Fill in the blank, and it's a question we've all surely asked at some point. There are inevitably certain artists or bands that we once thought were brilliant, only to see them subsequently disappear. But thanks to the internet, we can now track down clues about these artists and piece them together to bring you the first installment of LWMB's "What Ever Happened To...?"

The first such band we'll be tracking down is New Jersey's own late-nineties indie darlings, The Wrens. Their last record, 2003's superb Meadowlands, won them wide critical acclaim, even after seven years of record-label wrangling delayed the album's release. Since then, the band has embarked on a four-year, weekends-only tour, making several festival, benefit, and solo appearances. And while Wikipedia claims the band is working on its fourth studio album, their website makes no mention of any such project.

Another band to make a quiet exit from the indie spotlight was Athens, Georgia's Neutral Milk Hotel. After the 1998 release of their inspired LP, In An Aeroplane Over the Sea--just the second full-length from the band--NMH amicably disbanded. The members of the group were high-school friends from Ruston, Louisiana, who relocated to the college-radio mecca of Athens to become part of the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, where they frequently collaborated (and shared members with) bands like The Apples in Stereo and The Olivia Tremor Control. With a few minor guest spots on other artists' recordings and one or two intimate solo concerts, singer/songwriter Jeff Mangum, the main force behind Neutral Milk Hotel, has disappeared from the music scene altogether. And, unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of NMH fans worldwide, he doesn't seem to have any intention of returning any time soon, though his former band- and labelmates are continuing to make music with their various offshoot projects.

Photos by gregoryperez and Brian B via Flickr.