Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 08:49:15 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Why did so many early 00s "indie rock" bands...

Started by garbed_attic, August 09, 2019, 12:01:44 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

garbed_attic

...have a decent debut album, which they never managed to follow-up on?

I appreciate I'm risking any credibility I may have here, but I honestly think Franz Ferdinand's eponymous debut, Coldplay's Parachutes, Turin Brakes' first album, The Hives' first thing, The Thrills' So Much for the City, Razorlights' first album, even Keene's album with the song about the man in the shape of a bed... all have some decent moments. Nothing stunning, some naff stuff, but promising. And they all just got more and more boring it seems.

I mean, maybe it was ever the way. Maybe I just quickly outgrew the less interesting bands I was listening to in my teens, but recently going through my old albums I was surprised at how much I enjoyed moments - Franz Ferdinand's 'Jacqueline' is a lovely little tune, Badly Drawn Boy's Hour of the Bewilderbeast has some nice acoustics, I really like the central melody of Turin Brakes' 'Save Me'. But then checking out later albums, they just don't have any of that charm... apart from Ferdinand's FFS collaboration, but I think Ron and Russell Mael were mostly responsible for that.

Any thoughts?

DrGreggles

10 years to write the 1st album, 10 months to write the 2nd.


sweeper

The answer is hidden in your adjectives.

These were not artists primed to thrill. Their debuts were the aural equivalent of leafing through some well prepared business plans.

Brundle-Fly

...and I suppose, the record company money had run out.? The likes of  90's 'riding along with the crest of a wave' Britpop "indie rock"acts: Super Furry Animals, The Beta Band, Supergrass probably had huge financial investment. They could hunker down in the studio, rehearse, get good and that's why they were brilliant live and made great music. Inevitably, this model became unsustainable.

BlodwynPig


rue the polywhirl

Trying do Coldplay a deliberate disservice here. A band that go from strength to strength with passing record. A solid gold debut with international breakthrough Yellow and loads of other pearlers. 2nd album magnum opus, world tours already. 3rd album Fix You. Tops the single charts with Viva la Vida from their fourth album. Then crossover into chart pop domination with help from Rihanna, Avicii and Beyoncé. A far world away from your schmuckky Franz Ferdinands and your loser Keanes who never beat their first works.

gilbertharding

Yeah - I mean, I fucking hate Coldplay, think they're awful - but at some point you have to concede a little ground to the wisdom of crowds. I'm still correct to hate them, but they didn't go away.

Avril Lavigne

The Futureheads come to mind for me.  Fantastic debut album with a fidgety 'early XTC' post-punk sound and really interesting arrangements, followed by 3 albums of mostly blah-sounding guitar rock that I can't remember a single tune from and don't care to hear again, and then an entirely a cappella album featuring covers of then-recentish hits by Black Eyed Peas and Kelis.

Icehaven

The Libertines are the epitome of this phenomena from this era, although ''difficult second album syndrome'' has been a thing for decades hasn't it?
Is it something to do with being guided/produced/virtually told what to do on the first one by an army of industry people, then arrogance takes over and they try and go more their own (still fairly nascent and inexperienced) way on the second, mistakenly thinking they know it all now and underestimating how much other people's input contributed to their success? Same thing happens with a lot of successful debut novelists, they have more clout and take less advice from their editor for their second book and it's often hugely weaker as a result. 

Jockice

Quote from: Avril Lavigne on August 09, 2019, 11:11:57 AM
The Futureheads come to mind for me.  Fantastic debut album with a fidgety 'early XTC' post-punk sound and really interesting arrangements, followed by 3 albums of mostly blah-sounding guitar rock that I can't remember a single tune from and don't care to hear again, and then an entirely a cappella album featuring covers of then-recentish hits by Black Eyed Peas and Kelis.

Yip. Although the second album was such a letdown that I haven't bothered with any of the others and wasn't even aware they were still going. And I know people always connect these two together because they're from the north east but the same goes for Maximo Park.

(Although as I've mentioned before, Maximo Park being on Warp Records is an ideal way to wind up a certain type of music snob. Just say you think their debut was better than Aphex Twin or Autechre's and then listen to them fume and tell you that you know nothing whatsoever about music.)

Icehaven

Maximo Park are one of those bands that have done one absolutely brilliant album but unfortunately it's spread across about five.

Jockice

Quote from: icehaven on August 09, 2019, 11:23:32 AM
Maximo Park are one of those bands that have done one absolutely brilliant album but unfortunately it's spread across about five.

