Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel is an American indie rock band formed by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Mangum, closely tied to the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective. Mangum wrote and performed much of the group's material himself, playing an eclectic array of instruments across their recordings, and the band's sound blends folk, psychedelic rock, punk, blues and carnival-like brass into a raw, singular style.

Their debut album, On Avery Island (1996), showcased this eclecticism, but it was their second and final studio album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998), that became their defining work. A dense, emotionally searing concept record featuring songs like «Holland, 1945», «Oh Comely», «Two-Headed Boy» and the title track, it received mixed reviews on release but has since been widely reassessed as one of the great albums of the 1990s.

Despite disbanding activity and Mangum's long public withdrawal from performing after the album's release, Neutral Milk Hotel's influence has only grown, shaping indie and folk-rock acts such as Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes and AJJ, and cementing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as a touchstone of American indie music.