Even in the hallowed halls of the underground (term used loosely, of course), the gatekeepers can’t remain vigilant all of the time. Every now and again, a mulligan or blemish occurs that can only be objectively seen with the healing power that comes from the passage of time. Here we present ten artists who have found their way onto this site and many others that in the beacon of light 2009 promises to be, will be revealed as embarrassments and charlatans for years to come. Clap your hands and say tapes! I think we’re ready to begin.
10) Vampire Weekend: Look, I like Vampire Weekend but let’s face it, the odds are firmly stacked against them for record number 2. My heart hopes they stick around but my head tells me otherwise. Prove me wrong, guys…prove me wrong.
9) The Dodos: This band has found mild success on its ability to write one mediocre song a thousand different ways.
8) Los Campesinos!: A fleece job if I’d ever heard one. To be honest, I’ve never met anyone in real life that actually likes this band but a whole bunch of middle-aged rock critics think it’s precious to have a ton of enthusiasm for generic sounding dance punk.
7) Ghostland Observatory: Who? Look for them on tour with A.R.E. Weapons this winter!
6) The Hold Steady: This was really more wishful thinking than anything else but my gut is telling me that these guys are headed out to pasture soon, so long as St. Joe Strummer isn’t using his divine intervention to do otherwise.
5) The Vivian Girls: It’s as if Beat Happening hadn’t already…., er, happened. Give it up for critics who continue to laud albums that reflect upon their already established good taste. And while I firmly believe that band member’s personalities have nothing to do with how one judges music, this video certainly did not help matters. http://player.uncensoredinterview.com/vlogs/10128-Vivian-Girls-Fish-Out-of-Water-Sometimes
4) MGMT: Similar to my sentiments regarding Vampire Weekend, albeit less enthusiastically, everything about this band screams one album shtick. I’d bet the farm that their second album will take at least two years to produce, sound like the Beach Boys and fall upon deaf ears.
3) Cut Copy: OMG these guys sound like all of those other bands I like but are now 50! And they love neon as much as I do!!! BFFL!
2) Santogold: Sometimes when Santogold songs come on the radio and people enjoy it, I feel like I’m on a different planet. I understand that a few years ago the world finally decided to embrace its love of all things Top 40 pop but songs about the Lower East Side from a middle-aged M.I.A. look alike who sounds like Gwen Stefani? Wasn’t the inexplicable success of “Paper Planes” this year enough to satiate that void?
1) Fleet Foxes: Easily the biggest head scratcher of the year and gets my vote for group think award of the year. All it takes nowadays is some pastoral three-part harmonies and a few beards and viola! Fleet Foxes handily wins 2008’s Band of Horses award which is awarded to any band who recreates a “classic” sound that reinforces one generation’s good taste (Rolling Stone, NPR) while seems novel to those who didn’t live through it the first time (Me, You, and…everyone you know?). The recipients of this prestigious honor, who incidentally must be signed to Sub Pop, will be critically revered for a short time before slowly descending into obscurity and recording a remarkably similar yet less successful second record.
God loves a cheerful giver.
I'm sure Fleet Foxes will stick it out with a good second album. Not sure if it will be in 09 though. I think they're talented enough to come up with more 'good' material though.
can see where you're coming from on some of these groups, but Fleet Foxes put out one of the best records of the year - although I do admit I appreciated it a great deal more after seeing them live (and their oftentimes 5-part harmonies). I don't think they can retread what they've already done, but I don't expect them to be forgotten quickly.
GirlTalk. Please.
wait, is this just a list of every band that was popular this year? you forgot no age!!!
vampire weekend and mgmt aren't going anywhere, major labels are going to shove them down our throats for years, the killers better watch out though.
MGMT had one great song, 'time to pretend,' but I agree they are done. And I really wish Cut Copy is done, and The Hold Steady, but the later will probably be around because people don't know better.
My life would be much happier if I never had to hear the words "Fleet Foxes" or "The Hold Steady" ever again.
Props to putting Ghostland on this list. While they put on an incredible live show, their recordings leave quite a bit to be desired. Then again, a lot of people said that about the Greatful Dead...
Vivian girls are pretty obnoxious.
Vampire Weekend will either relase a HORRIBLE second record or surprise us by going to West Africa, learning how to really lay down the rhythm and then leave the game alltogether and become part of Femi Kuti's backing band.
Los Campesinos DRIVE ME INSANE!
And not in a good way.
A little surprised "Ting Tings" are not on the list though. While I loved "That's not my name", that action adventure is bound to end rather abruptly and cruelly for them.
wow. i agree 100% with this list. i also agree 100% with michael.
like you, i hope VW can pull out an awesome 2nd record. the jury is certainly out.
as for bands like mgmt, cut copy and santogold - i love pulling out a song or two to dj out, sing to, dance to, etc. but, they certainly aren't important bands with any kind of sustaining power. i will admit to really liking santogold. but, that is certainly beside the overall point of this list. the main thing i need santogold to do in 2009 is tour with a live band instead of that lackluster freaking dj who hits play on his computer and then just stands there looking like an idiot "pretending" to do something.
Cut Copy sucks, and Girl Talk has been around for a few years now. I could do without him being around anymore though.
Svetlana,
I can't believe I forgot the Ting Tings. Had I remembered, they would certainly be on this list.
