We here know that you crazy rebels only like pure blackened crust punk releases from labels like Assrip! Records or Sewer Rat Recordings LLC, but sometimes the big conglomerates truly get it right, whilst following through with things completely and totally wrong; BLASPHEMY, friends. Anyway, here are ten underrated major label bands listed in alphabetical order that for one reason or another, never broke out to a globally mainstream audience. So, no subsidiary labels are listed below; we’re here for the purity sans “slashes” and entities. Also, the particular underappreciated bands we are highlighting had to have released at least one major label effort between the ten year period of January 1, 2000-December 31, 2009. Yes, we gaffed and missed the most superior and undeniably underrated act, and no, we did not do that just as clickbait for you dweebs… or maybe we did! Accept us and show gratitude.
Acceptance (Columbia Records)
After releasing two non-major label EPs, including the fantastic “Black Lines to Battlefields” via The Militia Group, Seattle, Washington’s Acceptance signed to Columbia Records, then home to Coheed & Cambria, Boys Like Girls, The Offspring, and Anal Cunt, and was poised to rise to Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance’s “Total Request Live” status with their polished debut studio album “Phantoms.” However, mainstream success just wasn’t in the cards, and we blame the good, but not great single, “Different.” Honestly, pretty much any other track on “Phantoms” would have been a smarter highlight, but the label pretty much gave up on Acceptance after “Different” tanked, and the band got dropped, and broke up just one year later. Not every story has a happy ending, but Acceptance proved that there was light at the end of the tunnel, and reunited, releasing two more LPs.
After Midnight Project (Universal Motown Records)
Los Angeles, California’s After Midnight Project, like the aforementioned Acceptance, released two EPs, and then signed with a major label, this one in particular was known as Universal Motown Records, and put out their debut full-length, “Let’s Build Something to Break” in 2009, just making the cut here by several inches. Although the record was far from reinventing the collective alternative rock and post-hardcore wheels, its songs were truly undeniable, and all of its eleven tracks are more than solid tunes. However, the band literally built something that broke, and split up shortly after. There is no need to feel sorry for vocalist and chief songwriter Jason Evigan, as he has been racking up hit for hit since then as a co-writer and record producer for such mega successful acts as Madonna, yes, MADONNA, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and Operation: Cliff Clavin.
The Apex Theory (DreamWorks Records)
DreamWorks Records, then home to platinum rock acts Papa Roach, Jimmy Eat World, Alien Ant Farm, and Human Fly Aquarium, is an often overlooked major label that seemingly disappeared shortly after conception and arrival, but this off-the-wall and extremely ambitious entry, The Apex Theory, deserves mention here for sure, even if you fools have no idea what we are talking about. The chief single from the act that eventually morphed into Mt. Helium until they broke up in 2008, “Shh… Hope Diggy,” on their lone major label LP “Topsy-Turvy” had parts in freaking 11/8, even if you can’t count that high, and showcased a groove that no other major label acts at the time or in the future possessed. Fun fact: Ontronik “Andy” Khachaturian, The Apex Theory’s lead vocalist on “Topsy-Turvy,” originally drummed for Armenian juggernauts System of a Down before they exclusively ate American Chinese cuisine.
Autopilot Off (Island Records)
As you will consistently see below, Island Records was on a rock and roll, er, roll during the ten-year period that some call the aughts, and the act formerly known as Cooter prior to their lawsuit, Orange County, NEW YORK’s Autopilot Off, was no exception to that rule, releasing a stellar EP and LP for the label. You may not have heard of this act, as whilst under their newer moniker they came and went quite quickly, but a lot of your favorite bands sure did, as they toured with acts like Sugarcult, The Ataris, Rufio, and Sean “Puffy” Combs. Also, your hero and mine, Operation Ivy/The Transplants/Rancid/Butter 08’s Tim Armstrong co-wrote two tracks on Autopilot Off’s album “Make a Sound,” and if you need to listen to ‘em before finishing this section, check out track three, “Blind Truth” and number seven, “What I Want”.
