Artist description Catchy, cathartic, cohesive candy-asses. Loose and melodic, trashy and straightforward. Imageless and timeless party-pop. Artsy-fartsy wuss-rock. A bouncy, bubbly, basement-band ready to present a batch of toe tapping, hand clapping, finger snapping ditties for everyone to enjoy.

Music Style indie power pop trashy wuss rock

Musical Influences *

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Artist History Grain played their first houseparty as a last minute replacement for a canceled Green Day. The group of friends were staging shows for the likes of Seaweed, Pavement, Fugazi and Velocity Girl, but their efforts were increasingly shifting to writing and recording some gems of their own. Over the next few years, the band self-released several critically-acclaimed underground EPs. The tunes charted on College Radio Charts, made the Top Ten of the Month by two editors of Maximum Rock N Roll, and were selected for radio distribution by Rockpool (Net Magazine) and the 1300-station syndicated Colonial Underground. Members have played with almost every indie rock superhero and played at tons of cool American clubs (including The Metro in Chicago, Hurricane in Kansas City, Crocodile in Seattle, Knitting Factory in LA, First Avenue and Uptown in Minneapolis plus all over the San Francisco Bay Area). The crew has also played a handful of highly competitive conferences including South By Southwest in Austin, The TicketMaster Regional Showcase, and North By Northwest in Portland. In early 2002 the band recorded the peppy single BILLBOARD at the legendary Tiny Telephone Studio with Scott Solter (Court and Spark, Tarentel, For Stars, John Vanderslice). The process was so satisfying that they headed back a few months later to record their summer 2002 EP OVER THE COUNTER CULTURE. For the latest info visit www.grainusa.net.

