Some excellent records suffer in obscurity, but heavily inspire artists who, themselves, become extremely influential. Then, later, an interview happens where someone like Kurt Cobain says something like “we learned everything from the Wipers,” and the record in question finally gets its flowers.
I’d like to give five of these bands their flowers proactively. Here are five albums that didn’t get their spotlight at the time of release, but provided it to many other bands.
The Sound - From the Lion's Mouth (1981)
Same label as Echo & the Bunnymen, who among many other contemporaries were treated as gods. The Sound got “cult “ status and a footnote. Adrian Borland wrote some of the most emotionally devastating post-punk of all time, using it as a vehicle for dealing with mental illness. This record is his peak. You can clearly hear key components to the bassline from "Winning" in The Cure's "Pictures of You" eight years later.
Wipers - Youth of America (1981)
Greg Sage was making dark, hypnotic punk in Portland in the early 1980s. Kurt Cobain famously ranked the Wipers among his favorite bands and covered them twice, which is the main reason most people found out about them. In this case, I would argue source is better than the tribute. Sue me.
Mission of Burma - Vs. (1982)
You may not think of this album as obscure because of the scene accolades it enjoys today, but this brainy and violent Boston art-punk record did not enjoy commercial success upon release. The band also quickly quit because Roger Miller's tinnitus became so bad he played with headphones full of noise to protect his ears and discern the notes. R.E.M., Fugazi, and Moby spent twenty years citing them as essential listening.
The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge (1983)
I literally just learned about this band because it was playing in the store the other day and I thought “Oh, this is where Interpol and Wolf Parade came from.” If you like these bands, Editors, or White Lies, you like this record. Its cavernous and ringing guitars produce a massive sound on an album that should have been massive. Bad luck and label trouble buried it instead.
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth (1980)
In contrast to The Chameleons, this Cardiff trio built post-punk from the most minimal of toolkits. This is very claustrophobic music. Hole covered them, Kurt loved them, as did bands like Magnetic Fields, Dinosaur Jr., and REM.
None of these records are hard to find nowadays, proof that excellent records can still win over time. Just as Franz Kafka died in obscurity before eventually finding his way into the majority of pants pockets in liberal arts colleges across America, these five albums have grown exponentially in exposure as the lineage of our favorite bands traces back to them time and again. Worth your time.