Blindside (Elektra Records)
Sometimes, and you will see down the line with several entries here, namely the final three, a band with minor and/or disappointing sales gets a second chance on a major label with more than one release there, but that is far from the norm. Stockholm, Sweden’s Blindside was one such act that almost broke out, and their two Elektra Records LPs, “Silence” and “About a Burning Fire” are two of the better mall screamo releases from that time period without question. Maybe the band was too Christian for the mainstream and not religious enough for the Cornerstone crowd. Either way, the globe’s side was, err, blind to this band, and we hope that this entry changes that for some of you miscreants; time will change your heart. Please also check out their strong pre and post-Elektra Records efforts.
Gratitude (Atlantic Records)
Forming in the first wake of Immortal/Epic Records’ Far, San Francisco, California’s Gratitude had a short and sweet run, just not sales-wise, from 2003-2005, and released a fantastic self-titled debut album for Atlantic Records just before their premature and disappointing demise. Consisting of individual members from other reverential alternative acts like Crumb and The Get-Up Kids, Gratitude put out their record to a meh whimper and definitely didn’t warrant them showcasing, for lack of a better word, gratitude to conglomerate superpower Atlantic Records, who also had Death Cab for Cutie, The Darkness, the also underrated Louis XIV, and the extremely overrated Louis Vuitton at the time. Far was definitely far ahead of their time, and sadly Gratitude, despite being solid in their own right, came out a tad too late. This is the part where we move on!
Injected (Island Records)
As stated earlier, Island Records went on a solid signing rock and roll frenzy in the ’00s, and Injected and one more surprise mention are two acts worth praising. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia they utilized a needle and blended post-hardcore textures with a southern rock swagger courtesy of Marvelous 3’s svengali producer Butch Walker. “Burn it Black,” the band’s debut LP got some love from the WWE in the form of sync placements, but most pedestrians completely missed the act as it was active, and that’s a low-down dirty shame. Fun facts: Critics and band members from sub par publications and bands LOVED this LP, but their fan bases sadly didn’t converge and their follow-up sophomore full-length never materialized. Here’s a sad but poignant note to leave on: Guitarist Jade Lemons passed away in 2016 but vocalist Danny Grady re-recorded the band’s older unreleased material and Lemons remained on said tracks.
The Like (Geffen Records)
Some will cry bitter tears that strongly combat nepo babies like The Like and some will lament that the band was too freaking hip for their own good, but no one can counter the fact, that the songs on their debut full-length studio album, lone aughts, and pun intended, questionable major label LP “Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?” are well constructed/executed. Basically, that’s what we say AND what we mean; we are NOT lost. Anyway, Los Angeles, California’s The Like released one more full-length in the 2010s, the curiously named “Release Me,” before splitting up, and in an act of bringing you down, we have you and only you to blame for such. Sadly it seems that the band’s label relationship was like a stalled form of June gloom and a bridge to nowhere/Terabithia in that it fell flat regarding its intended mainstream appeal.
Ludo (Island Records)
To quote The Beatles’ best song, “Number nine.” Why? Read on! In our ninth entry here, we highlight our favorite act in this piece, St. Louis, Missouri’s unsung heroes known as Ludo. Our nostalgic yet current hearts wish that their EP “Broken Bride” came out via Island Records, as a mainstream audience deserved it yet also didn’t, but we will settle for the band’s quirky and lone aughts major label release, their sophomore full-length album “You’re Awful, I Love You.” Like we mentioned above in the Sandra Bullock section of our piece, sometimes a major label gives a band with minor success another shot, and 2010s “Prepare the Preparations,” Ludo’s third and final LP is an underrated masterpiece front to back as well. Still, less than two years later, Ludo was gone, but the band has released a few singles in the 2020s and still rocks stages today.
Vendetta Red (Epic Records)
Let’s close this whilst screaming at the top of our collective/secondhand smoke lungs: Vendetta Red’s “Shatterday” should have been as big as “The Taste of Ink” and their even more underrated tune “Silhouette Serenade” should have been as successful as “Bat Country.” We. Said. It. Anyway, Seattle, Washington’s Vendetta Red released two of the more slept-upon major label rock efforts in 2003 and 2005, respectively with the straight-ahead “Between the Never and the Now,” and uber zealous concept album “Sisters of the Red Death.” We blame the band’s publicly successful record advance for alienation in the punk and “punk” scenes, but no one, and we mean NO ONE, out-Daltreyed vocalist Zach Davidson. Sadly, like the aforementioned Injected, the band also lost a band member in original member and drummer Joseph Childres in 2020. Do yourself a favor and spin these two efforts front to back and again.