Artist description Billy Idol being forcibly sodomized by The Sisters of Mercy...while Jerry Only looks on.

Music Style Gothic Rock/Punk/Metal

Musical Influences The Cure, Joy Division, The Misfits, The Ramones, Sisters Of Mercy

Similar Artists The Misfits, The Cure, Sisters Of Mercy, Billy Idol

Artist History The Smiling Villains were formed in Portland, MI in 1989 by St. Patrick High School students David Shinaver and David Senecal. The band went through numerous personnel and name changes until 1992, when they adopted their permanent name. Soon after, the lineup was solidified, and has gone unchanged since. In 1992, the band was featured on a cassette compilation titled Tatterfrock. In addition, they were showcased live on the Punk Is Dead radio show on 88.9 FM, as well as a live performance on a now forgotten show on 92.1 FM. In 1994, The Smiling Villains won first place in the East Lansing Battle of the Bands held at The Small Planet, beating out such bands as The Verve Pipe. On Friday the 13th of February, 1998, The Smiling Villains recorded their first CD, titled 13 Hits, which features such fan favorites as “Girl”, “Reasoning”, and “Vampire Girl”. Later on that year, the band competed once again in the East Lansing Battle Of The Bands, placing runner-up, and their song “Something Other Than Fire” was featured on the Lost Chord Records release B.O.B. 2, which is a compilation CD comprised of bands that competed in the event. During the same year, The Villains’ track “Zombie Love” was featured in the soundtrack for the Back Alley Productions film Something Smells Like Zombie. March 1999 saw the release of The Smiling Villains second CD, What Would Judas Do?, which has been described as a “moodier, slightly darker” album than 13 Hits. What Would Judas Do? contains such songs as “Gone Forever”, “Disappeared”, and “Dreams”, which have a heavier and more complex sound than some of their previous material. However, the band proves than can still go uptempo with “Creatures From Outer Space”, “Andy Worhol’s Head”, and “Annie” (an ode to a CPR dummy).

Group Members David James - vocals/guitar David Cynical - keyboards/samples/vocals Pi Hung - bass J-Man - drums

Instruments guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and sampling machine

Albums 13 Hits (1998).....What Would Judas Do? (1999)

Press Reviews Sounds like what might happen if Danzig and the Cure partied one night. Vocals were pretty clear. Pretty tight. Handled their instruments well. Seems like they had it together. Keyboards broke up the sound nice. Good touch. You could see their Punk influances sounding like the Misfits and Ramones. Like "goth-horror-punk"... -Chris Wardell, ETCH Magazine "...Throughout this tour, mostly shitty rap-metal acts have opened for us. I mean, fuck!...these bands are so goddamned bad that they have actually forced people to leave before we even fucking play! There was this band from Detroit (sic) that opened for us who didn't sound like fucking Limp Bizkit, though...their singer actually sang instead of screamed, and they had smoke machines and the whole nine yards. Ten years ago, I probably would have hated them, because they sound nothing like us...but now that I'm older and wiser, or whatever, you know...they rocked." - Dani Lane from Warrant, interviewed in Metal Edge Magazine, March 2001 "We were playing in some little town in Michigan, and this band set their equipment on fire and the singer popped a few teenage girls in the head with his mic...we're not used to seeing that kind of stuff usually. Mostly, it's emo kids smoking outside during the entire show, except when it's their turn to play..." - Mike Davenport, bassist for the Ataris

Location Grand Rapids, Michigan - USA

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