Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle (1994)
Debut album from the seminal Chapel Hill indie rock band. Probably one of the best crossover indie albums ever, there's no doubt that songs like "Web in Front" and "Backwash" still hold up well. Yeah, it might remind you of Pavement, but everything holds up well and these guys could actually play their instruments:
Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesumbarinetransmissionplot (1995)
It's easy to see parallels between Mark Linkous's life and death and forebears such as Elliott Smith. The difference being, of course, that Linkous could actually write worth a damn, and his debut Sparklehorse album more than proves it. In particular "Cow" is just enormous: