Helicopter

Belying the West Coast slacker vibe of its name, Nada Surf formed in 1992 after singer/guitarist Matthew Caws and bassist Daniel Lorca met at a bilingual French school in New York City.

The band’s sly, understated alt-rock found an early champion in The Cars’ Ric Ocasek, who produced its 1996 debut, High/Low.

That album yielded the summer radio hit “Popular,” on which Caws delivered cliched social advice to teens in deadpan spoken word before distorted guitar heralded an equally sarcastic chorus.