Ten Retro Indie Floor Fillers

The Strokes - Last Nite

When The Strokes stormed onto the scene back in 2001, they were like the past and the future all at once. Last Nite’s intro - despite it being an almost direct steal from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ American Girl - is instantly recognisable and usually prompts a rush to the dancefloor. Still fresh as hell.

The Smiths - This Charming Man

One of the most distinctive guitar riffs of all-time - courtesy of the entirely singular Johnny Marr - and a bouncing bassline ensures this remains a legit indie floor-filler. It's enough to turn even the most rhythmless dudes into cavorting Moz wannabes, wheeling around the dancefloor waving imaginary gladioli. You simply love to see it - especially at your wedding.

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk

From 2008, this is the most recent of our retro picks - and some 12 years after its release it remains completely irresistible. Every fidgeting facet of this track shines - the freewheeling guitar lines, pulsating bass and a propulsive rhythm section, it simply never sits still. And nor will your guests!

Supergrass - Alright

One of those songs - like Yesterday by The Beatles - that you’ve heard so many times you think never need to hear it again. But then you do, and you realise it’s more or less pop perfection. The hugely underrated Supergrass probably wrote better songs, but they never wrote one as relentlessly feelgood, nor as capable of filling dancefloors, as this. Just pure, youthful joy that captured the feeling of British youth culture at the time. See our friends, see the sights, feel alright!

Blur - Girls & Boys

Indie bands weren’t meant to be this danceable, but when Blur combined Moog synths with a sexy, arse-wiggling bassline and a disco beat, something changed. The stabs of discordant guitar and an almost terrace chant chorus made this an unusual but compelling pop song, heralding the start of an era where once relatively small indie bands started churning out bona-fide pop hits.

Always should be someone you really love!

Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

Much like Supergrass, this tune is full of that unbridled youthful energy and endearing naivety that only a band full of teenagers can bring. Liable to set your wedding party on literal flames and, dripping in sweat and snot, it absolutely rattles along.

Happy Mondays - Step On

From the very second those instantly recognisable piano chords kick in, followed by a big fat bass groove, a stampede to the dancefloor is frankly inevitable. Ludicrously danceable stuff from a pasty white indie band from Salford. So danceable, in fact, that Bez is still dancing to it somewhere in south Manchester.

Primal Scream - Rocks

Borrowing heavily from the Rolling Stones both in terms of sound and swagger, this has been filling dancefloors since it dropped in 1994, when it was all going off in the British indie scene. Likely to get even your older relatives throwing some shapes under the impression they're dancing to Jagger and co. Ha!

Suede - Animal Nitrate

Gloriously flamboyant and androgynous, so much so your 50 odd year old Uncle George will almost certainly be extravagantly slapping his backside, unbuttoning his shirt and flinging it around the dancefloor like Brett Anderson after, uh, canapés and 8 pints of lager.

The Charlatans - The Only One I Know

One of the ultimate indie disco tunes! Now 30 years old, it has stood the test of indie disco time due to its driving bass and distinctive Hammond organ. A lot of early 90s baggy and shoegaze would prompt only the most bashful of indie two-steps, but this has been filling floors with strutting boys and girls for decades. A sure thing.