Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 17, 2025
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed by Jeff Mangum in 1989. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psychedelic folk. Mangum wrote surreal and opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love, spirituality, nostalgia, sex, and loneliness. In 1996, he worked with childhood friend Robert Schneider to record the album On Avery Island. Mangum recruited musicians Julian Koster, Jeremy Barnes, and Scott Spillane for the band's second album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998). While on tour, the band's popularity grew through Internet exposure. This negatively affected Mangum, whose mental health began to deteriorate, and the band went on hiatus shortly after. During their break, they gained a cult following and the critical standing of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea rose. Neutral Milk Hotel reunited in 2013 and undertook a reunion tour before another hiatus in 2015. (Full article...)