The idea of a One-Hit Surprise is virtually as previous because the charts themselves, however what concerning the albums that hit it and give up? Single albums from bands that modified our worlds after which went silent? AllMusic selects a few of our favourite data that rose up from nowhere after which by no means noticed a real follow-up.
Beneath the Affect of Giants – Beneath the Affect of Giants
If Beck, the Bee Gees, and Tame Impala created a supergroup, it’d sound one thing like Beneath the Affect of Giants. Funky, disco-kissed rock designed for shaking and shimmying, this one-and-done outfit got here in sizzling in the summertime of 2006 with the minor indie-dance hit “In The Clouds,” making a fast splash earlier than shifting on to larger and higher issues as AWOLNATION. These dozen tracks share a throwback nostalgia that is irresistible, modernized by slick manufacturing and amplified by Aaron Bruno’s heavenly falsetto and primal howl. There’s not a weak observe right here, however highlights embody “Heaven Is Full,” “Ah Ha,” and “Faces.” – Neil Z. Yeung
Evening Time, My Time – Sky Ferreira
There is no scarcity of single-album aspect tasks and spin-offs to focus on – hey, Duran Duran offshoot Arcadia! – however one nice debut that has but to be adopted up is Sky Ferreira‘s Evening Time, My Time. Ferreira perfected and anticipated a decade of alt-pop mastery alongside key collaborators like producer Ariel Rechtshaid and songwriter Dan Nigro (who’d go on to function the musical right-hand for Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan). However long-promised follow-up Masochism is beginning to really feel like Chinese language Democracy for millennials: proposed singles got here and went in 2019 and 2022, and final 12 months’s terrific “Leash” was recorded individually for the A24 movie Babygirl. I will be delighted if a concrete launch plan (with or with out one other “Free Sky Ferreira” banner flying over L.A.) will get introduced the identical day as this publishes, however till confirmed in any other case, she’s each the newest and best of 1 album wonders. – Mike Duquette
Who’s Touchdown In My Hangar? – Human Switchboard
Cleveland’s Human Switchboard had a potent cult following within the Midwest and East Coast – a lot in order that followers put out a dwell bootleg in hopes of encouraging a correct label to present them a shot. However their mix of Velvets-informed cool, storage rock squawk, and Midwestern angst by no means attracted the bigger viewers they deserved, and their sole studio album, 1981’s Who’s Touchdown In My Hangar?, received nice critiques however wasn’t heard a lot exterior of their fan following. A number of many years later, it is nonetheless value listening to – the nervous fringe of Robert Pfeifer’s vocals and guitar connects strongly with Myrna Marcarian’s Farfisa organ and moody vocal options (it is a disgrace her dour tackle Petula Clark‘s “Downtown,” a staple of their dwell exhibits, did not make it to the LP), and Ron Metz’s drumming is environment friendly, expressive, and solidly rocking. “In This City” is a strong take of life in a dying group, “Fridge Door” chronicles a damaged relationship with an intimacy that is virtually uncomfortable to witness, and “Books on Appears to be like” is a parody of male braggadocio that swings arduous sufficient to cross for the true factor. Human Switchboard deserved lots higher than their circumstances gave them, however Who’s Touchdown In My Hangar? (which was reissued on vinyl by Fats Possum in 2019 and is obtainable on streaming providers, trace trace) is a short, fascinating glimpse of an awesome band’s temporary second within the highlight. – Mark Deming
Rites of Spring – Rites of Spring
For a glimmering second whereas D.C.’s hardcore scene was shortly changing into post-hardcore, Rites of Spring exploded into being with their eponymous 1985 debut. The band existed for under three years, and performed solely a handful of exhibits, however the eruptive group enjoying and pressing vitality of those songs virtually invented emo on the spot. Man Picciotto’s seething, breathless vocals and lyrics someplace between summary poetry and blunt emotional bloodletting drove an album that captured with music the unusual, unnamable center floor of early maturity. Rites of Spring made this one official, supernaturally expressive album and a handful of miscellaneous different releases earlier than evaporating simply as shortly as they’d arrived. Instantly after disbanding some members joined forces with of us one other D.C. space one-album marvel band, Embrace, to color a way more detailed image of the private and the political with their subsequent group, Fugazi. – Fred Thomas
The La’s – The La’s
If we disqualify Failed Flowers, an inexplicably obscure noise pop undertaking helmed by our AllMusic colleague Fred Thomas with Anna Burch (critically, go take a look at their 2016 eponymous album), I’ve to go along with a way more apparent decide in The La’s. I can nonetheless spin this 1990 self-titled LP and really feel the giddiness of listening to it for the primary time. The growling and howling “There She Goes” is an all-timer that belongs alongside infatuated classics like “Evening and Day,” “The Woman from Ipanema,” and, for the matter, Matthew Candy‘s “Girlfriend.” – Marcy Donelson
Ro Sham Bo – The Grays
Amongst energy pop’s many short-lived heroes, few had been extra completed than the Grays, a four-man wrecking crew that produced a single, meticulously-crafted rock album in 1994. Consisting of Jellyfish vets Jason Falkner and Jon Brion, together with Buddy Choose and Dan McCaroll, they had been a gaggle of L.A. craftsmen whose idealistic goal was to launch a democratic collective that includes unique songs by every participant, supported by communal multi-instrumentalism. Creatively, they succeeded, although Ro Sham Bo bought poorly and the 4 egos had been unable to stay in concord for greater than a 12 months or two. – Timothy Monger
