What are the indie music one-hit wonders?

April 22, 2008 1:53 PM

What are the indie rock one-hit wonders?

I'm a big indie rock fan. I get most of my recommendations by reading reviews on Metacritic, Onion AV Club, Pitchfork, etc. and I've found a lot of great stuff over the years, but I always wonder if there are some great singles I've missed out on by being so album focused. I would love to hear about bands that only had one or 2 great songs in them, or maybe 1 great EP worth of material.

My restriction is that I only want to hear about fantastic, sit-in-the-driveway-with-the-car-running kind of stuff, not just some 'decent' or 'OK' singles. Also, it would be great to know where I can buy this stuff DRM-free.

posted by mattholomew to media & arts (51 comments total)

Would Fugazi's "Waiting Room" qualify? Despite a slew of great albums, that's the track that everyone knows.
posted by trbrts at 1:58 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

trbrts, I think some people will go berserk about that recommendation, but this is all a matter of opinion anyway. And I never get much further than 2-3 songs into that particular Fugazi album before I skip ahead, so I say it's a good suggestion even if I already know it.
posted by mattholomew at 2:01 PM on April 22

Megafist by Multiplies. Record label here but it would appear to be sold out unfortunately.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 2:12 PM on April 22

This is a tough question to answer because you're asking two things here. Some songs are "hits" but aren't necessarily great songs, as far as a band's catalog goes. And many of these bands have loads of great songs but they're not hits. If you're talking straight popularity, I'd suggest Pavement's "Cut Your Hair" (again, the only problem with this is that it's just not that good as far as Pavement goes, but YMMV) and Nada Surf's "Popular" (same problem).

If you're looking for sit-in-the-driveway-with-the-car-running stuff, I'd suggest looking beyond singles. This is arguably the entire point of indie rock, and not some preconceived notion of what's "independent" and what's not.
posted by dhammond at 2:13 PM on April 22

well, it's kind of unclear what you're looking for, since you don't specify between "indie"-as-political/production-stance or "indie"-as-aesthetic-choice. all a pitchfork reference tells me is that you're likely not into music by women.

i've always been fond of fuck me usa. they never got around to releasing an album (i'm talking about the fuck me usa from montreal. there's another band of the same name, from england, who had a record come out last year. i don't mean them), and i think there may only be three tracks by them in wide circulation.

also, if you have any particular labels you like, it's worth trawling their back catalogs for compilations. the old kill rock stars comps, for instance, include contributions from lots of bands that never amounted to much else, and they can often be pretty compelling.
posted by wreckingball at 2:15 PM on April 22

Not strictly "one hit" but maybe best known for one song, and some had a few great songs-

Spacehog - In the meantime (surely the ultimate example of having one really great song, although they appear to have released 3 albums! :S)
Dogs die in Hot Cars - I Love you Cause I have to
The Coral - Dreaming of you
The Las - There she goes
Gene - Fighting Fit
Gay Dad - Now always and Forever
The Bluetones - Slight Return (to be fair they are a great band)
Mansun - Wide Open Space
The Llama Farmers - Zorillo
JJ72 - Snow
The Seahorses - Love is the Law
Skunk Anansie - Weak
Republica - Ready to Go
Reef - Place your hands
Feeder - High
Rialto - Monday Morning 5.19
Gomez - Whippin Picadilly


You'll get all these on youtube. Alternatively you might want to pick up the "Shine" compilation CD's on eBay, it was a yearly rock/indie greatest hits compilation that featured some obscure/one hit stuff. I could go on all day, Britain has produced some truly mediocre bands.
posted by fire&wings at 2:18 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

I would try "Never Meant" by American Football [purchase]

The group only released a single full album before breaking up in 2000, but Mike Kinsella (the former frontman) still does not go a single concert date without someone screaming for him to play "Never Meant." The whole album is okay, but I definitely think AM qualifies for one-hit wonder status.
posted by anifinder at 2:20 PM on April 22

Ha ha 'Shine' comps. Truly awful teenage parties spring to mind.
posted by ClanvidHorse at 2:24 PM on April 22

Infamous Menagerie
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies
posted by box at 2:27 PM on April 22

The Yellow Pills compilations are good for some indie pop music.