I think that the Hold Steady are going to be one of those bands that stick around forever, doing variations on the same thing, but doing it well. 2008 was probably the peak of their popularity, though.
And solid deconstruction on the appeal of Fleet Foxes.
question to group, will abe vigoda be popular at all in 2009? i always considered them a more interesting/talented vampire weekend
Wow, didn't know Cut Copy hate existed. Their two shows and DJ night in DC this past year were highlights for me, and the record is prob my #1 fav of the year. It's too good to fade away that quickly. But then again I've been a fan since the beginning with them (not trying to prove my coolness, just sayin). Anyway, funny list.
Oh, Svet, That's Not My Name came up on random play while I was dancing on my bed last weekend and I danced so hard I was sore the next day. That song is standing the test of time for me quite well.
What about Justice ??
!!!
also i like Fleet Foxes waaaaay better than Band of Horses and think they have way more staying power.
Cause Justice appeared on the Top 10 Bands of 2007 That Will Be Forgotten in 2008.
Yet they weren't.
i think i'm going to hold you guys to this one, it'll be cool to see who's got staying power and who doesn't.
for what's it worth, hold steady helps me cope, so from my life at least, they'll be sticking around. i think there are others like me.
i thought the only person who talked about justice anymore was chris burns hating them .... besides, there's still time to forget justice before 2009
Martin - you aren't the only one.
Dan - ha!
DVNO is still amazing tho.
I'm surprised Bon Iver didn't make the list
The Hold Steady has been around for like 15 years (Lifter Puller is basically the same thing w/out Sax) so I'm not sure why you think they'll disappear. Oh you don't like them. Oh that's your justification for why all these bands are on here.
Well this is just a breath of fresh air--finally, someone willing to make their negative personal preferences into statements of fact on the internet!
Thank god for pedro, these responses were starting to feel a bit too much like a love in! Thanks for staying positive though...I bet big poppa Finn would be proud.
CFever- Ya know, Bon Iver is an intriguing pick since I do think they are semi-deserving. That record was by far my absolute favorite thing made this year but by the looks of "Blood Bank" lightening is not likely to strike twice with them. I'm optimistic he'll grow into a fuller sound (see Sam Beam) and his endearing live performances have only fed that hope.
It should go without saying that there is nothing WRONG with fleeting popularity nor releasing one great album and never being heard from again. I think those selling that idea (the cannon-loving, mythology perpetuating rock press) can be awfully dismissive to these types and of course it's fun to take pot shots at truly mind boggling acts (read: Ting Tings, Los Campensinos). But I don't think there's nothing wrong with great music that has its own legitimate time and place, even if it only spans a year. This list isn't about thoughtful analysis and 95% of the people reading here aren't interested in a didadictic lecture. This list was made for good ol' fashion shit talking, plain and simple.
ditto to the ting tings. liked the singles, but i can only deal with hearing 'that's not my name' as people's rings for so long.
PRETENTIOUS
The Ting Tings had one song, it's like picking on helen keller to put them on a band that'll be forgotten next year. Ask about them in February no one will remember them at all. In Vegas that was like the only fucking song they played.... EVERYWHERE
@youguysare: Duh.
Cut Copy is also my fav for this year. I blast that shit all the time and it picks me right up.
you never know about one-hit-wonders though, remember the one hit wonder band in the 90s with an ironic song about self hatred?.....Radiohead
by the way, even though i disagree with some of these (although god do i agree with fleet foxes), this is great content. anything that gets people pissed is better than a boring band in my book.
Dare you compare to Radiohead!
it seems like there's a trend that it's cool to like small, unknown bands but as soon as they start selling out venues like 9:30 it becomes uncool. I guess that makes them mainstream and how cool can mainstream ever be?
Michael is wrong (a usual)...Girl Talk wasn't big in 2008 and won't be big in 2009...
great article!
I'm confused... The Hold Steady's "Boys & Girls In America" was a much better album (overall, I felt) than "Stay Positive"... and that came out in 2006. So maybe they'll be around for a while. I hope.
THE HOLD STEADY aren't 2008. they have been selling out shows for a ridiculous amount of years. CUT COPY aren't a 2008 band either. they've been putting out records, playing well attended shows and putting out remixes for years as well.
i'm pretty sure FLEET FOXES will stick around. as much as i hate GIRL TALK (for being a third rate 2 MANY DJs), he's been selling out venues long before 2008. i can't gauge whether or not he'll make it through 2009. there's a ton of kids out there that think mashups were invented summer 2008, but there are a ton of kids that realize this is not the case and are over it.
JUSTICE isn't going anywhere. they will continue to sell out venues worldwide. guaranteed.
most of the stuff on that list and discussed here reads more like a list of "bands i didn't hear about until 2008 and i think they won't last through 2009" rather than a list of "top ten bands of 2008 that will be forgotten in 2009."
Dear Mr. Faith,
Thanks for your two cents; I can now see that an appropriate gauge of an artists staying power can be derived from one's ability to sell out venues the year that they were undisputedly popular. Also, I am well aware that the Hold Steady has been around for quite some time but 2008 holds the distinction of being the year when the band succumbed to self-parody, hence the inclusion here.
It should be noted that your read of Fleet Foxes (aka, "they'll stick around") is pretty astute...thanks for that in-depth insight.