Album · Elastica
Elastica by Elastica
Elastica is an album by Elastica, released in 1995. 5 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 62 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Connection”, on 55 lists with a best position of #4.
Elastica, the debut album from the London band of the same name, came out on 13 March 1995 on Deceptive in the UK and DGC/Geffen everywhere else, and it goes off like a string of firecrackers. Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch had started the group in 1992 after getting out of Suede, and this is the only album by the original lineup, the only one with guitarist Donna Matthews on it.
The songs are short, sharp and wiry, pieced together from punk, post-punk and new wave, with Frischmann's cool, deadpan sneer riding guitars that bark and snap. "Connection" is the hook everyone remembers, a jittery, stop-start strut that became their biggest hit on the US Hot 100, and "Waking Up", "Line Up" and "Car Song" keep the pace just as brisk.
It went to number one in Britain, sold past 100,000 copies, stayed in the Top 10 for five weeks and set a new British record as the quickest-selling debut ever, and it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The follow-up got bogged down in disputes and lineup changes, and it would be 2000 before The Menace finally arrived, so this one stands as their moment.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Elastica on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connection | 55 | #4 | – | 1994–2026 | |
| 2 | Car Song | 3 | #36 | – | 1995–2021 | |
| 3 | Waking Up | 1 | #7 | – | 1994 | |
| 4 | All Nighter | 1 | #20 | – | 1995 | |
| 5 | Line Up | 2 | #42 | – | 1994–2024 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.