Grinspoon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grinspoon | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Lismore, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Alternative metal Post-grunge Hard rock Nu metal (early career) Grunge (early career) |
| Years active | July 21, 1995 -- present |
| Label(s) | Universal (1996-2007), Grudge Records (1996–2002), Oracle Records (1995) |
| Website | Official website |
| Members | |
| Phil Jamieson, Pat Davern, Joe Hansen, Kristian Hopes |
|
Grinspoon are an Australian post-grunge band from Lismore, fronted by Phil Jamieson with Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass, and Kristian Hopes on drums.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Founded in 1995, they came to fame when they were Unearthed by national, commercial-free radio station Triple J thanks to their track "Sickfest". This won them the competition for the Lismore area. The band was heavily influenced by the nu metal movement in their early career, including the bands Helmet and Prong, and developed a strong following among mosh pit crowds. Their sound changed in their later career to a more mainstream rock sound with their 2002 album New Detention and at this point they lost many of their earlier fans and gained a lot of fans in the mainstream. Lyrically, the band are very cryptic and disjointed, most lines from their songs are not related to the next line and the songs rarely make sense as a whole. This has been attributed to the writer Phil Jamieson and his tendency to pen short lyrics of only a few lines each, and then tying many of these together into a song, creating a lack of consistent themes.
The band name was taken from marijuana supporter Dr. Lester Grinspoon. The band has at times promoted recreational drugs during concerts and in their song lyrics. Jamieson has also gained a reputation throughout the industry as a heavy drinker.
The band has had limited success in the United States, most notably for the songs "Champion", due to Gran Turismo 3, "Post Enebriated Anxiety", which was on the international version of Guide to Better Living, "Chemical Heart", via the internet, and a cover of the Prong song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", which was included on ECW: Extreme Music.
[edit] History
[edit] Early years
As a result of winning the national Unearthed competition the band gained considerable airplay, and they used this to secure gigs for themselves. As a result the band generated a strong following among the Australian "alternative" and "mosh pit crowd." Their debut EP, known as the Green EP, was released through the independent record company Oracle. It contained the tracks "Sickfest" and "More Than You Are" that became popular and were rerecorded for later releases.
Grinspoon's second EP, Licker Bottle Cozy, was recorded by the band and released by Grudge records in December 1996. It had a slightly heavier sound compared to their first EP, with the songs "Champion" and "Pig Pen", and there was little variety in the sound throughout the six track CD.
1997 saw their release of their first Album, Guide to Better Living, the album that best represents the sound and variety of their early career. Heavier songs like "Pressure Tested 1984" open the album, whilst in the middle are more classic rock songs like "Repeat" and "Don't Go Away" and then towards the end the ballad "Bad Funk Stripe." The album also features five live songs illustrating the bands sense of humour and ability to play live including the addition of a hidden acoustic track called "Protest".
Whilst in America touring in 1998, Grinspoon released the EP "Pushing Buttons", which featured the popular heavy song "Black Friday", and the lighter songs "Busy" and "Explain".
After heavy touring Grinspoon recorded the Easy LP with little studio time in 1999. The album had less variety than their debut LP and received a disappointing reaction from fans and critics, despite having some very solid and likeable songs like "Ready 1" and "Rock Show." The album was once described by Pinky from Machine Gun Fellatio as the album that should've been famous but wasn't.
[edit] Changing direction
After a long break to reconsider their direction and sound the band released the much more commercial 2002 album New Detention, which debuted and peaked at #2 on the Australian ARIAnet albums chart. The first single from the album, "Chemical Heart", caused a stir when it was released among long term fans and the media because it was so different from their usual grunge sound, and signalled a change in style for the band. The band insisted the change was a natural one and was made in the interests of improving their sound. Having said that, the band still performs a significant amount of older tracks in their live shows.
They also released an EP in 2003 titled Panic Attack (containing a cover of INXS's song "Don't Change"), which debuted and peaked at #13 on the ARIAnet singles chart.
In 2004, they released a new single, "Hard Act To Follow", which reached the top 30 in the singles chart. It was from the album Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills, which debuted at #4 in the charts. A second single, "Better Off Alone", was later issued, also reaching the top 30. The third single was "Hold On Me". This time around, the band agreed that they were deliberately seeking a new audience, claiming they wrote a number of songs for the release and rejected the songs that sounded like their earlier work.
The band has recently completed a new studio album, Alibis & Other Lies, their final album for Universal. The album was co-produced by the band and Ramesh Sathiah, who worked with the band on their earliest recordings. The first single from the album, "Black Tattoo", has been released as a digital download on 23 June and on CD on 30 June. The album was released in Australia by Universal on the 21st of July. It debuted in the ARIA Charts at number two on July 29, their highest chart position since New Detention in 2002.
In 2005, Grinspoon won their first ARIA award, winning the category for "Rock Album of the Year" with Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills. They had previously been nominated 9 times.
Grinspoon released a 2-disc best-of compilation entitled Best in Show. The first disc featured all their hits, although several of their older classic songs, like "Champion", which was popular thanks to Gran Turismo 3, were included. The second disc is a bonus which includes a collection of covers recorded over the years.
Grinspoon built a strong local following after their rise, they were regulars at Australian music festivals. On March 26, 2006, Grinspoon performed "Hard Act To Follow" and "Better Off Alone" at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony in Melbourne. Grinspoon and Delta Goodrem lip-synched, presumably due to bad sound reception at the MCG. Grinspoon headlined the inaugural "Thank God It's Over" in Melbourne and then at "BOBFest '06" in South Australia in October. They also headlined the first ever Odyssey 2006 at Dreamworld for New Year's Eve.
In February 2007, Phill Jamieson was admitted to rehab due to addiction to methamphetamine.[1] In an interview with Andrew Denton on Enough Rope in July 2007 Jamieson discussed how the drugs had led him to have an affair and steal money from his bandmates as well as his detox experience and rehabilitation. He said that he is is still recovering emotionally and is not sure how others should now take him now because he might seem more boring.
On July 14, 2007, Grinspoon's final Universal album, Alibis & Other Lies, was released, showing a change of style for the band. Their albums before this were pop-oriented rock, while "Easy" and "Alibis..." were more metal. Recently, in the United States, all of the Grinspoon LPs have been released on iTunes other online music stores. The first ones were Guide To Better Living, Best In Show, Thrills, Kills, and Sunday Pills, and New Detention. Easy and Alibis & Other Lies didn't come until Halloween 2007.
[edit] Hiatus
On 5 February 2008, Phil Jamieson announced via the bands official website that Grinspoon were on a hiatus following their appearance at the Big Day Out. It is unknown how long until the band plan on returning to the studio or if they will record again.[2] Grinspoon are currently touring again, and will be playing at the Bombay Rock, Townsville on Sunday 20th April. On May 1, 2008, Grinspoon announced that they would be completing a couple more shows before beginning to write a new album.
[edit] Discography
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/grinspoon-frontman-in-rehab-for-ice-addiction/2007/02/17/1171405452009.html Accessed 2007/07/24
- ^ http://www.grinspoon.com.au Accessed 2008/02/6
