Remember that one band? The one with that one song? The one who nobody ever heard from again?

The annals of music history are filled with little gems we just didn’t pay very much attention to. More often than not, a band gets its one radio hit then disappears forever.

The fringe bands that were never quite superstars, but never quite indie either, are often overlooked as stupid fads that came and went. The bands that were novelties are the ones that dropped away the quickest.

The problem is that those bands often had quite a bit more to contribute than people realized. Unfortunately, if the radio hit wasn’t representative of a given band’s full canon of work, the band just disappeared.

The thing is, these bands are still around, and they’ve spent the better part of a decade trolling around the little clubs and making truly great work that never really seems to get the recognition it deserves because either the songs weren’t radio friendly, or the group had one song that was so catchy everyone knew it for a week or so.

I hope to bring to light some titles people have overlooked. Chances are, you know these band names. Chances are also good that you may know one song by them. They have more to offer than that, and you can usually find their albums at any used music store for dirt cheap.

That one ‘Popular’ band

The story of Nada Surf is an unlikely one. Formed more than a decade ago by guitarist Matthew Caws and bassist Daniel Lorca, Nada Surf enlisted Ira Elliot (Fuzztones) on drums and set about playing as many shows as they could find. The only problem was it was one of a thousand New York bands.

While Nada Surf gained a modest following by playing a number of well-received shows and producing an innovative EP, Karmic (No.6 Records), notoriety evaded the band. Then one night while they were at a club they happened to spot Ric Ocasek (The Cars) across the room. Caws slipped him a copy of their demo and went home expecting never to hear from him again.

Of course, they did here from him again. Ocasek was excited by the demo and wanted to record the band. Nada Surf signed into a relationship with Elektra records and released High/Low, which went platinum on the strength of the “quirky” single “Popular,” which took text straight from a 1950s etiquette book onto the airwaves.

Unfortunately, Nada Surf wasn’t a joke band, and when it came time to release the group’s second album, Elektra sent them back to the studio again and again, not hearing a “hit single.”

Nada Surf didn’t comply, and The Proximity Effect was released everywhere except the United States. Produced by Fred Maher (Luna, Lou Reed, Matthew Sweet), it garnered excellent reviews in Europe and Australia and was a modest success (particularly in France), but Elektra refused to release the album stateside and eventually dismissed the band from the label entirely.

This is a tragedy because Nada Surf’s notoriety had effectively disappeared by last year’s limited U.S. release of The Proximity Effect on Caws and Lorca’s own MarDev records, and the album slipped entirely under the radar.

The album is dark but immensely listenable, dealing with isolation, rape and depression. Matthew Caws’ lilting vocals, which fluctuate between a falsetto and an ethereal tenor, are altogether unearthly.

The bittersweet delivery of songs like “80 Windows,” “Voices” and “Silent Fighting” are offset by the raw force and fragmented lyrics of songs like “Firecracker,” “Disposession” and “Bacardi,” along with the underlying hope of “Hyperspace.”

The Proximity Effect is a beautiful range of emotion, borrowing from sources as diverse as Hank Williams, Iggy Pop, and The Modern Lovers. The whole effect is perfectly unique, and a real lost gem.

Nada Surf’s newest LP, Let Go, will be released next month on Saddle Creek Records. Tracks from the album are available on the band’s website, www.nadasurf.com.

Who Sucked Out the Feeling?

Southern rockers Superdrag almost made it. They very nearly became an icon. Unfortunately, after “Sucked Out,” the radio play stopped. The band went from playing stadiums to bars. Superdrag cycled through members but persisted, releasing another three albums over the next decade.

Fairly few may have been paying attention, but the band kept producing quality music. More than once, the two albums following chart-topper Regretfully Yours, have been referred to as the most underrated recordings of the 1990’s. The Fabulous 8-Track Sound of Superdrag and Head Trip in Every Key saw the band coming into its own.

Head Trip, in particular, sported great hooks and sublimely honest lyrics, as front man Jonathan Davis railed about relationships and the injustices of life in general.

The album is angry and doesn’t hold back. “Do the Vampire” is straight-out rock, instantly accessible and an immediate sing-along, but for every song like it, there’s a gem like the sparse opener, “I’m Expanding My Mind,” or the anti-pop-radio anthem, “Bankrupt Vibration.”

“The Art of Dying” ends the album with a chilling evocation of a future drained of its promise. No track is worth skipping, and the album is unquestionably the group’s best.

Superdrag rejoined the game two years ago with the more modest In the Valley of Dying Stars. The subject matter was denser; most of it dealt with the death of Davis’ father. Songs still rang true and loud, though. “Keep It Close to Me” should have been played on every radio station in the country, but it wasn’t.

The album is extremely strong, easily trumping the work of most contemporary artists.

Songs drawing from ’50s progressions like the energetic “Goin’ Out” keep In the Valley moving and are then artfully counterbalanced by delicate songs like “Warmth of a Tomb” and the title track.

The only thing holding In the Valley back from Head Trip in Every Key is an unfortunate number of forgettable songs like “Baby’s Waiting” and “Unprepared,” which seriously compromise the album as a whole but don’t weaken the impact of the more innovative songs.

Unfortunately, Superdrag’s latest, Last Call for Vitriol, falls lamentably short of the standards the band set with earlier releases. As Davis has begun to share songwriting credits with new members, songs seem less original, falling short of the mark set with earlier recordings.

Songs like “Staggering Genius” show the promise of earlier albums, but unlistenable songs like “Stu” completely negate them.

Regardless, Head Trip in Every Key and In The Valley of Dying Stars are both amazing albums and well worth picking up.

Free downloads of live shows are available on Superdrag’s website, www.superdrag.com.