Artist description Hailing from the San Francisco suburb of Sacramento, California, the Claustrophobes are nobody's brainchild. They might be brain-dead but they do know better, with college digressions for many and high school diplomas for all. When locked into small rooms the Claustrophobes will sometimes play underdog pop music. Some of that music has been captured here for the first time on their debut, Underdog Pop. ******* Stuart Thomas has played everything at one time or another. On this recording he played the guitar, sang backing vox and is currently a vegetarian of Irish descent. Stuart currently fills the bass spot for live shows with the addition of guitarist/vocalist Mark Lawrence. Mark is well known in the Sacramento and San Francisco areas for his clever pop stylings unique guitar work. Larry Carr is the most recent addition to the band, taking over the drum spot for James Neil who has joined Deathray. Donald Hawkins sings lead and plays some guitars that plug in and some that don't. ********* Between the four members of the band, they've annoyed crowds for such names as Toad the Wet Spocket, Jellyfish, Red Kross, Robyn Hitchcock, The Bay City Rollers(!), Weezer, The English Beat and The Kinetics to mention just a few.*********** Their current CD is available thru Not Lame Records.

Music Style Alternative Pop

Musical Influences XTC, The Police, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Kinks, Wallflowers, Beatles, Ben Folds Five

Similar Artists XTC, The Police, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Kinks, Wallflowers, Beatles, Ben Folds Five

Artist History don and Stuart began rehearsing a couple years ago. They recorded a CD with Erik Kleven and James Neil(Deathray). Larry Tagg (Bourgeouis Tagg) performed some shows with the band but eventually Stuart (Sketch Olives, Weird Harold) switched to bass and guitarist Mark Lawrence and drummer Larry Carr joined completing the current lineup.

Group Members Don Hawkins - vocals, guitar; Mark Lawrence - vocals, guitar; Stu Thomas - bass, vocals; Larry Carr - drums;

Instruments guitars, bass, drums, vocals

Albums Underdog Pop (1999)

Press Reviews Amplifier Magazine calls it an 'harmonic tour de force. It's been a long time since such a simple record sounded so good!'

Location Sacramento, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).