The top five bands as a teenager thread made me wonder what band influenced your current musical interests the most, or atleast lead you to your current faves.
For me it was Fugazi. I remember buying Red Medicine shortly after I graduated, and I got hooked. On the more frequent trips to Omaha with my friends I started buying new and used indie albums in the record stores of the Old Market.
Being introduced to CMJ in college and the internet furthered my tastes more than Fugazi, but they were the band that made me indie.

My tastes are so varied now, so it is difficult to say one particular band influenced my current taste.

Indirectly though, Sunny Day Real Estate was the first band I listened to that I got really into and that opened my world up to music besides mainstream. I give them and Mr. Enigk credit.

well probably the 'indie' record that got me was Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Areoplane.. yes, I was a very late bloomer.. I hardly listen to the album anymore however, it was one of the albums that acted as an impetus to actively search for music instead of passively consuming what was made available commercially. Of course, it was really the CMJ BBS that got me started --

EDIT: oh current taste? hell I wouldnt say I have a current taste, I love music really- pretty much all of it (in terms of genres)..

"indie"-wise? Pavement, no question.

early years: Bowie

young adult: The Blue Nile

adult adult: Drive-By Truckers

Stone Roses

pavement was my tipping point, but i dipped my toes in the "stuff my brother doesn't listen to" with Primus and Cracker (i saw "what the world needs now" late night on MTV and fell in love)

and i guess Nirvana was a big deal too.

It was honestly probably


It didn't necessarily lead me to the bands I listen to today. But if I wasn't already a fan of this album, I don't know if I would have been as open to London Calling and albums like that.

And the band's section on their site with recommendations of theirs turned me onto Costello, XTC, Vic Chesnutt and more.

childhood: bruce springsteen, pet shop boys, cat stevens
adolescence: smashing pumpkins, the verve, the clash, radiohead
teens: neil young, nirvana, matthew good

B-52's debut album. Ground zero.

probably either talking heads or elvis costello. I listened to both at a young age. They were early indie/alt bands for me, but also pointed in some me in some other directions eg Talking heads: World Music, Funk or Elvis: Country, R&B.

The Rolling Stones.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.

The Stone Roses

Dinosaur Jr influenced my current taste the most. I'd say Hendrix, Nirvana, and Lynyrd Skynyrd had an impact as well but not nearly as big.

Blonde Redhead

and

Konono No. 1

Led Zeppelin

yup.

I discovered him in my 20's....and from that point on changed the way I approach music on nearly every level. I view him as the most skilled songwriter and rock artist ever. It's all about the lyrics...
sufficient vocabulary, but the actual dialogues and situations that Bob Dylan puts his stories into are what make them genius.

****My apologies to Keith Richards & Co. who I would've picked if Mick Jagger just didn't bug the hell out of me. ****

fugazi, misfits, and the smashing pumpkins -> when i really started to get into music (non-top 40 crap) --> circa 1990-1991 - 13-14 years old

the replacements - raw emotion. i find most of the bands/artists I really like these days have that same trait.

Yes, if only cos all these monger mixes are basically souped-up Stones style rockers.

I remember the first time i heard the Dolls and Bloor said something to the effect of it being a "faster, more punk rock Rolling Stones."

Apres Keef Le Deluge

old Blur

i'd say swervedriver for me.