Also Pitchfork does a round-up of the best songs every year as well, in addition to their album list.
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:28 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

Good suggestions so far -- to clarify, I don't mean 'hits' as in popularity but rather really good songs on an album full of mediocre or poor ones. And yes, I realize that the 'point' of indie rock is to make great albums rather than great singles, but not everyone reaches that goal.
posted by mattholomew at 2:29 PM on April 22

Cloud Room’s “Hey Now Now” comes to mind.
posted by blithely at 2:35 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

"Natural One," by Folk Implosion.
"Popular," by Nada Surf.
posted by Sticherbeast at 2:55 PM on April 22

Back in September, klangklangston posted in the blue about Sardina, a short-lived band out of Indiana in the '90s. I really enjoyed the Sardina Presents... album available for d/l here.

Two indie songs from more recent years I can't live without:

Elvis Perkins' "While You Were Sleeping"
Hayden "Home By Saturday"
posted by peacecorn at 2:55 PM on April 22

Well, if you're American, I'd probably say that The Tea Party's "Heaven Coming Down", from about 2000, would fit the "indie rock one-hit wonder" bill. They were actually a very popular Canadian band and their second and third albums ('Edges of Twilight' and 'Transmission') are absolutely fantastic on every level. Their first, fourth, fifth and sixth albums...not so much. "Heaven Coming Down" is awful by the way.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:04 PM on April 22

Someone has catalogued every single Shine CD on Wikipedia! A veritable treasure trove of indie rock one hit wonders...
posted by fire&wings at 3:12 PM on April 22

Materialissue -- Valerie Loves Me
Howlin' Maggie -- Alcohol
School of Fish -- Three Strange Days
Dishwalla -- Counting Blue Cars (which actually was technically just a shitty pop one-off, not really indie by definition).
Meat Puppets -- Backwater
Cracker -- Low
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:39 PM on April 22

Pavement - Summer Babe

Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube

Magnolia Electric Co. - Hammer Down
posted by auralcoral at 3:48 PM on April 22

Australia's JJJ radio station, which is government sponsored youth radio plays mostly what would be described as 'indie'.

They have had, for 10+ years a huge vote every year for the 100 best songs of the year. It's called Hottest 100. The link contains links to all the lists.

There are literally hundreds of popular indie singles there.
posted by sien at 4:02 PM on April 22

Forget Cassettes - Instruments of Action - Instruments of Action
posted by nulledge at 4:17 PM on April 22

Sien posted what I came in here to also add. Seriously, the Hottest 100 covers many a one hit wonder from many a indie-rock band. It is more Australian oriented but still worth a look.
posted by liquorice at 4:22 PM on April 22

Have you seen this link?
posted by kickingtheground at 4:33 PM on April 22

No. Indie rock is more of an album format. Good reviews drive sales, not music videos and singles on the radio. The closest things would be like a greatest hits album, but for indie bands those usually chronologize the bands history rather than be a collection of great songs.
posted by ihope at 4:57 PM on April 22

I'm still not clear what you're looking for. Do you mean indie bands that have a big radio hit and sink back in to indie obscurity, or do you mean bands that have a song or two that enter the indie cannon and then sink back in to total obscurity? Because those are very different things (One of thousands of examples of the former: Folk Implosion has a pretty decent lo-fi/indie oeuvre, but even my mom knows "Natural One." I'm really interested in the latter though.)
posted by the christopher hundreds at 4:58 PM on April 22

the christopher hundreds, I don't care whether the song was a 'hit' in terms of popularity. I care only if it was 'great'. Maybe you're the only person that ever heard it, but it rocked your world. Then you listened to the rest of the album and it was significantly less world-rocking. Yup, it's totally subjective but I trust the taste of MeFites. Since I'm looking to add to my collection, something like 'Natural One' by Folk Implosion is not a great recommendation since I've already heard that song a bazillion times. Think forgotten gems.
posted by mattholomew at 5:19 PM on April 22

