There are definitely divisions in “obscure” music: there’s the surface level (those who know no obscurities), medium level (those who know some, but few obscurities), and the trenches (those who seek out as many obscurities as possible). These divisions were a lot further apart in the 80’s, the time before the vast underground scenes in the 1990’s and, obviously, the time before the internet was widely available in the 2000’s.

Now, you can find any damn piece of music you want, and making a list like this with modern bands (foreshadowing) would be pretty difficult because you’ve probably at least heard the names of most artists around, depending on which division you’re in. So, I feel like there’s been a lot of music lost in the cracks of time. I tried to make this list a little for everyone, so those of you in the trenches, don’t worry; I might have some new stuff for y’all too.

1. The Feelies - "Crazy Rhythms" (1980)

I have a theory: if the Feelies came out with the same music they did back then but in the early-to-mid-2000’s, they would be just as huge as the indie monarchy that was in place at that time (The Shins, Phoenix, etc.). Yet, because of indie rock’s infancy in the 1980’s, the Feelies never garnered such a big audience. Of course, if they did, then they couldn’t be on lists like these, so it all works out in the wash.

2. Soft Boys - "Underwater Moonlight" (1980)

The music on this thing is just as strangely unsettling as the cover art; somehow The Soft Boys found out how to create the uncanny valley aurally. Sounding somewhat similar to Ariel Pink’s current output mixed with almost Tim Curry-style vocals, Underwater Moonlight is a strange, messy, and psychedelic journey, one that I’m sure you won’t regret. Unless you hate feeling uncomfortable of course, but even so, I’m sure you wouldn’t forget it.

3. This Heat - "Deceit" (1981)

Experimental, yes, but still catchy as hell for a post-punk forefather. The guitars ring around violently, bouncing off of every wall before finding the driving drum rhythms, making songs like “Paper Hats” and “Cenotaph” dizzying yet freeing. The sound of this album is very, very unique, which makes sense due to the fact that it was recorded in a meat refrigerator.

4. Television Personalities - "...And Don’t the Kids Just Love It" (1981)

Don’t let the English twinge on the vocals fool you: it might seem like a lot of attitude is on this album, but I still consider it twee. There’s a very down-home, lo-fi feeling to this album, most likely do to the slight buzz throughout the recording. The group was supposed to open up for David Gilmour’s (the guitarist for Pink Floyd), but were dropped after reading Syd Barrett’s address to a crowd at a show during their song “I Know Where Syd Barett Lives.” Nothing more punk than self-sabotage.

5. Daniel Johnston - "Don’t Be Scared/Yip/Jump Music!" (1982/1983)

While Daniel Johnston’s most famous work (the seminal “Hi, How Are You”) is basically the symbol of Johnston’s work as a whole, these two albums show off a different side to the legend. While Hi, How Are You tells an ambiguous story with more experimental tracks, Yip Jump Music, and Don’t be Scared are more straight-forward endeavors with incredibly catchy songwriting. There’s just something so deeply, torturingly sad about a lot of Johnston’s songs, and that’s just as horrifyingly apparent on these two albums as they are in any other Johnston albums.

6. Echo and the Bunnymen - "Ocean Rain" (1984)

Another band that got decent radio play across the pond yet never got much here. “Killing Moon” is known to many as “that song from Donnie Darko,” but the rest of the band’s music is relatively unknown. Echo and the Bunnymen’s sound is very similar to what the Smiths started doing in 1982 yet they started making this style of music way back in 1978. While I chose Ocean Rain for this list, I would argue Porcupine is just as good of an album, so check that one out too.

7. The Minutemen - "Double Nickels on the Dime" (1984)

We all know those guitar slides on “Corona” from the Jackass series, but do we know the history of Mike Watt, D. Boon and company? Do we know what Toadies are? After listening to the huge amount of tracks on Double Nickels on the Dime, we just might. Mike Watt’s vocals are very unique, a conversational-yet-rhythmic attitude-yet-humor filled punk style, and D. Boon’s guitar playing is near masterful. R.I.P. D. Boon.

8. Strawberry Switchblade - "Strawberry Switchblade" (1985)

Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall’s Strawberry Switchblade had one minor hit: “Since Yesterday.” The music along with the video is so incredibly 80’s that some say it makes your hair slowly perm up more and more as you listen to it, but when listening to the self-titled album by the duo,you’ll realize it has many more dimensions than just 80’s cheese. Of course, I wouldn’t mind a jerry-curl if it means I get to listen to that song a few more times, it’s just so damn fun.

9. The Lover Speaks- "The Lover Speaks" (1985)

This is the only album by the UK duo, a fact that will be more of a crime once you’ve heard it. Of course, while David Freeman and Joseph Hughes were making music, they managed to create a fantastic concept record spanning from the beginning of a relationship to the bitter end of one. Even though they opened for the Eurythmics, The Lover Speaks is probably the most obscure groups on this list. Oh, and they wrote “No More ‘I Love You’s’” later popularized by Annie Lennox and that fantastic “do do do do do do do, ahhh” melody. Trust me, you’ll recognize it.

10. XTC - "Skylarking" (1986)

I’m sure a decent number of you guys have heard of XTC. Their biggest song, “Dear God,” never stopped playing on MTV in the 80’s, and your parents/siblings probably loved it. But, apart from “Dear God,” XTC has a lot of musical dimensions to offer besides cynicism and theatrics. Bright synths, wonderful vocals from the frontman (Andy Partridge, which, coincidentally, is the most English name known to man), and pretty great guitar playing make Skylarking one of my favorite from the 80’s, not to pick favorites of course.

11. The Go-Betweens - "Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express" (1986)

The Go-Betweens were an Australian band that just never seemed to pick up steam over here in the States. Robert Forster’s croon distinctly remind me of a pop version of The Kinks, especially on this album. The melodies on this thing will stay in your head like a bright but gooey muck, crawling on your brain for days, and I promise that’s much more pleasing than it sounds.

12. The Sugarcubes - "Life’s too Good" (1988)

To say that The Sugarcubes was Bjork’s first stint in the music industry would be a bold-faced lie: the Icelandic avant-queen started making albums when she was 11 years old. That said, Life’s Too Good goes in the top 5 from Bjork for me personally, and is surprisingly much lesser known than pretty much any of her solo work. The sounds are similar to the poppier moments from Debut and Post. “Life’s Too Good” showed off what would be the best components of Bjork’s future career: vocal dominance, risk-taking, and utter strangeness.

13. Beat Happening - "Jamboree" (1988)

Calvin Johnson (Beat Happening’s frontman) would go on to create K Records, a record label that houses/housed The Microphones, Modest Mouse, Bikini Kill, Built to Spill, and other huge names in the 90’s/2000’s indie scene, but his work in Beat Happening goes largely unnoticed by the general music-listening population. Of course, this would make sense on first listen of Jamboree: Johnson’s voice is a little bit hard to swallow. Once you get past the conventionalities though, you see something else: lo-fi, witty, and charming songwriting. I just find this album really, really cute and catchy, to be honest.

14. Galaxie 500 - "On Fire" (1989)

This and My Bloody Valentine’s lesser-known album Isn’t Anything were two of the solidifiers of the shoegaze aesthetic: walls of sound crunched in by reverb blankets thick as I’ll get at. Dean Wareham’s frenzied vocals add a welcomed hurriedness to the sound, making the album drenched in angered-melancholy. While “Tugboat” is decently well-known from 2012’s adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflower, the album is still unknown to most. The album does a good job justifying the glorification the melancholy, dreary daze of the 1980’s by such films(read: keep in mind, I love that melancholy, dreary daze).