many of my 2008-era personal niche favorites couldn’t sustain their careers/high points.

Fucked Up - David Comes to Life turned out to be a complete flash in the pan success. In terms of musical quality, a total mixed bag - Glass Boys and Dose Your Dreams have some of their best songs and a lot of filler, Year of the Horse was a career highlight, and then they started releasing a series of bad interchangeble pop-punk albums. Saw them live first in 2007 and then for the last time in 2022; time is never favorable to a punk

Joanna Newsom - Last album 9 years ago, mostly just content with being a rich lady I guess

Comet Gain - I used to anxiously anticipate every new single. Now David Feck releases a new unlistenable home recording every month on Bandcamp

Natural Snow Buildings - Completely disappeared, but became bizarrely popular with RYM kids in the past few years

Destroyer - He’s still going, putting out “pretty good I guess” albums every few years in a weird 80s Leonard Cohen style that I don’t align with. But still a reliable live show