Clor – Clor
Ever since its launch 20 years in the past, I have been an enormous fan of the only, self-titled album by Clor. There’s an simple connection between the band’s vibrant, buzzy, electronic-infused rock and the “angular” acts of the early 2000s like Futureheads, however their ties could also be even stronger to the brand new wave and post-punk heyday of the late ’70s and early ’80s (one other period that spawned a legion of 1 album wonders). These days, Clor appears like a predecessor to Omni and different tightly wound acts of the 2010s and 2020s. Because of the plentiful hooks blended in with the jagged riffs and bleeping synths on “Love + Ache” and “Outlines,” the album has grow to be one thing of an unsung basic. Each time I play it for the uninitiated, it will get the absolute best response: “Who is that this?” – Heather Phares
Tiger Lure – Tiger Lure
Launched in 1993, Tiger Lure‘s debut album sounded so assured, so tight, and so tuneful that the majority knowledgeable listeners little doubt anticipated classics for years to return. Certain, the band’s major songwriter and singer, Rose Melberg, turned an enormous think about a number of bands after this (the Softies and Go Sailor being probably the most celebrated), however Tiger Lure launched solely an EP and a break up single after this shining second of ferocious indie pop. Melberg’s clear expertise for songwriting, her harmonies with bandmate Angela Loy (a high-school pal who additionally performed guitar and sang), and the twin-guitar assault from the duo made the case for melodic indie pop performed nearer to the speed of punk rock. The album continues to be ready for its full recognition as a ’90s basic; hopefully, Numero Group or another good reissue label will do the job quickly. – John Bush
Jacob’s Optical Stairway – Jacob’s Optical Stairway
The dance music world is full of one-off aliases, so possibly it is dishonest to selected a short-lived aspect undertaking of a well known act fairly than the work of somebody who really solely gave it one shot after which dipped. Jacob’s Optical Stairway was the work of Marc Mac and Dego from 4Hero, and it continued within the route of their darkish, jazzy masterpiece Parallel Universe, however in a brighter, sunnier route. It is also probably the most overtly Detroit techno-influenced work they’ve ever finished, even sporting a Juan Atkins visitor function on “The Fusion Formulation (The Metamorphosis),” which accelerates from electro-funk to intricate drum’n’bass. – Paul Simpson
Tinted Home windows – Tinted Home windows
Listening to concerning the Tinted Home windows lineup earlier than the album’s launch gave the impression of a seize bag Mad Libs of alt energy pop underrated sidemen. A man from Fountains of Wayne, the dude from Smashing Pumpkins who is not Billy Corgan, the mustachioed chain-smoking drummer from Low-cost Trick, and that child from Hanson (reMmmBopmember them?), however from the opening notes, the document rockets off the launch pad with chugging fuzzed-out riffs and sweetly crooned “Whoa Whoa” choruses. The architect of the undertaking was the sadly-missed Adam Schlesinger who made a profession out of mining the Candy sounds of the ’70s to create pop gems within the CD period, however the entire band fires on all cylinders blasting by 11 songs in 35 minutes. It is form of good that there was by no means a follow-up, making this album a novel pearl within the alt-rock ocean. – Zac Johnson
Tony Fruscella – Tony Fruscella
There are many tragic jazz musicians, however when it comes to expertise vs. basic obscurity Tony Fruscella could be probably the most indelible. A Greenwich Village-native, Fruscella was a lyrical bop stylist whose dry tone and melodic traces belied a troubled life. Like a protagonist pulled straight out of a pulp novel or movie noir, Fruscella honed his chops in a military band, earlier than touchdown again in Manhattan within the early ’50s the place rubbed gabardine shirt shoulders with luminaries like Lester Younger, Gerry Mulligan and Stan Getz. By all accounts he was a star on the rise, drawing favorable comparisons to each Chet Baker and Miles Davis; the latter of whom his enjoying most carefully brings to thoughts. All of that is evoked on his 1955 debut for Atlantic Information, I will Be Seeing You (additionally launched eponymously). Produced underneath the invite of label homeowners brothers Neshui and Ahmet Ertegun, the album is simply the sort of nocturnal small group delight you’d hope for with Fruscella digging into ballads, blues and requirements. His enjoying is a musical mirror of the album cowl photograph the place he is nestled as much as his horn along with his eyes closed; marked by a smooth assault and a poignant, light immediacy that grabs you. Curiously, he is paired all through with tenor saxophonist Allen Keen, an equally gifted improvisor whose personal life performs much more like a Hollywood film. Listening to cuts like his opening rendition of “I will Be Seeing You” and the blithe “Blue Serenade,” it is simple to think about Fruscella ascending to the duvet of Downbeat journal or displaying as much as play a featured spot in a film or TV present. But, stardom would stay elusive for Fruscella whose profession was shortly derailed within the late ’50s because of drug and alcohol abuse. He died in 1969 largely forgotten. Regardless of a handful of classes that popped up in later many years, Fruscella’s album continues to hang-out in its singularity; a bittersweet portrait of a second in time. – Matt Collar
Clearly, these are only a fraction of the terrific albums from bands that solely emerged from the sand as soon as and had been by no means seen once more, however there have to be extra. Tell us what we missed.