Teenage Fan Club - Star Sign
School of Fish - Three Strange Days
Posies - Dream All Day
Therapy - Screamager
Pop Will Eat Itself - Wise up sucker
The Buck Pets - Pearls
posted by blaneyphoto at 5:24 PM on April 22

EMF - Unbelievable


I'd like to vote against the nomination of PWEI above. They have loads of great stuff.
posted by pompomtom at 5:49 PM on April 22

How can I love you if you won't lie down? - SilverJews (on an album called Tanglewood Numbers)
posted by zpousman at 6:13 PM on April 22

Well here's one that come up on shuffle:

The Gerbils - Sunshine Soul

Great track, meh album.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 6:13 PM on April 22

Cinnamon- The Long Winters
Growing Up With GNR- Aquaduct
posted by Thin Lizzy at 6:33 PM on April 22

fire&wings: I can vouch for "In the Meantime" being the one "great" song by Spacehog. Recently I got their album out of curiosity and only a few songs were very good other than that one, IMO. A little too failed concept-albumy.

The thing about most "indie" rock is that different people like different songs. I was a college radio DJ for over 4 years and the DJs reviewed all the albums that came into the station and the reviews were put inside the jewel cases. People would choose their recommended tracks and half the time, DJs would end up writing other tracks onto the favorites because they liked another track better.
posted by fructose at 6:43 PM on April 22

I was a college radio DJ for over 4 years...

I've noticed that most college radio DJs were such for over 4 years. Slackers, grad school students, and especially both.

/only stopped after becoming a dad in year 6...
posted by the christopher hundreds at 7:07 PM on April 22

Guano Apes - Open your eyes
posted by blaneyphoto at 8:04 PM on April 22

While it's not exclusively indie, the Last.fm One Hit Wonders Billboard might have something for you.
posted by jacalata at 8:09 PM on April 22

I think dhammond got it totally right (as far as it being a tough question and why.. and I'd have to say that 'Cut Your Hair' was the first thing I thought of when I read your question). Alternative stations (or stations that play alternative music) seem to be a lot more mainstream now than they once were. In the 90s, it wasn't uncommon for something to cross over from college radio to the modern rock station. I can't see that happening now in the same way.. though with the internet, it's much easier to hear whatever you want to hear without relying on a dj. If you're interested in more recent indie rock only, I don't have any recommendations (but I think you could turn on Conan O'Brien many nights and see something that might be of interest), but.. I would definitely recommend checking out stuff from the 80s and 90s. I don't know if this really counts, but my single contribution is 'Savory' by Jawbox, which had a good music video. But lots of people listed some great 90s music. Ooh, blaneyphoto has a really good list. I was obsessed with 'Dream All Day' by the Posies for years! Rhino came out with the 'Left of the Dial' box set, and that might have some good ideas.

There were a lot of one-hit wonder alternative songs in the 90s.. one good song and lots of really bad or mediocre songs.. but I wouldn't call most of the things I'm thinking of 'indie.'
posted by Mael Oui at 8:26 PM on April 22

Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Grey Cell Green and Happy
Ride - Vapour Trail
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:02 PM on April 22

All Fires was the one good song on the Swan Lake album.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:27 PM on April 22

"Bubba Da", by the Salteens.
posted by pickingoutathermos at 9:37 PM on April 22

I bought Carnavas by the Silversun Pickups purely based on how much I liked "Rusted Wheel", and it's really not much of an album. I'd stay in my car (if I had one) for "Lazy Eye", but that's pretty much it.

I love "The Girl You Lost To Cocaine" by Sia, but the album's in Starbucks, and I guess it's doing pretty well. You know, the one with the apparently-insane-or-high girl who drew on herself with markers, Some People Have Real Problems - so I guess she isn't indie. It is a great song though, and completely belongs in my personal sit-in-the-car-just-to-hear-it list, but the album is crap.

"Look at You Now" is a fun little song by a group called Ciccone from England who never went anywhere, on Eversholt Street. The rest of the tracks never did much for me in the long run, but it was always infectiously bouncy.

