The 25 Greatest Indie Rock Guitar Solos

Indie guitarists tend to prize texture, noise and feel over technique, and the solos here reflect that. Rankings draw on how often these songs appear in published solo lists, with space for influential leads from the Velvet Underground through to St. Vincent.

Informed by: Rolling Stone – The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2026), Classic Rock – The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock (2018), uDiscover Music – The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: 108 Amazing Moments, TheTopTens – Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time, Magazyn Gitarzysta – 100 solos of all time, Music in Minnesota – 38 Best Guitar Solos Of All Time, Guitar World – The greatest guitar solos of the 21st century... so far, NME – 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2017), NME – 10 Brilliantly Shambolic Guitar Solos (2012), Guitar Tricks – 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time, Digital Dream Door – 250 Greatest Rock Guitar Solos

1. 1
   Marquee Moon

   Television · solo by Tom Verlaine · 1977
2. 2
   Freak Scene

   Dinosaur Jr. · solo by J Mascis · 1988
3. 3
   The Diamond Sea

   Sonic Youth · solo by Lee Ranaldo & Thurston Moore · 1995
4. 4
   Impossible Germany

   Wilco · solo by Nels Cline · 2007
5. 5
   Ball and Biscuit

   The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2003
6. 6
   Last Nite

   The Strokes · solo by Albert Hammond Jr. & Nick Valensi · 2001
7. 7
   Coffee And TV

   Blur · solo by Graham Coxon · 1999
8. 8
   Reptilia

   The Strokes · solo by Nick Valensi · 2003
9. 9
   I Heard Her Call My Name

   The Velvet Underground · solo by Lou Reed · 1968
10. 10
    Venus

    Television · solo by Tom Verlaine & Richard Lloyd · 1977
11. 11
    Get Me

    Dinosaur Jr. · solo by J Mascis · 1993
12. 12
    How Soon Is Now?

    The Smiths · solo by Johnny Marr · 1984
13. 13
    I Am The Resurrection

    The Stone Roses · solo by John Squire · 1989
14. 14
    Take Me Out

    Franz Ferdinand · solo by Nick McCarthy, Alex Kapranos · 2004
15. 15
    Rattlesnake

    St. Vincent · solo by Annie Clark · 2014
16. 16
    Surgeon

    St. Vincent · solo by Annie Clark · 2011
17. 17
    Sludgefeast

    Dinosaur Jr. · solo by J Mascis · 1987
18. 18
    Little Honda

    Yo La Tengo · solo by Ira Kaplan · 1997
19. 19
    Time for Heroes

    The Libertines · solo by Carl Barât · 2002
20. 20
    I Will Dare

    The Replacements · solo by Peter Buck · 1984
21. 21
    Let's Call It Love

    Sleater-Kinney · solo by Carrie Brownstein · 2005
22. 22
    Vamos

    Pixies · solo by Joey Santiago · 1988
23. 23
    Stockholm Syndrome

    Yo La Tengo · solo by Ira Kaplan · 1997
24. 24
    Carry the Zero

    Built to Spill · solo by Doug Martsch · 1999
25. 25
    An Ocean in Between the Waves

    The War on Drugs · solo by Adam Granduciel · 2014