Group Members yes

Instruments yes

Albums http://www.grainusa.net

Press Reviews WILLIAMETTE____________ Those who truly love bubblegum never apologize for their passion, and Grain USA takes its place among the brave. After years of dodging bad major-label ideas (Hey, why dont you guys throw some ska in there?), these guys continue to lay it down catchy and sweet. They claim its disposable pansy punk, but if theres a droplet of justice in the universe, their clean-scrubbed pop will survive long after NuMetal sludge has gone the way of the Tyrannosaurus. FLIPSIDE____________ Four tunes of basic down rocking punk stuff. Cool. LISTEN.COM____________ In an alternate universe, where REM and the Buzzcocks would forsake their musical differences in order to go on one mind-blowing tour and become the best Jangle Pop band in the world, bands like Grain USA are formed. Theyve taken the best of Power Pop and Jangle Pop and mixed them into bubbly, ingratiating songs for fans of both. Jingling guitars deliver mid-tempo, hooky bars of high-powered pop, just beneath the whiny, nasal vocals of a singer who may be Michael Stipes long lost twin. Toss in a few Casio handclaps – always worthy of a few bonus points, and youve got peppy, energized pop songs on a sugar high. MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL____________ ...if that isnt credentials enough for you, I think maybe the cool, fuzzy slop pop on this here EP should convince you that this little college town is worthy of some recognition. MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL____________ Two editors selected Bubble Gum in their top 10 for the month. GARAGEBAND____________ Pete Thomas drum intro.... Great. An Elvis C vibe at intro. Rest of it makes me think 50s rock-n-roll meets college radio pop. Vocal delivery is a bit sarcastic... if you do not want to be taken seriously, you have succeeded (not necessarily a bad thing). Nice key change. Nice and short, which is smart for this sort of tune. Id call this a more sophisticated entry in the novelty post Might Be Giants genre. Maybe some J. Richman? SPANK____________ Grain USA are a damn fine bunch of guys who play even finer music. They are trying to get some independent label support. Instead, the band is getting some really creepy offers from some majors, which sucks, because they deserve more than to be asked to submit songs for other artists ridiculous albums. All I see are 100% girl-harvesting tunes. These guys are bound for glory. Oh baby, dont stop. Is my check in the mail yet? ETHOS____________ ...another track that stands out from the others on the Ames Compilation CD, is Im Sick, Im Sorry from Grain USA, one of the more experienced bands. This song is less than two minutes long, but it is still impressive. It may only give listeners a nibble of what Grain USAs music is about. Their sound defies definition. Theyre alternative because theyre pop, poppy, crunchy, noisy love. ERSATZ WORLD____________ Grain made this six song masterpiece. Everything on this tape rocks. Sensitive guy lyrics that give you goosebumps, especially in Bubblegum and great social commentary in Litldarln. Great bass playing, haunting vocals, and raunchy guitar make this worth having. MUSE NEWS____________ Thick guitar chords, fast tempos and buried vocals are second nature to Grain USA. The vocals are best when pushed to the higher octaves on “Acupuncture”, but Open Mic is the most interesting song with its fury of basement instruments flirting with a whirlwind of bellowing trumpets. GARAGEBAND____________ Love the noisiness in this track. keep up the beats and rhythm...the bass is thick as mud. I love it. NET MAGAZINE____________ Selected Bubble Gum for radio pool distribution. #2____________ These kind of sound like contemporary love hits of the 80s played at 78rpm. More hooks than a good amateur night on Showtime at the Apollo. All of the pop-punk enthusiasm makes you wonder where these boys are shoving their corn. It’s a great record and in the future, save your nickels and send away for it. GARAGEBAND____________ Nice happy rock n roll with surfin vibes. Not quite as good as Surfin�USA”, but a nice chill-out-by-the-pool tune. Chorus is catchy. And the lyrics are funny. PROFESSOR DAVE STUART____________ The kinds of combinations of musical materials and styles reminds me of the Futurists of the 1930s and some of the experiments of John Cage in the 1950s. MUSE NEWS____________ At long last, a power trio that wont bore you with a guitar hero playing speed riffs for no reason other than to grandstand. No hype drummer who adds fills where they dont fit or a bassist with a potato in his pants doing finger taps to attract the girls. Grain refers to their musical meltdown as a combination of the beauty of classical music and the energy of punk rock. Right out of the box, this group will dazzle you with their straight-ahead, honest approach to texture and volume. The first of six songs, Spice opens with a handful of thick chord changes atop a super melody and chorus. Bubblegum utilizes the bands ear for dynamics and mixes in gender-bending lyrics to create an interesting contemporary song. The bass kick-starts Litldarln and together Grain makes a gallant run at crossing over into commercial land. Grain is one sound from one unit, and its tried and true song after song. SCHTUFF____________ The song Bubblegum is very good. If early REM lived in a crappy town and built up enough frustration they may have sounded like this. SPANK____________ This jubilant trio has changed their name to Grain USA since this was released, though that hasn’t had an effect on their triggering punk tracks that promise to have you hooked