Five 1990s bands who broke up too soon

SARGE – 1996-2000, TWO AND A HALF ALBUMS

Sarge’s debut, Charcoal, showed off frontwoman Elizabeth Elmore’s sweet vocals floating over a bed of sludgy guitars. Elmore’s songwriting talent was clear right off the bat, but to be honest, Charcoal is merely pretty good. Only their minor hit “Dear Josie, Love Robyn” hints at the hookier, pop punk they were capable of.

That crisper, more melodic sound came to fruition on the second album, 1998’s The Glass Intact. Lead single “Stall” is a stone-cold pop hit. The second song, “A Torch” is a blistering feminist juggernaut that could have been a distaff Offspring number. That sets the album’s tone, ping-ponging between pop confections and hard rock ravers. Elmore’s voice continues floating over it all, telling sharply observed stories of her characters and their struggles with love and romance.

Elmore proved to be one of the most original voices in ’90s pop music, but sadly for music fans, that agile mind had other things on its agenda. Though she would continue to dabble in music over the next few years, she ended Sarge in 1999 in favor of law school. She chose Northwestern over Georgetown.

Sarge’s label, Mud, released some studio session recordings, along with live performances and covers on one final album in 2000. It features, among other nice surprises, a slightly harder version of Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 hit, “Time After Time.”