10 Indy Bands That Quit After Releasing One Album

It's tough being in a band in Indianapolis. As soon as a band creates a lot of buzz for themselves and finally releases their debut album, it's not much longer that the band decides to end it all and either form a different band or disappear into obscurity. I'm not sure why this cycle is so common, but here is a list in alphabetical order of 10 Indianapolis bands that have called it quits after releasing their debut album.


1) Archer Avenue

This alt-rock band originally from Muncie existed from 2002-2004 and released "I Was An Astronaut" before their lead singer, Richard Edwards left and formed the very successful band, Margot & The Nuclear So and Sos.


http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/archer_avenue


2) 40 Watts

This alt-rock indie band lasted from 1997-2002 and only played a total of 3-4 shows in their 5 year span and managed to release their only album, "Palenque". This band was lead by Mike Menke and after their break up, Todd Embree and Charlie Thompson joined another local band, Permacrush.


http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/40_watts


3) Jorma and The Movie Bare

This Indie-pop band, lead by Jorma Whittaker of Marmoset, only lasted from 2008-2011 and released 'Lollipop Gold' before disbanding.


http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/jorma_and_the_movie_bare


4) Lunar Event 

This electronic band, originally comprised of Derek Osgood and Gwynneth Reitz, lasted from 1999-2006 and only put out one full length album, "This Transparency". Derek Osgood later helped form Red Light Driver and has recently revived Lunar Event for solo single releases.


http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/lunar_event


5) Majhas

This brutal metal act comprising of Dave Lawson, John Zeps, Tommy Roosa, John Micheal Gioe, and Tony Reitz put out one album, "Stepping Into Character" before splitting and stepping into other bands including Yuki, Action Strasse, King Deuce, and Kidd Comet.

http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/majhas

6) Neon Love Life

Indy's finest all-girl rock band, Neon Love Life comprised of Lindsay Manfredi, Sharon Rickson, Ashley Plummer, and Tasha Blackman and existed from 2009-2012. They put out 'Tuesday Night' and were starting to record a followup before disbanding.

http://neonlovelife.bandcamp.com/album/tuesday-night

7) Pop Lolita

Pop Lolita existed from 2000-2003 and released 'Smokerings and Halos' before dissolving. The band comprised of Mike Contreras, Jonathan Harmon, Mike Theodore, Andrew Mahoney, Amber Lynch, and Dave Megyesi. The Brit-pop inspired band reunited from 2010-2011 for a handful of shows. Contreras and Harmon joined Red Light Driver, and Theodore joined Sky Hunter.

http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/pop_lolita

8) The Shivers

The Shivers lasted from 2001-2005 and released one mod-pop inspired album 'Move All You Wanna' before fading away into obscurity. The band was lead by Roy Griffith and included Mike Contreras and Chad Wells on the album.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/theshivers

9) Slothpop

This angelic indie-pop band, fronted by the talented Kristin Newborn, lasted from 2010-2012. They are the most recent Indianapolis-based band to call it quits after releasing their self-titled album.

http://musicalfamilytree.com/band/slothpop

10) The Slurs

One of Indy's most exciting punk bands, The Slurs blasted audiences in the early to mid 2000s and put out one album 'The Problem With Rock and Roll' before breaking up. The band included Justin Allen, Jim 'Kooch' Kuczkowski, Kris Messer, Nick Pryor, and Brad Wallace. Some members would move on and join other bands including The Gitmos, Those Young Lions, and Vodka DeMilo.

http://www.myspace.com/theslurs

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These are not the only bands that broke up after releasing an album, but they were the only artists mentioned on my facebook when I inquired about finding Indy bands for this blog post. What causes a band to release just one album and then call it quits? Nobody really knows but this is starting to become a trend around the local Indy music scene. 

- Mike C.