Countdown 100: Bands that got megahyped that failed spectacularly...

Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes could qualify too even though they can still fill stadiums. Their second albums could be considered massive failures after the debuts were filled with potential singles.

The Fabulous Somethings?

They had a single 'If she doesn't smile, it'll rain' which everybody loved but they did nothing else. It seemed like they were so objectionable to their label that they got shown the door, and nobody else took them for similar reasons.

Or something

no way this thread was made for Voxtrot

what about Times New Viking

Black Dice too. There was a time when Animal Collectibe and them were like the coolest most hyped indie acts from NYC. Animal Collective are a household name now but Black Dice are a dark reference nowadays.

A good way to find these bands is to google the posters for Coachella or Primavera sound or whatever festival from 10+ years ago. The bigger the letters and the least you know who they are 10 years later, the more they’ve failed.

Are people just missing the point of the thread now?

Ah, I see Mark G already said it.

Like for example Coachella 2012 had 3 main acts: Radiohead, Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, and Black Keys. The last popular single I heard from Black Keys is ‘lonely boy’ from 2011 and I only know an album from them. I’ve no idea if they’re even active anymore.

Yeah sorry I deviated the original thread a bit but it seems pointless to start a new thread to expose a similar sort of phenomenon. Spontaneous self combustion vs slow burns.

ctrl-f 'Razorlight' 0 results!

Black Dice didn't live up to their indie potential like Sonic Youth didn't live up to their commercial potential. still doesnt fit itt

bands that are still active after the hype has long gone (cf. deerhoof, xiu xiu, black dice) don't count. i saw deerhoof play to 50 people max a couple months ago and it was so depressing, they're still great

ditto for xiu xiu who i saw play a sold out 300 cap room in april and play to 30 people in the same room in september

They're hardly "failing spectacularly" though. They've found their audience, are still up to inventive things.

Sigur Ros def have an audience but are an example of a band that went the U2 route: somewhere along the way they decided to stop evolving and make the same music over and over again. (and no, this was def not the case with the first three recs).

right, i'm not saying those bands are Voxtots. but Sigur Ros isn't either

Nah true. Artists and band who come to a grinding halt creatively and just keep doing what they're doing are an interesting diversion of the theme though. I loved the first two albums of Heather Nova, and recently googled her: turns out she's still touring, still making the same music. You'll never read a review again but she's just doing her thing I suppose.

Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes could qualify too even though they can still fill stadiums.

Franz Ferdinand played an 1100 capacity room tonight. I saw them two years as part of FFS, playing a 1350 cap room. Neither were sold out.

The Strokes haven't played a headline in 17 months, and that was in an 1800-seater/2300 standing venue.

Animal Collective are a household name now

They made a song about wanting a household, certainly.

What about The Woodentops?

They seemed to get pushed hard everywhere I went back then, and it was the sort of thing I should like, but.. mmmm... no.

Even bought the album! The singles were the sorts of things I liked for three plays and then never wanted to hear again.

63. FMB

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/lottery-win-inspires-failed-band-to-reform-514521.html

― ledge, Thursday, 23 September 2010 14:25 (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

update:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2295133/Lottery-winner-42-spent-thousands-forming-student-band-left-relying-handouts-parents-blowing-1-8m-fortune.html

(don't click. couldn't find non daily mail entire story in url link)

Personally I hyped THE BOOKS so hard a decade ago and so did Pitchfork and several other indie zines but it never worked like it should have. Their 3 most famous albums where in so many top 10 EOY lists and yet it seems like most people forgot about them. They should be huge but they ended up disbanding and being a cult underground band to discover in 20 years when indie + folktronica goes through a reappreciation phase.

I remember hearing the name everywhere from 02 to 05. given the sort of music they made I'd say they made off quite well. what was disappointing was seeing their final album get lukewarm reviews. I thought it was quite good. but yea, taking 5 years off was probably not the best move

How about Datarock, about 2 years after their first album they started getting all sorts of positive attention, slotting in with the whole LCD/DFA thing that was taking off in the mid-00s. I remember hearing "Fa-Fa-Fa" everywhere for a while. Their second album came and tanked hard (undeservedly, imo), they did a big international tour and did alright but not great. And they haven't really been seen since.

The Fabulous Somethings?

They had a single 'If she doesn't smile, it'll rain' which everybody loved but they did nothing else. It seemed like they were so objectionable to their label that they got shown the door, and nobody else took them for similar reasons.