I want to mention the Dresden Dolls here, because I loved a bunch of tracks on their first album (self-titled), ran out and bought the second (Yes, Virginia...), and eventually realized that it was pretty much crap, imo. But you have, I'm sure, heard it; pretty much everyone in the world is More Indie Than Me, so I won't even try to pretend I am coming up with novel suggestions. But just in case someone is reading this who hasn't heard them, "Girl Anachronism" and "Coin-Operated Boy" were the big ones.
posted by blacklite at 2:33 AM on April 23

Soup Dragons - I'm Free
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:32 AM on April 23

I found out about the fabulous Mclusky when their single To Hell With Good Intentions hit commerical airwaves in the US. I don't think any of their other stuff broke, although everyone on the internet knows one of their other songs from this video (warning: audio a little NSFW, video hilarious/disturbing?/cute.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 6:33 AM on April 23

Was Marcy Playground indie? I think they were on a major. They sure sound hella indie...

Frenté maybe?

On reflection, I think I'm doing this wrong.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 6:37 AM on April 23

Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs

Although, to be honest, I don't know how much that song would rock my world these days. It was really more of a crap novelty than anything.
posted by owtytrof at 7:52 AM on April 23

I really liked the Moving Units debut EP. All of its four songs were pretty decent, but I think the first track stood out. Their subsequent album was quite a stinker, so I believe they are the type of band you are wondering about.
posted by waltzing astronomers at 9:45 AM on April 23

OK, folks, time to stop being wrong. The advice to check out the Hot 100 lists, etc., is kind of meaningless because there will be plenty of chaff along with the couple bands that will answer his questions.

What you're looking for is bands like Magnapop, who's "Slowly, Slowly" fits. Or Sincola's "Bitch." Or Tuscadero's "Heat Lightning."

Others: Garageland's "Gone." New Radicals "Get What You Give." Divine Comedy's "Something for the Weekend."

I can look for more at home—this used to be pretty much the point of CMJ and Pop Culture Press discs.
posted by klangklangston at 10:47 AM on April 23

klangklangston totally has it with Tuscadero.

Continuing on the TeenBeat love, I would also say Unrest, with "Makeout Club." Sure, they had lots of good material for the fans, but something like 99% of the indie-rock crowd know them for, and like, just that one song.

King Missile - "Detachable Penis"
Hum - "Counting Stars"
Jawbox - "Savory" (another one with tons of good material, but just one 'hit')
Grifters - "Spaceship" (also tons of good material...one that got overplayed)
Pond - "Agatha"
Poster Children - "If You See Kay"
Maybe even Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with "Bell Bottoms"
posted by kaseijin at 7:19 PM on April 23

My wife also wanted to add Superdrag's "Who Sucked Out the Feeling"
posted by kaseijin at 7:21 PM on April 23

Superdrag was on a major, but sure, that's a fair example (except they also had a lot of great songs).

Also from the Pop Culture Press Summer Sampler:

Battershell's "Shower Song," The Figgs' "Girl, Kill Your Boyfriend."

Others:

Ed's Redeeming Qualities' "Lawn Dart," Paw's "Jessie," Satchel's "Mr. Pink," Bob Log III's "Boob Scotch," Fifth Period Fever's "Five Past Twelve," Nikki and the Corvette's "Backseat Love," Coati Mundi's "Me No Pop I (though they were a side project, so they may not count), The Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like," The Electric Eels' "Agitated," The Frenchies' "Detroit Palm Trees."
posted by klangklangston at 8:11 PM on April 23

White Town - "Your Woman"

Dunno if that was on a major in the US or not... he sure posted to indie pages a lot...

And what was that song Mary Lou Lord had about "I say 'what's the story,' he says 'Butterglory.' I say 'what's the news,' he says 'the silver jews...'"? That's about all anybody ever thinks of when they think of her.

(And Superdrag started out on the Darla label!)
posted by kaseijin at 9:07 PM on April 23

I know—I've got the Fabulous 8-Track Sounds (Darla 007). And they're now on Arena Rock. But between those two, when "Sucked Out" was released, they were on Elektra as part of the great alt-rock pump-and-dump of the early '90s. You can add The Figgs and Spoon to that list too.
posted by klangklangston at 7:44 AM on April 24

God - My Pal
posted by goshling at 2:30 PM on April 28