The Indiecision Decade In Review is our retrospective of the last 10 years in Indian independent music.

These are our picks of the best Indian indie songs of the last decade.

#15: ‘Ebb’ – Lounge Piranha
Despite how much Lounge Piranha claim they’re ‘post-rock’, they’re not. At their most experimental on their debut album Going Nowhere they found themselves somewhere between moody, lyrical pop-alt and drone-y, rhythm heavy splooge that was basically an overthought idea, delivered well. They did it best however when they kept it simple. The centerpiece of their self released debut was the upbeat ‘Ebb’ that instantly transported us to happier times, nicer places and “last December”. Even though lyrically, it was depressing as fuck.

Stream: ‘Ebb’ (MySpace)

#14: ‘Oops’ – Shaa’ir + Func
Shaa’ir + Func are a band best heard live. ‘Oops’ does not lend itself to energetic live hi-jinks. Yet the slow-burning electro-ballad, which they said was about Shaa’ir aka vocalist Monica Dogra’s troubles with cultural acclimatisation, captured the melodic depth of Randolph Correia’s songwriting and graceful power of Dogra’s singing, perhaps better than perhaps any of their many, many other dance-friendly club tunes.

Stream: ‘Oops’ (YouTube)

#13: ‘Father Monologue’ – menwhopause
“I, have I been wasting time?” In one line Delhi’s finest alternative act summarised a crucial, terribly Indian parent-child relationship. The highlight of their 2006 tour de force Home, ‘Father Monologue’ precisely reflected this father-son dilemma, put together in the trademark menwhopause acoustic heavy pastiche. This song is moving in only the most visceral of ways.

Stream: ‘Father Monologue’ (YouTube)

#12: ‘Nada Nada’ – Avial
Who would have thought that a Mallu rock band would be one of the best things to happen to Indian indie rock in 2008? Avial surprised us all in a way few bands have, and the reason the country took to their Southern-flavoured alt-rock so easily was thanks in large part to the combination of some meaty riffs, a little turntable twiddling and one irresistible chorus in one of the most imaginative Indi-rock songs ever made.

Stream: ‘Nada Nada’ (YouTube)

#11: ‘Yeah Whatever’ – The Supersonics
Only Kolkata’s post-punk purveyors The Supersonics could take the most clichéd phrase of the 2000s and turn into a crunchy paean about not letting it all get to you. They have many great songs, but it’s this one that best resonates with a generation that’s made apathy an art form.

Stream: ‘Yeah Whatever’ (MySpace)

#10: ‘4 Times And Once After’ – Indigo Children
Holy shit, Arctic Monkeys! But no. Sure, Indigo Children (then The Superfuzz) took a bunch of ideas from Britain’s teenage troublemakers (“Lightning never strikes in the same place two times” being their answer to “The proof that love’s not only blind but deaf”), but their two minutes of madness was more alternative histrionics than straight imitation. Powered by cascading guitars and frontman Sanchal Malhar’s nasal screech, this song is still the lazy Delhi punksters’ finest moment.

Stream: ‘4 Times And Once After’ (Facebook)

#09: ‘Ambar’ – The Raghu Dixit Project
Raghu Dixit is an uncomplicated singer whose music sounds deceptively simple. It’s his delivery that makes all the difference. On paper, ‘Ambar’ is a mushy song filled with metaphysical metaphors; on record and in concert, he makes it into a goose bump-inducing modern-day hymn. Dixit sings every word of the near-eight-minute ballad as if he’s singing not about a lover but a goddess. If you’ve wondered how a singer could be both restrained and intense at the same time, listen to this song.

Stream: ‘Ambar’ (YouTube)

#08: ‘Yeshu Allah Aur Krishna’ – Swarathma
There are two ways to do socially-conscious music. You can do the whole guilt-trip-inducing soaring-ballad routine, or like Swarathma believe, you can sugar-coat the message in jangly folk-rock, and serve it with a dash of humour, and a little help from saint-poet Kabir. Concert staple ‘Yeshu Allah Aur Krishna’, an artfully biting comment on corruption in post-Godhra India, is the kind of song that makes you think when you’re not paying attention, a song so insidiously emphatic that it moves even the most unmovable of audience members.

Stream: ‘Yeshu Allah aur Krishna’ (YouTube)

#07: ‘Christmas In July’ – Zero
It is testimony of a truly seminal act, one whose catalogue is basically a collection of catchy choruses, that one of its most loved songs does not have any lyrics. Warren Mendonsa’s fancy guitar work has produced many a memorable riff, but his best work is still the blustery four minutes of ‘Christmas In July’. This is a masterclass in guitar-based songwriting. As a Channel V promo so approriately put it, “Listen, learn, enjoy.”

Stream: ‘Christmas In July’ (In.com)

#06: ‘Fence’ – Skinny Alley
Before Kolkata rock act Skinny Alley’s angular, Amyt Datta powered sound on 2007’s Songs From The Moony Boom, the quintet had perfected the art of moody, pop-rock. The songs on their 2003 debut, Escape The Roar took simple melodies, a less angsty frontlady Jayashree Singh and orthodox constructions to create something that was a far less vapid expression than the genre would suggest. Nowhere was this more resolutely addressed than on the album opener ‘Fence’; a compelling argument to give pop-rock a chance, and a brain.

Stream: ‘Fence’ (MySpace Video)

Check out #25-#16.

The Indiecision Decade In Review