Fantastic Something - two Greek brothers, iirc. Their album was "quite good"

What about The Woodentops?
They seemed to get pushed hard everywhere I went back then, and it was the sort of thing I should like, but.. mmmm... no.
Even bought the album! The singles were the sorts of things I liked for three plays and then never wanted to hear again.
― Mark G,

see your own posts upthread.

was listening to their boxset just last week, still love'em (mainly just the on-u remixes these days).

Datarock is otm

Wet

Woodentops should be in the thread for bands that shed all their interesting elements whenever a major label got them in a studio.

In 2007 I saw Blonde Redhead in primavera festival for like 30 people and it made me sad for them. There were thousands of people at the festival at that time so it wasn’t a lack of people just a lack of interest.

Does Ashley Simpson fit itt?

Hmm yes, though perhaps with an asterisk, because being remembered for a major performance disaster =/= being hyped and then completely forgotten, with no defining or memorable event.

She was being hyped as this Avril Lavigne/ Pink punk-ish pop star and after the playback fiasco and her reaction her career went to hell.

Oh I see.

Then how about Kelly Clarkson?

I still can't get over Voxtrot. this is the new New Jersey thread.

how about EAR PWR?
carpetbaggers from NC moved to Baltimore at the height of Dan Deacon/Ponytail/Ecstatic Sunshine/neon rock, got signed to Carpark, went nowhere. maybe High Places too? altho they were around a lil longer and decent imo.

xp Kelly Clarkson? she's one of the most well known popstars of the last 15 years, just put something new out, did a major press tour, has an enduring hit... doesn't fit at all

there seems to be a great deal of confusion about what the words "megahyped" and "failed spectacularly" mean

Or MIKA who I mentioned above. Life in Cartoom Motion was number 1 in several countries charts, he was a bit pf a celebrity, remember seeing him in magazine covers and being harrassed by paparazzi... but every subsequent single and album ever since failed to hit as hard and I don’t think I’ve seen anything about him in almost a decade.

I don't think anyone that actually ever got a number 1 hit can be considered to have "failed spectacularly"

Mika was on UK X Factor as recent as two months ago.

But yes, Shakey OTM.

there seems to be a great deal of confusion about what the words "megahyped" and "failed spectacularly" mean

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, December 5, 2017 3:31 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah so many of the bands mentioned in the initial 2010 posts don't fit those criteria at all. Tapes N Tapes is a good example of a band that had a HUGE p4k push and went nowhere. they didn't fail spectacularly & weren't megahyped by anyone else in the media, but they absolutely sit alongside Voxtrot

I guess the fact that a lot of Pitchfork hyped American indie from the '00s was fucking terrible is neither here nor there.

no it definitely is, if you look at most of the bands posted itt they're all either average or fucking awful.

Terris still remain the best example - endless hype in the UK music press from 1999 to 2001, even landing an NME cover without having released all that much. Their singer, if I recall, was giving it the big licks onstage a lot and totally thought his band were the mutts nutts. They didn't have a Top 10 single, the album performed dreadfully and they got dropped. The NME suddenly were like "meh, fuck 'em" and moved onto The Strokes.

yeah that's a perfect example

idk Sheer Mag seemed to be getting a push from p4k and Rolling Stone in 2015 and 2016 and they dropped a debut album this year that I'm not seeing on any EOY lists

To this day, I've still never heard a Terris track. Gay Dad were similarily hyped, and utterly shit, but I still managed to hear the singles from the first LP without even trying.

I was going to say--hippie alert--Blind Faith, but I didn't realize their debut hit #1 in both the States and the UK. They didn't get a second album out, though.

How about Rita Ora's US career? (I know she's actually had success elsewhere but I don't think "hook singer on the Iggy Azalea single people barely remember" qualifies in the US as spectacular success.)

Well the NME had just came from helping these guys take over the world:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yksb7SyiQWQ/UHf4digZMxI/AAAAAAAAL64/nsUwk2Pf7xE/s1600/tiny2.jpg

I don't think the NME were banking on them putting out overblown, progged out double CD debut album, which they promptly gave a middling review to.

They certainly crashed and burned quite spectacularly. Split up about a year after that cover - which may have contributed to their demise.

I'd say the fact that they didn't get on too well with each other was the main reason they split.