One Hit Wonders

I was going through my music library for a couple of albums, and noticed that there's a couple of bands that I really, really like. The only problem with them is that thus far, they've only released one album. Either they're a newer band and haven't written anything else yet, they just seem to have vanished from the face of the Earth, or they've broken up after only one album. Here's my favorites with only a single album:

Existing Bands Dragging Their Heels

Ex-Girlfriends - Low Millions



Low Millions came out with a hit single in 2004, called Eleanor, closely followed by a couple of other singles, Statue and Low Millions. The band has a very cool and relaxed sound, and the theme of the album is pretty overt - breaking up and ex-girl friends. I've been listening to it a lot more than I usually do. There's nothing especially different about this band - they've got a fairly mainstream sound, but they maintain a solid beat and some pretty good vocal work here. I really liked this album, save for a couple of tracks, and I had hoped that they would get going on a followup sometime in the near future. I believe that the band is made up of a bunch of members from other bands, which might be part of the reason for no activity on their part. According to a myspace blog entry, they were starting on some new material in 2006. Hopefully, we'll see some more from them.

Mockingbird - Low Millions


Give Up - The Postal Service


This is one of the Indie super groups, made up of members of Death Cab for Cutie, Rilo Kiley and a couple of others, under the indie favorite Subpop records. They're the ones responsible for the fantastic song Such Great Heights, as well as We Will Be Sillouettes and a couple of others. Give Up has a fantastic sound and a nice blend of electronic and rock there. Unfortunently, they have also not come up with a followup album, although it seems that one has been in the works for a little while now, with most, if not all of the original members coming back for the album. This'll be a good one to wait for.

Natural Anthem - The Postal Service



A Girl Called Eddy - A Girl Called Eddy

I came across A Girl Called Eddy through Amazon.com when they had a list of free MP3 songs - I downloaded and fell completely in love with Under The Warm Sun, Golden and The Long Goodbye, and went out to get more of her music. She's got a great voice and sound, smokey with some really good guitarwork. Her debut, self titled album followed her first EP, Tears All Over Town. Unfortunently, that seems to be it for now - her webpage has vanished, in place of a myspace account, and while I think that I've read that she's coming up with a followup, I haven't seen or heard anything recently. I hope that she'll be recording again, because her music is fantastic.

The Long Goodbye - A Girl Called Eddy

Bands Gone the Way of the Dinosaur

Buring in the Sun - Blue Merle

Blue Merle is another band that released a single that had some radio play - the title track, Burning In The Sun. The band has a pretty unique sound, with some very good guitar work, as well as employing some cool insturments on various tracks. I just saw one of the former members of the band, Luke, when he played with Brett Dennen's band and with Guster the other night. (I didn't realise that until after the concert). The band sounds something like a mix between Carbon Leaf, Dave Matthew's Band and Coldplay, with some good lyrics and what I thought was a nice, rich sound. Unfortunently, the band didn't really like the direction and sound, and split up a couple of years ago. The band members are now all doing their own thing.

Bittersweet Memory - Blue Merle

New and Upcoming Bands

Good and Reckless and True - The Alternate Routes

I found these guys this summer, and they're a pretty new band, out of Connecticut. I've seen them twice, and they've really good a good sound, a solid rock album, with a good amount of media exposure thus far. Their live shows were a lot of fun to watch, and their first album, Good and Reckless and True was a really good one to listen to. I talked with one of the band members, and he said that after their current tour, they'll be back in the studio.

Ordinary - The Alternate Routes


One Cell in the Sea - A Fine Frenzy

One Cell in the Sea is the first album by A Fine Frenzy, which was released earlier this summer. This is a fantastic first effort from a very promising musician. This has a number of fantastic songs on it, and because it's a first album that's recently been released, I'm confident that we'll see her soon again.

Rangers - A Fine Frenzy

Say No To Being Cool Say Yes To Being Happy - The Softlightes

This is another first album from a cool sounding band, the Softlightes. Fans of Death Cab for Cutie will like these guys, as they've got a similar sound. Heart Made of Sound is the best track on the album, and it's got a really cool video as well. I'm relatively certain that we will be seeing more of these guys in the near future, and I'm sure that it will be worth waiting for.

Heart Made of Sound - Softlightes


Time Without Consequence - Alexi Murdoch

Alexi Murdoch came out last year with his first full length album, Time Without Consquence. Murdoch has a sound akin to that of Nick Drake, abit a little more modern and a little more experimental. This is a fantastic first effort from Murdoch, one that has brought out a number of fantastic songs. This is a guy that I desperately want to hear more from, and soon.

Blue Mind - Alexi Murdoch

Hype - Look