Topic: One album and out

[turnstyle]

90s band called Straw

One album - Shoplifting

Absolutely brilliant.  Anyone here familiar with them?

I have this album. Fun fact, Straw backwards spells Warts.

I dunno. It was ok. A fine turn of the century Brit guitar band album, but brilliant might be stretching it, for me at least. I'd say...pleasant.

OK, I'm listening to it again now for the first time in about 20 years. There's definitely more of a US influence mixed in there than I remember - some of it sounds very Fountains of Wayne.

Moving to California is nice and surprisingly self aware. Anthem for the Low in Self-Esteem is a clear single. Ditto Weird Superman. I could never understand why they stuck a middling cover of Galveston on the end as the closer. 

If they'd released it at the peak of Britpop I reckon it would have done well. They could have been Longpigs big. Take that as a compliment or an insult.

[Artie Fufkin]

I was going to suggest King Maker. But apparently they had 3 albums. Only knew about 1 of them 'Eat Yourself Whole'.
I saw them at a tiny venue in Folkestone off the back of their hit single 'Scrape The Sky'. They were supported by Suede. Apparently they were also supported by a band called Radiohead on some of the tour.

[turnstyle]

I really liked Smaller's one and only album, Badly Badly. It felt a bit more rough and ready, and spikier, than other Britpop bands at the time.

It still amazes me that the band didn't really make a mark, even with Noel Gallagher appearing on their album and writing a song about their singer (Digsy's Dinner).

[The Culture Bunker]

At the time, I did like theaudience's album. I was only 17 at the time, though, so it may have had something to do with fancying Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

A few years later, I really liked a fairly obscure London-based indie band called the Lollies, who only put out one album, which I still think is pretty great.

[Shameless Custard]

Definitely Late Of The Pier. One fantastic album, then a second that never came

Imogen Heap's side project Frou Frou made one solid pop record in 2002, then never bothered again

[sevendaughters]

Purple Mountains. *sadface emoji*

[Jockice]

At the time, I did like theaudience's album. I was only 17 at the time, though, so it may have had something to do with fancying Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

That is a decent album though. I went to see them live when they toured it and Sophie walked past me beforehand. I fainted.

[Shameless Custard]

I imagine Sophie smells amazing

[kalowski]

This thread has confirmed my suspicion that I am the only person in the known universe who bought the album by the Vessels

[sevendaughters]

This thread has confirmed my suspicion that I am the only person in the known universe who bought the album by the Vessels

the post-rock band from Leeds? I am pretty sure my band played with them once. They had a lot of gear, long-ass soundcheck! Good though.

[chveik]

Miasma and the Carousel of Headless Horses

terrible name, ace band

[Seedsy]

The La's anyone? Think it's a rather lovely, tuneful, timeless record

[Neville Chamberlain]

Miasma and the Carousel of Headless Horses

terrible name, ace band

Ace band indeed!It's basically Guapo, though, isn't it? More or less, sort of.

My contribution to this thread is Host. They released one album, Minimum Listening Guarantee, back in the mid-noughties, then re-emerged a few years later with a slightly altered line-up in the form of Dora Brilliant, which, again released one album before disappearing again. Utterly ace bands, both of 'em.

Oh, and The Momes. They released one album, Spiralling, which was recorded at This Heat's Cold Storage studio and then disappeared. If you like the idea of 'Rock In Opposition' with a more post-punky/psyche packaging, which is completely bang up my particular alley, then this is for you!

[The Culture Bunker]

That is a decent album though. I went to see them live when they toured it and Sophie walked past me beforehand. I fainted.

I'll have to revisit it sometime. As I recall, the chap writing the songs was in his early 30s, so perhaps it won't have dated as much as other albums I liked as a teenager that were written by fellow youngsters.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Yes, I had the singles too, all excellent stuff.

Just grabbed these off soulseek, nice to hear some other stuff not from the LP.

The La's anyone? Think it's a rather lovely, tuneful, timeless record

Yes. Mavers hated it but if he'd have had full control they'd never have released anything bar a couple of singles. Can't really hear a difference in quality between the album and the stuff Mavers "approved" of. The various compilation albums released since are a mixed bag but worth delving into as well.

[sevendaughters]

Here's some one and dones I liked.

The Desert Fathers - Spirituality. There was a label in the 00s called Threespheres that I have latterly realised was one guy and all the bands on it were him and various mates. The ones that broke through a bit were The Forms, who were like Shudder to Think with weird bendy guitar. The Desert Fathers had a more 90s noise rock aesthetic, but with this strange squelching guitar and esoteric religious bullshit attached. Was cool. 'A Practical Joke' starts at 2.00.

Wolves! (Of Greece) - one sided 10". Didn't even make a full-length record, but this Nottingham group were loads of fun live and chaotic as hell. Plays through as a great 13 minute blast of the old mental cobwebs. https://wolvesofgreece.bandcamp.com/album/one-sided-10-2

Margo Guryan - Take A Picture. Incredibly effervescent and pleasant 60s beat pop with very little fat. All her recordings have been unearthed and re-released as different compilations, but only the one actual album and it is a cracker. 'Sunday Morning'

Exploding Hearts - S/T. I can't explain but even though they were just mining late 70s and early 80s punk and power-pop tropes, they actually felt authentic and legitimately trashy, like a less annoying Black Lips. 'I'm A Pretender'.