I really liked the first one. But like the Futureheads, I got the second and thought 'that's enough of that.' Never seen them live though. They were on the NME tour in 2006 with Arctic Monkeys, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets - and apparently were the best of the four - but I wasn't able to go for some reason. Significant to me (but no-one else) in that it was the first one I missed. Haven't seen one for approaching a decade though. I'm too old for that sort of thing now.

Icehaven

Quote from: Jockice on August 09, 2019, 11:34:03 AM
I really liked the first one. But like the Futureheads, I got the second and thought 'that's enough of that.' Never seen them live though.

I did like them but I can't even remember if I ever saw them live, so they didn't exactly set my world on fire. Going Missing is still terrific though.

peanutbutter

Quote from: Avril Lavigne on August 09, 2019, 11:11:57 AM
The Futureheads come to mind for me.  Fantastic debut album with a fidgety 'early XTC' post-punk sound and really interesting arrangements, followed by 3 albums of mostly blah-sounding guitar rock that I can't remember a single tune from and don't care to hear again, and then an entirely a cappella album featuring covers of then-recentish hits by Black Eyed Peas and Kelis.
First album Paul Epworth produced, his first album I think; you can also probably credit him for Bloc Party's debut being occasionally great too (Banquet is ALL production, isn't it?). Went on to do some pretty super mainstream stuff like Adele's 21, think he even has a songwriting credit on Rolling in the Deep.

Always think if Pete Doherty had stuck with him for the Babyshambles album that he could've gotten something good out Doherty and their sloppy guitarist. The difference between the single and album versions of Killamangiro is utterly crazy. Similarly the B-side is a pretty shit song, but the production alone makes it one of their better songs.

Dr Syntax Head

Hell yeah that Futureheads album was class. As was the Turin Brakes debut which although included in those horrible nu acoustic dead times NME put us through, they were different, a strange band pretending to be normal.

mrpupkin

Reading the band names in this thread is making me all nostalgic for a time before I'd heard of them

Dr Syntax Head

Cooper temple clause. Remember those guys? Shoulda been bigger than muse

Jerzy Bondov

Quote from: Dr Syntax Head on September 12, 2019, 10:12:13 AM
Cooper temple clause. Remember those guys? Shoulda been bigger than muse
They were great. Don't belong in this thread though because the second album was much better than the first.

Rolf Lundgren

I'm still confused how Franz Ferdinand declined so quickly. They really seemed to have crossed over in a way that a lot of bands didn't. I know they've always had albums that sold well but it felt like they were going to be a band that would keep having singles and maintain a decent fan base.

Twed

I'm so angry about every single band mentioned in this thread.

The Culture Bunker

I would have been in my early 20s around this time, and pretty much all the bands mentioned drew little but derision from me. My childhood best friend had a copy of Coldplay's very first EP and told me they were going to be "fucking huge, U2 level", to which I offered long odds that he thankfully didn't take up.

I did like the first BRMC album, but they also declined something sharpish to the point it seemed like they were aping Primal Scream aping the Stones. Urgh.

greenman

You could argue I spose this was the era of "gimmick indie" which didn't leave that much room for improvement.

NJ Uncut

Cause dishonestly contrived music is often shite and music from the soul or other natural aerials takes time and as soon as you sign your music over you are on a tickin clock and if your muse is moved by money alone you're not an artist you're a whore

A true artist is defined by consistency.

idunnosomename

this was a horrible time for music. thank god CDs dying took most of this shit down with them.

alan nagsworth

and this is why The Cribs are one of the best British bands of the last 15 years. Third album scraped into the limelight in 2007 - which was PEAK time for that sort of stuff - with an incredibly catchy lead single, but before and after this (and during, because Men's Needs is a fucking belter album) they seem to have been quite sorely overlooked. Men's Needs was exactly what the scene was doing at the time but condensed into this magnificent pop firecracker, tight as fuck and hasn't aged at all. Since the success of that they just started doing a bunch of new stuff on each subsequent album, but always with their stamp on it. The one with Johnny Marr's a fucking corker!

Honestly fucks sake, The Cribs are so good

imitationleather

I saw The Cribs support The Futureheads in 2004. After The Cribs finished loads of people I knew (from going to ropey indie clubs every weekend) fucked off and didn't stay to see the headliner!

alan nagsworth

GOOD, call it a night, don't take risks on being disappointed later. very frugal way to spend your life

imitationleather

Well sucks to be them I guess* because The Futureheads smashed it.

*DISCLAIMER: It may not suck to be them.

DrGreggles

Quote from: imitationleather on September 12, 2019, 09:55:16 PM
I saw The Cribs support The Futureheads in 2004. After The Cribs finished loads of people I knew (from going to ropey indie clubs every weekend) fucked off and didn't stay to see the headliner!

I saw a show on that tour. Fantastic gig!

2004 eh? Shit, I'm old...