Hard Wave Music. Hi-Five Rock N Roll. Four childhood friends/rock geeks from Wisconsin join together in the suburbs of Milwaukee to mix angular art rock and Midwestern soul. A recipe for success?
Well, considering three of the four didn't know how to play their instruments at the time, no. However, living together, practicing in tiny basement spaces with Marshall half stacks, and playing anywhere that would have them between Duluth and Iowa City, the band forged something they dubbed "hard wave" – a sort of new wave/hard rock hybrid that managed to combined Wire, Al Green, and The Stooges.
Moving to Minneapolis, MN because most of their favorite bands came from there, P. Judd Counsell (d), Rick Donner (v,g), Steve Koester (v,g) and Galen Polivka (b) recorded a boatload of material on eight tracks in a basement in South Minneapolis that manage to inspire rock and roll toasts and forty ounce boasts with its call and response guitars, crack rhythm section and sweet harmonies, while not forgetting that, in the end, it's the songs that matter.
Punchdrunk performed and recorded from 1991 to 1998. The released three CDs -- From Dad (Zeus Records, 1994), A Message From the Cockpit (Veto Records, 1996) and Bird Bird (Veto, 1998) -- as well as numerous singles.
Band members went on to found several bands, including The Hold Steady, Koester, Maplewood, Prince Lefty & His Rambling Kings and the Bi-Centennial Drug Lords.
Bio from Vfibrecordings.com
