The ’00s was an exciting period for music in a lot of ways, as we saw a surge of acts riding the wave generated by artists like The Strokes and The Arctic Monkeys, and a lot of hype from the music press for each new emerging act.
Some of them went on to achieve great things, but unfortunately the bubble burst and the industry was littered with skinny jeans and broken guitars as a huge number of indie ‘buzz bands’ fell by the wayside.
We’re looking back on a few examples who ended up being completely flattened by the hype train.
Darwin Deez
Remember ‘Radar Detector’? It’s that song you think you probably heard in an iPhone commercial or maybe it was a health insurance commercial. Either way, it’ll come back to you and it’s not going to leave you heard until at least the next financial year. Sorry about that.
The Twang
The Birmingham band who were massively hyped by the NME off the back of a string of demo recordings, and then smashed into obscurity when their former champions dropped a damning 6/10 rating on them for their debut album. They had two blokes sharing the vocal duties – one sang the verses, the other the chorus – and neither did anything else. That was probably never going to be sustainable.
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
The Reading outfit jumped into the public consciousness courtesy, once again, of a solid amount of hype courtesy of rags like the NME. They had a memorable name courtesy of a quote from The Office, but unfortunately their debut album was entirely forgettable, only just sneaking into the UK top 50 and copping a 2.3/10 from Pitchfork.
The Von Bondies
Their breakout single ‘C’mon C’mon’ was a massive hit for Jason Stollsteimer and his band, and for a second they were a big part of the Detroit garage rock revival that was being led by The White Stripes. Unfortunately for Stollsteimer, the hit he’s most known for these days is when he and Jack White got into a well-publicised brawl. White was fined and forced to attend anger management, but he won out in the end as The Von Bondies dropped into obscurity.
Black Kids
Their debut EP Wizard Of Ahhhs perked up some critics’ ears, before their huge ’08 single ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You’ put the young Florida band firmly on everyone’s radars, carrying their album to number 5 in the UK and landing them on the FIFA soundtrack. They scrapped a follow-up album in 2010, and have barely been heard from since.
The Bumblebeez
It was the mid-2000s and Modular Recordings was the hottest label in town. They became one of the most prominent indie labels in the country and indeed the world with acts like The Presets, Wolfmother, Ladyhawke, Cut Copy, The Avalanches, Tame Impala, and… The Bumblebeez. Okay, so maybe their golden ear had a little tin in it.
Test Icicles
Whilst Dev Hynes has gone on to do great things as Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange, his short-lived dance punk band was not as well received as either of those two projects. They managed to hang in there for one album thanks to a lot of UK press buzz and… well, not much else.
Hard-Fi
Another part of that wave of mid-2000s bands that came, got totally overhyped by NME, and then more or less disappeared. Their debut, Stars Of CCTV, actually had a few memorable songs on it, but the band failed to capitalise on the momentum of singles like ‘Cash Machine’.
Operator Please
It was just a song about ping pong but it was all over triple j and the band were hyped to be the next big thing to come out of Australia’s indie scene. They never did make good on that incredible momentum, but we’ll always have that song about ping pong.
Something With Numbers
They had all the love from triple j and a devoted following, but this Central Coast outfit, who had a considerable output with a total of four albums, never quite lived up to their early promise and they haven’t been heard from since releasing their fourth album in 2013.
Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat were, well, hot for a minute there, riding high on the indie rock wave that floated so many groups of the decade. Their sophomore album Elevator hit 34 in both the US and the UK in ’05, but they went into freefall after that, and their follow-up couldn’t even crack the top 100 in the UK. The wave was over.