in a jiffy. The lyrics plead with flat, snickering sarcasm on swingers like Bubblegum and Flaming Santa while the bass and drums roll around an unavoidable, fun-filled beat. The careless energy that stands out on Graze and Billboard connects directly with Grain USAs high-spirited stance. Super well done. ISU DAILY____________ Grain took the stage like radio pirates take over airwaves. Their heavy, loud pop was accentuated by the bassists college radio jokes and the guitarist/vocalists holstein bespeckled amp. The drummer displayed his unique longitudinal drumstick wear pattern as he let loose on his throne. A song I really liked was Open Mic during which Grain invites an audience member to provide lyrics. That nights contributing vocalist was Shanda who is the guitarist/vocalist for the foxcore group Period. Grain is happening, Grain is now. SPANK____________ This release holds the newest five songs available from Grain USA. Why and Stardumb will just about charm the pants off either you or the person sitting next to you. The heavier notes that Cupid ends in are picked up again on Open Mic, an instrumental that packs in some great trumpet dementia and still rocks all the same. Acupuncture is probably the only song around that combines lyrics about dentists fingers, doctors breath and enemas. When you swirl Grain USAs bass and guitar into drums that are consistently charging full-speed ahead, you have definitely got yourself one hell of a record. GARAGEBAND____________ Very poppish, radio friendly tune. Nice groove. Appropriate chord progression for the lyrical topic. Vocals remind me of Violent Femmes or They Might Be Giants. La-las are fitting. Nice and short too. About as easy as they come, but somehow sounds sincere in it's existence. GARAGEBAND____________ Rockin uptempo. Nice and rockin tune. Great vocals. Great radio-friendly song. I love the lyrics and melody. Arrangement is killer. Good job folks. MP3 JACKPOT____________ Billboard selected as winner for Christmas Eve 2001. GARAGEBAND____________ You win! This song is better than the one youre up against, so you win your round. That said, its a good song -- I like the humor in the lyrics, but most of all I like the energy. This jumps out of my speakers, in a good way. Best of luck in future rounds. GARAGEBAND____________ Solid Band. Fun quirky pop song. Femmes like. Good production. What else can I say. Its a hit. GARAGEBAND____________ Wow, this suckers got energy. Yeah - this is cool. I like everything I hear. ISU DAILY____________ Grain loves me and several other people who walked through the doors Saturday night. We know because Grain gave us Valentines Day cards. Grain took the stage with a nonchalant air and, to the delight of the crowd, began its set with what the guitarist/vocalist described as the crappy songs. At the end of the second song, the band announced that someone in the audience was holding a special Valentine, making him the winner in Grains holiday contest. A young man named Witt claimed the prizes: a box of half eaten chocolates, an old sweater, and a jar of vaseline. By the time the song Reprise boomed over the sound-system, both the crowd and Grain were enjoying the show. Cheers rang out through the crowd as the band continued its negative yet fun attitude on stage. Keeping the theme of the evening, the song Cupid began with the band yelling Grab your honey and dance. My favorite part of the show came when the song Open Mic brought James Stone, who is the drummer from Total Passover to sing improv-style into the microphone. The new songs that are yet to be titled went over well as the crowd cheered and danced to the music. GARAGEBAND____________ Hook laden funky donkey, dont slip on the doo....it jump hops at the sock hop, and doesn’t at all blow the big stinkeroo....la la la la, la la.... ISU DAILY____________ Grain, disguised as the pope, a priest and Sister Mary Drunk Off Her Ass, took the stage. They brought the crowd to their feet and into a frenzy, with what the bassist calls pansies with loving pop songs. He enticed the audience with chants of Praise God while the guitarist/vocalist sang an impromptu song about the other members of the band. GARAGEBAND____________ Rockin Intro…Love the vocals…actually I like this tune it reminds me of something…hmmm…good production and arrangement…radio ready. SPLENDID____________ Billboard is a showcase for its title track, accompanied by two B-sides, Always Right and Washed Up. What we have here is three radio-friendly rock songs…Fortunately for Grain USA, that's partially where my evolving musical tastes have taken me…Grain USA is exactly that: simple, catchy, enjoyable pop/rock catch-all music for people who don't want to be challenged and just need a few songs to get them from the office to their studio apartment -- hand claps, predictable chord progression, ooh-aah back-up vocals and, most importantly, well enunciated lyrics. But it seems to be the bands goal not to take themselves seriously, as in Washed Up they claim "No band is worth more than an album or two / Dont let them continue with nothing new." In a bald-faced way (and with specific regard to the commercial radio icons mentioned earlier), that just might be true. I found "Billboard" to be the most pleasant of the three tunes, as the vocalist begs, "I want to be your 'next month's flavor' / I want to be your one night stand." Grain USA wants to rock us on mainstream radio and in our bedrooms, and from the material presented here, America's aging Generation X just might let them. Just don't take them seriously, and you'll be fine.

Location San Francisco Bay Area, CA - USA

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