When you consider all of your favorite bands, they probably have at least a couple of albums to their credit. Each album might be a gem, or maybe there are a couple of duds, but most successful bands have a ton of music to choose from. The discographies of these seven bands, however, probably don't take up very much space in a record store. Here are seven great bands with very small bodies of work.
1. The Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are rock history's ultimate "one and done" band. The band formed in 1975, began releasing singles in 1976, released its only album in 1977, and imploded by January 1978. Because of the extreme controversy the Sex Pistols stirred up in England, the band would still be legendary even if its music was awful, but luckily for us, Never Mind the Bollocks is one of the great documents of '70s punk rock.
2. Black Tambourine
Becoming an influential, legendary act is difficult enough, but to become influential and legendary without releasing a full-length album is near impossible. In the early '90s, Maryland noise-pop band Black Tambourine released only two EPs but is still considered to be among the most important groups in American indie pop. The band has since reunited, but its only release since then is an EP of Ramones covers.
3. Talulah Gosh
Though twee-pop pioneers Talulah Gosh released six singles during its brief 1986-1988 run, the band never recorded a full-length studio album. In 1996, a 25-track compilation Backwash was released, containing everything the band ever released. When Backwash eventually went out of print, another compilation, titled Was It Just a Dream? was released in 2013, with four bonus tracks.
4. The Teen Idles
Punk legend Ian MacKaye has been in a number of great bands, including Minor Threat and Fugazi, but his first significant band was the Teen Idles, formed in 1979 when he was just 17, and considered one of the very first hardcore punk bands. Despite the band's influence and success, it only had one release: a ten-minute EP containing eight songs, called Minor Disturbance.
5. The Nerves
The opening track to Blondie's classic album Parallel Lines is a cover of the Nerves' "Hanging on the Telephone," which is 25% of the music that the Nerves released during its career. The band was active from 1974 to 1978, but in that time released a solitary four-song EP, and nothing else.
6. Annoying Customer
New Jersey pop-punk band Annoying Customer formed in the late '90s, but in all of the time since its formation, the band released just one LP, an EP, and various split releases and compilation tracks. The band's entire recorded output takes less than an hour to get through, but it's an incredible hour.
7. American Football
Just a few days ago, Illinois emo trio American Football announced its reunion and plans to play some shows this fall. Considering the band released just 12 songs during its career (a three-track EP and a nine-track LP), its monumental influence on modern American indie rock is incredible.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
