RCA Records has achieved a new form of notoriety this year with the recent salacious biographical crime drama/softcore porn flick “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” showcasing that Lyle and Erik’s abusive father Jose was an executive for the label. This sour stain does not completely take away from the legacy of RCA Records, which has been around longer than most labels, and is even older than your poor aunt Ida. For this piece, we attempt to list the top ten most underrated RCA Records albums, and no RCA subsidiaries like Jimmy Eat World’s Exotic Location Records are here even though one can argue that “Integrity Blues” LP deserves a slot, but that’s kind of cheating, fam. Also, Anti-Flag is out of the picture for obvious reasons. Enjoy!
Bullets and Octane “In the Mouth of the Young” (2006)
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and relocating to Los Angeles, California, Bullets and Octane violently signed to RCA Records and released their sophomore full-length studio album/only record for the label there, “In the Mouth of the Young.” From the start, the LP had cred in that Page Hamilton from Helmet produced it, which is fitting because Helmet is also incredibly underrated. The album cover alone deserves a look, but maybe not at work. Fun fact: “Save Me Sorrow” was a theme for Wrestlemania 22, which was also special in that the beloved Rey Mysterio won his first world title that night.
Cave In “Antenna” (2003)
Possibly our favorite album here, which says a lot, as these are literally the ten most underrated albums from this label, at least according to us, and definitely one of the more slept on major label efforts this century, Boston, Massachusetts’ Cave In’s third full-length studio album and lone major label effort “Antenna” should’ve taken the aughts rock world by storm… but it didn’t and we blame you! Maybe the record was too straight ahead for their core space indie demographic or maybe people are just offended by televisions. We’ll never know! Bassist Caleb Scofield absolutely destroyed it in the best way on this effort and all prior and subsequent, but sadly he was killed in a tragic car accident in 2018. Caleb’s contributions to the scene at large were as huge as his musical prowess, and he will be missed forever.
Circus of Power “Self-Titled” (1988)
The oldest entry here and the only one listed from last century, Circus of Power’s self-titled studio album came out the year that George Bush without the W. beat Michael Dukakis FOR the W. New York City’s Circus of Power is also unique in that they came out during a time where there was actually a subgenre of hard rock and metal called “sleaze rock” with other monster peers like Guns N’ Roses and Faster Pussycat holding the fort up and underrated rockers like Sweet F.A., H.E.A.T., yes, H.E.A.T., and other rockin’ acts with periods in their band name. The band went on to release one more record with RCA and then actually signed to another major, Columbia Records, before splitting up two years later. Happily, the act came back in 2014 and sporadically performs to this day.
Eve 6 “It’s All In Your Head” (2003)
You may not agree, but you’re wrong if you think that any album in Eve 6’s career is better than their last of three for RCA Records, “It’s All in Your Head”… Think twice and move forward! It’s hard to top things when your first album goes platinum and your sophomore record goes gold, but the band definitely did, at least from a songwriting and sonic standpoint. Sadly the band got dropped and split up one year after this record was released… but, but, but the band reformed a few years later and singer/bassist Max Collins literally got a second life in terms of being a Twitter/X mastermind. Elon Musk may or may not have added him into your twitter-sphere, or shadowbanned him. Whatever the case, look into his tweets whilst you listen to all forty-four minutes and thirty-six seconds of “It’s All In Your Head.
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Funeral Party “The Golden Age of Knowhere” (2011)
Fans of Blood Brothers, Bloc Party, The Kinison, At the Drive-In/The Mars Volta, and chaotic dancy music will love this one: Funeral Party’s only full-length studio LP, “The Golden Age of Knowhere.” The ATDI/TMV influence on this album is showcased with these two facts: 1. With the exception of the opening track to “The Golden Age of Knowhere,” “New York City Moves to the Sound of L.A.,” the entire record was produced by longtime The Mars Volta engineer/mixer/musical collaborator Lars Stalfors. 2. Both Rodriguez-Lopez brothers, Omar and Marcel of The Mars Volta perform their respective instruments on this album, Omar’s being guitar and Marcel’s keyboards. So, not everyone can name their band after a song by The Cure and get away with it, but not everyone is Funeral Party. However, an act called The Funeral Portrait also rocks funeral homes in a different theatrical manner.
