A San Francisco-based psych-pop band (somewhat of a harder-rocking cousin of the Elephant 6 kids), founded by Mike Drake, Matt Harris and Jim Lindsay in late 1996 or early '97, sometime around the breakup of their former bands Overwhelming Colorfast and American Sensei. Yes, I know those sound like fake Band Name Generator inventions, but they actually existed. I swear.
The band's first lineup:
They released a 7" single, "Mike Love Not War", around this time and started recording their first album and assembling their own record label on which to release it. Chad left due to the ever-popular "creative differences" sometime in here, and the band's new lineup was:
- Mike (vocals, guitars)
- Matt (bass, vocals)
- Jim (drums)
They released their first full-length record, Doorway to Norway, in 1999 on their own label, Pray For Mojo. It was a limited press of 1000 copies. Around this time, they hooked up with a friend from around town, Pavement guitarist Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, who was starting a label of his own. The two fledgling labels combined into one rock powerhouse, henceforth known as Amazing Grease, and Oranger's limited-edition 7" single "Circle Gets The Square" was their first release. Doorway was re-released on CD and limited-edition white vinyl on AG as well. Meanwhile, the strapping young lads of Oranger were recording yet another album, and had picked up another member along the way. So, now they were:
- Mike (vocals, guitars)
- Matt (bass, vocals)
- Patrick Main (keyboards, vocals)
- Jim (drums)
Amazing Grease released their second album, The Quiet Vibrationland (spot the Tommy reference!), in 2000 on vinyl and CD. The band had by now acquired a reputation as a killer live band (and/or a "drunken, sloppy freak-out"). Which they were, and still are. Damn straight. Don't miss them, if you get the chance: in the past, they have very rarely played outside the Bay Area, because they are fools. Fools! On record, though, they're still rocking, but more meticulous, using lots of entertaining samples and analog bleeps and squiggles. It's fairly trippy. Matt plays many of the guitars, as well as bass, on the records; Mike sings most of his own harmonies, as well as handling most songwriting duties. Live, Mike plays all the guitar riffs and Matt sings a good deal more. Occasionally, the band undergoes another personnel change in order to flesh out their live sound.
In which case, they'd be:
They've recorded about two full albums' worth of music in recent years and hope to release one or both at some point. I'm looking forward to it. In the meantime, they've toured the nation opening for old friends the Apples (in stereo), which delighted audiences often and the band perhaps less often. Who knows, maybe they'll do it again sometime. They occasionally update a very brightly-colored website at http://www.oranger.net.
Discography: