First American college rock album
 

I'm trying to find what the oldest LP is to have the sound of typical 80s/90s alternative rock. My current first is The Days of Wine and Roses by Dream Syndicate, which was released late 1982 (preceding REM by a few months) and still sounds marginally more modern than Murmer did. Tell Me When It's Over (among most others) has an early 90s Connells vibe to it, while Too Little, Too Late seems as if a prototype Pixies track, with hints of the more recent Panic Room (a band from Wales).

Were there any college rock bands from America with a sound like REM, Dream Syndicate or Violent Femmes on the late 70s? The earliest I can think of would be 1980, but I'm likely wrong.

Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies came out in early 1980, and REM cited that album as an influence.

Some consider the Velvet Underground's third album to be the first in the genre. It certainly paved the way for it.

These two come immediately to mind...


Television - Marquee Moon (1977)
https://youtu.be/WfO9lpbbW_4


The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers (1976)
https://youtu.be/ujwAUbRa4cs

Not quite sure if this is the sound you are looking for but what about the Talking Heads.....they have a few albums from the '70s.

I think once you start getting into the late 70s and very early 80s, you're getting into post-punk territory which predated college rock but also branched off into college rock. I think The Feelies, Talking Heads, Television, and Modern Lovers fall into that category.

Peter Buck use to worked in a record store before REM took off, so he can mention quite a few influences.