Is This It

Few albums in modern pop history can match the instant, game-changing impact of Is This It. Almost overnight, rock ’n’ roll turned grittier, haircuts grew shaggier, and the secondhand-blazer section at your local thrift store got a lot more crowded. But most importantly, carefree kiss-offs like “Someday” and “Last Nite” refashioned the left-field sounds of previous generations—the streetwise swagger of The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, the wounded romanticism of The Smiths and early Cure—into immediate, dance-floor-ready pop music, portending indie rock’s insurgence into the mainstream.