not punk.