Modey Lemon is an American garage rock band from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The group formed in Pittsburgh's South Oakland neighborhood in 1999 as an informal side project of Dean Swagger, a rock trio that had spent the previous year mainly performing in basements to college party crowds. The original lineup consisted of guitarist Phil Boyd and drummer Paul Quattrone, then nominally students at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. The group made its first appearances at the Halloween weekend in 1999 and played a live set on WPTS 92.1 FM, the

college radio station, segments of which later turned up on the group's

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''House on the Hill'' (and, subsequently, its 2002 self-titled release). By 2000, the duo had gained a reputation around Pittsburgh for its concerts. '' Modey Lemon'', the group's debut album, appeared in early 2002, and the band supported the album with

tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

of the US and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The group followed their self-titled release with a brief stint on In the Red Records, which released a double 7 inch record, before recommending the band to Birdman Records owner Dave Katznelson, who then signed the band. Prior to the mid-2003 release of second album ''

Thunder + Lightning ''Thunder + Lightning'' is American band Modey Lemon Modey Lemon is an American garage rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group formed in Pittsburgh's South Oakland neighborhood in 1999 as an informal side project of Dean Swagger, a ...

'', Boyd and Quattrone added Jason Kirker on guitar and Moog synthesizer. Following the US release of ''Thunder + Lighting'' the band signed with Mute Records, which licensed and released the album in the UK and Europe, and via

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

(Mute's parent label) in Japan. The single releases, "Crows" (2004, #75) and "Sleepwalkers" (2005, #71), each appeared in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for one week. Their third album '' The Curious City'' was released in August 2005 on Birdman/Mute. Modey Lemon has performed with

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...

The Von Bondies The Von Bondies are an American alternative rock band formed in 1997. The original line-up formed at the 1997 Cramps/ Guitar Wolf show by Jason Stollsteimer and Marcie Bolen. They went through a variety of member changes and band names, incl ...

(2002 UK tour), Girl Talk, the Blues Explosion, the

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are compl ...

, Oneida (2005 Europe tour),

The Warlocks The Warlocks are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1998 by the guitarist/singer Bobby Hecksher. The band's music has ranged from psychedelic rock to drone music. There have been many changes in personnel since its for ...

(2003 UK Tour),

Icarus Line The Icarus Line was an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, active from 1998 until 2015. Career 1998–2003 The Icarus Line's roots started from a high school rock group, Kanker Sores. Tragedy struck the band in 1997, when ...

(2004 UK tour),

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlo ...

(2005 tour dates in UK/Europe/US),

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

(2009 US tour), and has played

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

such as

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

(2005),

ArthurFest ArthurFest was a two-day music festival curated by Arthur Magazine. The festival took place September 4 and 5, 2005 at the Barnsdall Art Park in Los Angeles, California. The lineup included such acts as: Yoko Ono, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, Modey ...

(2005),

Meredith Music Festival The Meredith Music Festival (otherwise known simply as Meredith or MMF) is a three-day outdoor music festival held every December at the "Supernatural Amphitheatre", a natural amphitheatre located on private farmland near the town of Meredith i ...

(2003), and

Transmusicales Les Rencontres Trans Musicales (generally referred to as ''Les Transmusicales de Rennes'') is a music festival that lasts for 3 or 4 days. It is held annually in December. The festival takes place in Rennes, Brittany, France. Since the festival's ...

(2004). In 2006, the band appeared in a 'punk club' scene in the film adaptation of

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

's novel ''

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh ''The Mysteries of Pittsburgh'' is a 1988 novel by American author Michael Chabon. It is a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was Chabon's first novel, which he began writing as a 21-year-old undergrad ...

'', performing two original songs written for the film as well as two

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

songs. The band released their fourth album '' Season of Sweets'' on May 12, 2008. The band also completed a tour of the US in June and July that year and a tour of the UK and mainland Europe in September. In August 2009 the band supported the Arctic Monkeys in New York City, Boston, and Chicago. In October 2009, it was announced that their track "Become a Monk" from the band's album ''Season of Sweets'', would be included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

, '' Tony Hawk: Ride''. In 2010, Modey Lemon recorded and released one single "Wandering Eye b/w Cheetahs for Chariots" on These Are Not Records, and performed once at the University of Pittsburgh's William Pitt Union in spring 2010, before going on indefinite hiatus. In 2015, Modey Lemon's first two albums ''House on the Hill'' and '' Modey Lemon'' were reissued on vinyl for the first time on

A-F Records A-F Records is an American independent record label founded by punk rock band Anti-Flag and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was created to help expose more political punk bands to a larger audience. The label's of ...

, Mind Cure Records, and Omentum Records.

Discography

*''House on the Hill'' (2000) *'' Modey Lemon'' (2002) *''

'' (2003) *'' The Curious City'' (2005) *'' Birth of Jazz EP'' (2008) *'' Season of Sweets'' (2008)

Other projects and collaborations

The members of Modey Lemon remained active musically after their last performance as a group in spring 2010. Boyd and Quattrone formed Shockwave Riderz in 2012 with singer Sara Mac. Boyd played drums and sang while Quattrone operated an MPC sampler and effects pedals. The band released 3 singles "Riderz USA 2013" (self-released), "Mountaintop Rock" ( Volcomm Entertainment), and "Punisher/Dearest" (Velocity of Sound). Shockwave Riderz toured the US with the

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spenc ...

and

!!! !!! ( ), also known as Chk Chk Chk, is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1996 by lead singer Nic Offer. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as the Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Pope Smashers. They are curr ...

in 2013 and again with the

in 2014 before disbanding. Quattrone was active in numerous bands within Pittsburgh in the 2000s. He also was a member of

(Chk Chk Chk) for several years before relocating to Los Angeles where he joined

Thee Oh Sees Osees are an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1997, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band currently consists of primary songwriter and core member John Dwyer (vocals, guitar), Tim Hellman (bass), Dan Rincon (d ...

and also formed Warm Drag. Boyd and Kirker formed the rock quartet Old Head in 2012 with Pittsburgh comic book artist and musician Bill Wehmann and musician Mike Layton. The band released the self-titled album "Old Head" in 2015 on Omentum Records. Kirker currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Boyd has released several solo albums under the name Hidden Twin since 2006. He also performed with the electronic duo TM Eye from 2010 to 2012 with Pittsburgh producer/musician and operator of Machine Age Studios, Preslav Lefterov. TM Eye released one mix tape "Ecolectro Mix" (Deer Skull Records) and two singles "Deepwater Horizon/Sundown" (Cass Records) and "Exposure/Pollution" (Machine Age Records). Boyd was credited with co-authorship and guitar on

's "Bam City" from their 2015 album

As If (album) ''As If'' is the sixth studio album by American dance-punk group !!!, released on October 16, 2015, on Warp Records. Singles Three official singles have been released from ''As If'': "All U Writers", a -minute (5 minutes on the album) long song ...

and collaborated with Warm Drag on their 2018 self-titled LP on In The Red Records. He currently lives in Texas.

References

*Masley, Ed
"Modey Lemon returns to town with great press, ending U.S. tour"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', April 3, 2004. *Masley, Ed
"Music Preview: Modey Lemon lets creative juices flow on new CD
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', October 6, 2005. *Mervis, Scott
"Old Head Rocks With Members of Modey Lemon and"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', March 16, 2016. {{Authority control Garage rock groups from Pennsylvania Punk blues musical groups Musical groups from Pittsburgh Musical groups established in 1999 Mute Records artists A-F Records artists Birdman Records artists 1999 establishments in Pennsylvania