The 25 best indie tracks of 1997
24 January 2025, 10:38 | Updated: 24 January 2025, 10:46
Radio X takes a look back at the year of Novocaine For The Soul, Bitter Sweet Symphony, Song 2 and Local Boy In The Photograph and asks... D'you Know What I Mean?
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Skunk Anansie - Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good): release date 13th January 1997
Skunk Anansie - Hedonism
Taken from Stoosh, the second album from the British rock band, this anthem peaked at Number 13 in the UK charts.
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White Town - Your Woman: release date 13th January 1997
White Town - Your Woman (Official HD Video)
Producer and musician Jyoti Mishra had a Number 1 hit with this homemade tune, taken from White Town's second album, Women In Technology.
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Placebo - Nancy Boy: release date 20th January 1997
Placebo - Nancy Boy (Official Music Video)
One of the key tracks from the trio's self-titled debut album, this provocative song was re-recorded and made it to Number 4 in the charts, making it their biggest hit, alongside Pure Morning later the same year.
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Depeche Mode - Barrel Of A Gun: release date 3rd February 1997
Depeche Mode - Barrel of a Gun (Remastered)
The lead single from the British electronica band's ninth album Ultra, was their first since the departure of long-time member Alan Wilder.
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Mansun - She Makes My Nose Bleed: release date 3rd February 1997
Mansun - She Makes My Nose Bleed (Official Promo Video)
The Chester alt.rock band issued this single in the weeks before the release of their classic debut album Attack Of The Grey Lantern. It went Top 10 in February 1997.
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Eels - Novocaine For The Soul: release date 3rd February 1997
Eels - Novocaine For The Soul (Official Video)
Originally issued in February 1996 in the USA, this was the lead single from the album Beautiful Freak and broke the British Top 10 a year later.
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James - She's A Star: release date 10th February 1997
James - She's A Star (Official Dir Cut Video) HD
Keeley Hawes of Ashes To Ashes and Line Of Duty fame appeared in the video for the lead single from the Manchester band's seventh album, Whiplash. The song peaked at Number 9 in the UK charts.
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Embrace - All You Good Good People: release date 10th February 1997
Embrace - All You Good Good People (Official Video)
The debut single from the Yorkshire band was released on the indie label Fierce Panda - this prompted Embrace to sign to Hut, the home of The Verve and Smashing Pumpkins.
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The Charlatans - North Country Boy: release date 24th March 1997
The Charlatans - North Country Boy HD
Tim Burgess and co's fifth album Tellin' Stories spawned this hit, alongside How High and One To Another.
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Stereophonics - Local Boy In The Photograph: release date 17th March 1997
Stereophonics - Local Boy In The Photograph (Official Music Video)
The Welsh trio's debut single (after a very limited promo of Looks Like Chaplin in 1996), Local Boy is still one of the band's best-loved songs, with one of Kelly Jones' most poignant lyrics. The track made Number 51 on its initial release, but a reissue the following year took it to Number 14.
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Supergrass - Richard III: release date 31st March 1997
Supergrass - Richard III (Official HD Video)
The trailer for the trio's second album In It For The Money, this raucous tune peaked at Number 2 on the UK chart in April 1997, the band's highest placing since Alright two years earlier.
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Blur - Song 2: release date 7th April 1997
Blur - Song 2 (Official Music Video)
The second song (hence the name) from the Britpop legends' self-titled fifth album followed their chart-topper Beetlebum from earlier in the year, peaking at - of course - Number 2.
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The Seahorses - Love Is The Law: release date 28th April 1997
The Seahorses - Love Is The Law
Ex-Stone Roses guitarist John Squire made a spectacular comeback with this single, produced by Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti. The track was taken from the sole Seahorses album, Do It Yourself, and peaked at an impressive Number 3 on the charts.
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Primal Scream - Kowalski: release date 5th May 1997
Primal Scream - Kowalski (Official Video)
Taken from the Scream's album Vanishing Point, named after the cult 1971 movie; the single is titled after the film's main character.
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Radiohead - Paranoid Android: release date 26th May 1997
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Thom Yorke and co's biggest hit in Britain peaking at Number 3, the song took its name from Marvin, the depressed robot from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
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Travis - All I Wanna Do Is Rock: release date 6th June 1997
Travis - All I Want To Do Is Rock (Official Video)
The debut single from the Scottish band was originally issued as an indie 10" single in October 1996, but reissued in the summer of 1997, where it made Number 39 in the UK charts.
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The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony: release date 16th June 1997
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Richard Ashcroft had split the Wigan band at the tail end of 1995, but this superb song marked The Verve's comeback in style - it crashed into the charts at Number 2. The follow-up, The Drugs Don't Work, would reach the top in September that year.
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Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City: release date 16th June 1997
Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City
The lead single from the Birmingham band's third album, Marchin' Already, this tune matched The Day We Caught The Train as the highest charting OCS single, making Number 4.
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Echo And The Bunnymen – Nothing Lasts Forever: release date 16th June 1997
Echo & The Bunnymen - Nothing Lasts Forever (Official Video)
Ian McCulloch had left the Bunnymean back in 1988, and this single was the grand return of the singer to the band, rejoining original members Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson. It was their first Top 10 hit in thirteen years, peaking at Number 8 in June of 1997.
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No Doubt -Just A Girl: release date 23rd June 1997
No Doubt - Just A Girl
Originally taken from the Californian band's third album Tragic Kingdom in October 1996, this ska-punk favourite made Number 3 in the summer of '97 in the wake of No Doubt's British chart-topper Don't Speak.
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Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean: release date 7th July 1997
Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean? (Official HD Remastered Video)
The first new material from the brothers Gallagher in nearly two years shot straight to Number 1 for a week and prepped the world for the arrival of the mammoth Be Here Now album a few weeks later.
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Suede - Filmstar: release date 11th August 1997
Suede - Filmstar (Official Video)
The final single to be culled from Brett Anderson and co's Coming Up album was their fifth Top 10 hit in a row.
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Cornershop – Brimful Of Asha: release date 18th August 1997
Cornershop - Brimful of Asha - Official Music Video (Original) (Tjinder Singh)
This is the original release date of this indie pop tribute to Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle, which was remixed by Fatboy Slim at the start of 1998 and went all the way to Number 1.
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Foo Fighters - Everlong: release date 18th August 1997
Foo Fighters - Everlong (Official HD Video)
Taken from Dave Grohl's second album under the Foos name, The Colour And The Shape, this single made Number 18 in the summer of 1997. As the traditional finale to Foo Fighters live shows, Everlong was the last song performed live by drummer Taylor Hawkins before his untimely death on 25th March 2022.
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Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life): release date 2nd December 1997
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) [Official Music Video] [4K UPGRADE]
Originally written around the time of the Dookie sessions, this acoustic ballad first appeared as the b-side of the Brain Stew single in 1996, but was re-recorded for the Nimrod album. Issued as a single at the end of the year, Good Riddance made Number 11 in January 1998.