Michael O'Shea - S/T. Discovered on the street by two of Wire, an Irish busker who played a self-made instrument that was long strings attached to a door and played with little hammers like you would on a kim. Percussive and unique, he'd had a hard life and didn't seem long for the world. Magical record though. https://moshea.bandcamp.com/track/no-journeys-end

[kalowski]

the post-rock band from Leeds? I am pretty sure my band played with them once. They had a lot of gear, long-ass soundcheck! Good though.

No idea where they were from, but they were more of an alt.country folk band.

[Brundle-Fly]

Far too many to mention. Lots of sixties psyche bands as evidenced in The Alternative Pop History thread.

More recently Geezers Of Nazareth. The band name is amusing but probably didn't do them any favours. Just nice polished pop music.

It's a shame Jellyfish imploded so soon after only two magnificent albums.

[Crabwalk]

Orlando's Passive Soul. Their ambition outsized their resources but, bloody hell, they took a glorious crack at creating a proper pop masterpiece. Sadly, the only airplay they ever got was probably on my student radio show.

[Brundle-Fly]

Orlando's Passive Soul. Their ambition outsized their resources but, bloody hell, they took a glorious crack at creating a proper pop masterpiece. Sadly, the only airplay they ever got was probably on my student radio show.

Underrated Romo act, indeed. They were sort of an early example of somebody getting cancelled for making near the knuckle flip comments about 'eugenics' in the music press.  Joined Kula Shaker in the dog house around the same time.

[Crabwalk]

I don't think that controversy had anything to do with their commercial failure, really. They were nowhere near high profile enough for the controversy to even register with most readers of the music weeklies.

I think it was more the fact that their music was the absolute antithesis of the prevailing cultural trends at the time. And being associated with Romo was clearly an utter albatross.

[Brundle-Fly]

I don't think that controversy had anything to do with their commercial failure, really. They were nowhere near high profile enough for the controversy to even register with most readers of the music weeklies.

I think it was more the fact that their music was the absolute antithesis of the prevailing cultural trends at the time. And being associated with Romo was clearly an utter albatross.

Yeah, you're correct. They didn't even sound like a Nu- New Romantic turn either, like Plastic Fantastic , say?

Do you remember the fictional Romo synth duo, 'I Dream Of Wires' tragically dying in a car crash as reported in the Melody Maker. I'm ashamed to say, I completely fell for that.

[PaulTMA]

Do you remember the fictional Romo synth duo, 'I Dream Of Wires' tragically dying in a car crash as reported in the Melody Maker. I'm ashamed to say, I completely fell for that.

I didn't put two and two together at the time, but in hindsight, it appears to have been an extremely cruel or short-sighted joke in light of what had happened to The Flying Medallions just months earlier.

[PaulTMA]

90s band called Straw

One album - Shoplifting

Absolutely brilliant.  Anyone here familiar with them?

The thing that amazes me is that they got picked up by Columbia after they released their debut and were dropped by Warners.  Got dropped a second time before getting another album out, though.  Dead weird for another major label to even consider taking another punt during that era.

[McChesney Duntz]

Exploding Hearts - S/T. I can't explain but even though they were just mining late 70s and early 80s punk and power-pop tropes, they actually felt authentic and legitimately trashy, like a less annoying Black Lips. 'I'm A Pretender'.

Exploding Hearts were great indeed, and would certainly have done much more had that horrific tragedy not occurred. There was a (literally and figuratively) posthumous compilation of stray tracks, released on the unfortunately-named Dirtnap Records.

[scarecrow]

The thing that amazes me is that they got picked up by Columbia after they released their debut and were dropped by Warners.  Got dropped a second time before getting another album out, though.  Dead weird for another major label to even consider taking another punt during that era.

Tantalisingly, half of the second album is out there as a promo sampler. It's a shame, they had a title and art direction prepared and everything. I wonder how close it came to release.

[M-CORP]

Elektric Music and FFWD were a couple of short-lived supergroups that made some good electronic music records in the mid-90s (see the albums FFWD and Esperanto respectively, both of which are only digitally available via second-hand YouTube rips).

Also been listening to a lot of the Irish hip-hop group Marxman lately, they only did two albums, the latter of which (Time Capsule) barely made an impact but I'm just starting to get into it.

[Famous Mortimer]

The Fauves
The other Fauves, not the slightly better-known Australian band (or Grant Morrison's short-lived musical project). This lot made one record which barely got released, "Raw Heart Sounds", a Slint-y thing which I rather liked, then nothing.

[Artie Fufkin]

The La's anyone? Think it's a rather lovely, tuneful, timeless record

OMG!! Of course! Great call. One of my all time fave albums right there.

[SteveDave]

the post-rock band from Leeds? I am pretty sure my band played with them once. They had a lot of gear, long-ass soundcheck! Good though.

These fellows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySn1_vmZHUQ

I've only ever heard that song but it's one of my favourite singles of the 2000s along with "Delinquency" by V-Twin.