Exploding White Mice
Exploding White Mice were a punk-pop band from Adelaide, Australia in the 1980s.
Their name was taken from a scene in the film Rock 'n' Roll High School, in which a laboratory mouse spontaneously explodes upon being exposed to the music of The Ramones, the band's foremost influence. Other major influences include Radio Birdman.[1]
Exploding White Mice got its start in 1983 in Adelaide when Paul Gilchrist (vocals) played a one-off show as a cover band with Andy MacQueen (bass), Gerry Barrett (guitar) and Craig Rodda (drums) at a party. It was Paul's first band; Andy had previously been in the bands The Deviants and the Crunch Pets, and Craig drummed for the Screaming Believers. The show went well enough that the group decided to play together regularly. One of these shows was attended by Giles Barrow. He ended up joining the group on rhythm guitar. In 1984 they began playing regularly in Adelaide at the Cathedral Hotel; Gerry left near year's end and was replaced by former Spitfire and Tombstone Shadow member Jeff Stephens.[2]
At this point in the group's history, they were primarily still a cover band, but soon after began working on originals. After adding former drummer of Zippy & the Coneheads, David Bunney, the group released an EP, 1985's A Nest of Vipers, on Australia's Greasy Pop Records. Sydney rock publication RAM named the album the best Australian record of the year in 1986.[2] The record saw release in the US on Bigtime Records, under the name In the Nest of Vipers, but despite selling several thousand copies there, the group received no royalties because Bigtime went out of business soon after.[3] 1986 and 1987 saw the group touring regularly in major Australian cities and putting out 7" singles, and in 1988 they readied their debut LP, Brute Force and Ignorance, which had been recorded and engineered by Cran Wilton at Soundworks Studios in Kent Town Adelaide. Shortly before the release of the record, Giles Barrow left the group and was replaced by Dave Mason, formerly of Primevils, and in 1989 Jack Jacomos replaced Dave in turn.
In 1990 the group toured Europe[2][3] and released a half-studio, half-live self-titled LP on Normal Records. Shortly after, Gilchrist left the group and Jeff Stephens took over on lead vocals; In the summer of 1991 they began recording again at Soundworks Studios. However, when the Greasy Pop label went out of business that year, they could not find a local distributor for the album, and ended up releasing the record on Normal Records in Germany and NKVD Records in the United States. David's brother Andrew Bunney ((Zippy and the) Coneheads and later Ramonettes) joined on rhythm guitar. The group's final release was 1994's We Walk Alone, on Au Go-Go, Lucky Records (US), Subway (Europe) and 12" LP Rock & Roll Inc 008 (Spain). In 1996 they toured Europe with German band, The Richies.
[edit] Discography
- A Nest of Vipers (1985)
- "Blaze of Glory" b/w He's Gonna Step on You Again (7" single, 1987)
- "Fear (Late At Night)" b/w "Without Warning" (7" single, 1988)
- Brute Force and Ignorance (1988)
- "Make It" b/w "Ain't It Sad" (7" single, 1989)
- "I Just Want My Fun" b/w "First Time Is The Best Time" & "Do The Crunch" (7" single, 1990)
- Exploding White Mice (1990)
- Collateral Damage (1992)
- We Walk Alone (1994)
- Prepare to Die b/w 51st State / Zero (7" single 1996)
[edit] References
- ^ Exploding White Mice. Trouser Press. Accessed 17 November 2007.
- ^ a b c Exploding White Mice article #1 from Noise for Heroes magazine, 1990(?). Accessed 17 November 2007.
- ^ a b Exploding White Mice article #2 from Noise for Heroes magazine, 1993. Accessed 17 November 2007.
