For an excellent read on the roots of indie rock, check out Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. It has an in-depth analysis of the origins and life of the 80's underground through profiles of bands such as Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr, and my personal favorite band of all time, the Minutemen. You also get ridiculous detailed description of their lives, which often featured squalidness and poverty, absurd drug binges, and uninhibited violence. If you want to know about the golden age of indie rock (and some would argue that indie rock collapsed in 1991), this is the best place to start.