High/Low by Nada Surf

High/Low, Nada Surf's debut album, came out on Warner Bros. in 1996, and the New York trio had a heavyweight in the producer's chair: Ric Ocasek, the former frontman of the Cars, whom they met after Ira Elliot joined on drums in 1995. Matthew Caws sings and plays guitar, Daniel Lorca handles the bass, and the pair had started out under the name Helicopter before settling on Nada Surf.

Ocasek keeps everything crisp and bright, fuzzed-up guitars and sticky hooks with nothing wasted, and the record's calling card was "Popular", the hit single that made their name. They took it on the road with Superdrag and the Gravel Pit. The follow-up, The Proximity Effect, would go down badly with their label, Elektra, and cost them their deal.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.