Hotwire “The Routine” (2003)
Fun fact: Newbury Park, California’s Hotwire’s lead singer Rus Martin used to front a really awesome heavy band called Fake Figures with guitarist Travis Miguel of Atreyu and Bob Bradley of Scars of Tomorrow, but this piece is not about FF, even though we wouldn’t be sad if RCA Records picked ‘em up! Easily the heaviest band listed here, their lone full-length studio album “The Routine” was far from such, and if you want our dad jokes to stop, they certainly will not stop today. We bet that you jokers completely missed the boat on Hotwire, and thus, you and only you are to blame for them splitting up after such a short career. Speaking of short, if your attention span is such, then just listen to all four tracks of its predecessor self-titled EP, of which three appear again on “The Routine.”
Hunter Hunted “Ready for You” (2015)
If you like your “ster” with a bit of “hip,” then the creatively named Hunter Hunted is right up your alley. From the ashes of another underrated and defunct act called Lady Danville, Hunter Hunted got off to a running start from their inception via a combination of radio tastemakers, popular blogs, and key live performances in the early 2010s at revered venues where the audience typically just stares at their phones and/or has parents that own Dreamworks; if that isn’t LA, then we don’t know what is. Anyway, as far as we know, however, “Ready for You” is the band’s only full-length studio album, which means that their debut is literally what it is called right now whether you’ve heard it or haven’t… yet. How Hunter Hunted didn’t didn’t rise to the stature of sonically likeminded tourmates Fun., Fitz and the Tantrums, and The Mowgli’s is beyond us!
New Politics “Self-Titled” (2010)
Denmark’s New Politics have five full-length studio albums, which is an admirable feat for any band except yours, but somehow their self-titled debut is an interesting combination of being quite underappreciated, whilst having several successful song placements. We guess that a lot of people didn’t Shazam these features, but we are still mad at them. This LP is their first of two for RCA Records, but it wins the underrated award here as their follow-up “A Bad Girl in Harlem” had a minor hit in the infectious by definition mega-song “Harlem.” The band’s relationship with RCA Records ended after the Columbia University adjacent community anthem came out, and released their next two LPs via Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy’s DCD2 Records/Warner Bros. Records., and their latest as of now through John Feldmann of Goldfinger’s Big Noise Music Group. Famous people love NP.
Say Anything “Self-Titled” (2009)
For some reason, this, Say Anything’s fourth full-length studio album and first of one for RCA Records even fell under the radar for hardcore Say Anything fans. Why is that? People blame single #1, “Hate Everyone,” but we hate them, and love The Clash. We’ll die on this hill: Next to “…Is a Real Boy,” this self-titled effort is the band’s best record front to back, and we know we’re right here despite being old, smart, and alleviated. While the record had a strong start at number twenty-five on the Billboard 200, it kind of faded away shortly after and without good reason. Still, we don’t know if the band got subsequently dropped, but we do know that their next one, “Anarchy, My Dear” came out on Equal Vision Records, which was then home to We Came As Romans and Set It Off. Whatever bro, she won’t follow you.
SR-71 “Tomorrow” (2002)
To close this out, there was a time when every band legally had to have a number after it, but SR-71 just never rose to the heights of the blink band, the sums, the nails that avoided the metric system, or the best band of all time, 311. You may know their single “Right Now” with the octave chord melody from SR-71’s debut full-length studio album “Now You See Inside,” which literally went gold, but their heavier and musically superior sequel “Tomorrow” not only didn’t promise the band another day, but it was their last for RCA. The band’s single “Goodbye” is certainly one to remember, and it unintentionally worked as a statement of sorts before they wrote the original version of Bowling For Soup’s “1985” just one album later. To end on a bummer: Goodbye, so long, nice try, THEY’re gone.