Asking this from a position of complete ignorance, but what are they?
Just occurred to me with the chat about Westside Cowboy, I can’t remember the last time a band/artist emerged and massively made waves with their first album.
Compared to all the bands from Meet Me In The Bathroom and equivalent UK indie bands from the early-mid 00s, it feels like there’s basically nothing.
Very possible that I’m wrong/forgetting obvious examples and this just shows how out of touch I am.
Chappell Roan probably the obvious one. From basically unknown to headlining Coachella in one album
In my world anyway
Others off the top of my head
Divorce
BC,NR
Wet Leg
Dry Cleaning
CMAT
English Teacher
Think a fair few of those were slow burns that were out for a while before they started getting real traction. Guess Westside Cowboy benefit from releasing a few EPs and touring constantly for a couple of years before the debut album so there was a sense of hype for it in advance
Black Country, New Road was 2019 wasn’t it? Black Midi? Swear time has no meaning
Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour is probably the big one though innit
Wet Leg & Last Dinner Party in the indie pop realm… Boygenius too if that counts
2021, remember it coming out a few months before EOTR and the tent being rammed for their not very secret set
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan - Interim Report, March 1979 (2021)
Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime (2021)
Haunted Plasma - I (2024)
Chappell was also a slow burn, my understanding is that her career didn’t take off at all (compared to where it is now) until she’d released Good Luck Babe
Mandy, Indiana.
Edit: oh. I guess that only massively made waves in my house but it’s the album of the decade so far.
Two big ones:
Chat Pile - God’s Country
Black Country, New Road - For the First Time
Two that should have been big:
Neighbours Burning Neighbours - Burning Neighbours
Grocer - Bless Me
Definitely kicked it up a level but the album built her profile to the point that it could become massive
They have since exceeded this but it’s as strong a debut as I can think of
Also way up there
Cameron Winter’s ‘Heavy Metal’, although it does feel like it was probably Geese’s ‘Getting Killed’ that properly pushed him into the spotlight
Definitely Wet Leg
Militarie Gun - All Roads Lead To The Gun
Bird Legs - Visions Beyond The Ape Cave
Contention - Artillery From Heaven
XCOMM - Time To Burn
All absolute slammers, but only Militarie Gun have really broken through.
I’ve been told The Molotovs have brought back gigging in real life.
Jockstrap was a rare 10/10 imo
Ethel Cain also brilliant
Seeing this has turned into a thread where people just post their fave debut albums from the 2020s and ignore the “massively made waves” bit, I give you:
R.M.F.C. — Club Hits
Same could be said for Dry Cleaning, although Covid hampered some of their touring. I recall planning to see them around March 2020, hyped on their two EPs, but of course it was canceled.