Thundering Asteroids! is an American four-person, female-fronted nerd punk band from Portland, Oregon, United States. The band was formed in 2009, released an EP in 2011 and

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s in 2012 and 2014. Their genre of music is often inspired by geek pop culture, the band is named after a '' Robotech'' exclamation and each member uses a stage name based on the ''Star Wars'' expanded universe.

History

The band started with friends, and half of the initial band members, Scott Cushman and Dwight Reid joking that, with all the time consumed by their jobs and families, they should start a band so they could then only practice twice a year and never play live shows. In 2009, Cushman's wife dared them to actually perform, which led to the formation of the band and their first show. The band have stated that "nothing is too nerdy or too geeky to inspire us in music." For example, the song "Frak Off" developed, from an attempt to string together as many science fiction swear words as possible, into a narrative about a nerdy girl dumping her boyfriend. Other songs directly reference specific media, such as the board game '' The Settlers of Catan'' ("Wood for Sheep"), the 1984 '' The Karate Kid'' film ("Cobra Kai Fight Song") and the '' Scott Pilgrim'' graphic novels ("Scott Pilgrim Vs. My Heart"). The source of songs within the band are also varied: "I've Got a Thing for the Goblin King", about David Bowie's character in the 1986 film '' Labyrinth'', was suggested by frontwoman Jaime "Minn" McGeathy and "Monster Movie" started as just a guitar riff. Song creation is a collaborative effort for the band, although a lot of the writing is by Cushman. Beyond the music itself, the band members use ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

''-based stage names and the name of band itself comes from an exclamation used by the character Captain Henry Gloval in '' Robotech''. As of 2013, they say "probably the nerdiest thing we've done was play a show at The Hard Rock Café for the Microsoft Techready convention." The band filmed their first music video, for "Kill Screen of My Heart", at Portland's

Ground Kontrol Ground Kontrol is a video game/pinball and bar in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It is known for preserving games from the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games. It also serves as a venue for DJs and live music. History Since opening in 1 ...

arcade in May 2012; which opened early to allow them access. Their first album, ''Tomorrow's Yesterdays Today!'' was released in December of the same year. Their second album, ''The Nerd Punk Guide to the Galaxy'', was released in October 2014. The song "Sexy Lamp", based on comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick's Sexy Lamp Test for female characters, was highlighted by DeConnick herself on Tumblr in August 2014. In 2014, McGeathy was part of the "Women in Nerd Music" panel at GeekGirlCon with Angela and Aubrey Webber of

The Doubleclicks The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber (on guitar, ukulele, or cat keyboard) and Aubrey Turner. They first became known for performing nerd-friendly comedy music, inclu ...

Molly Lewis Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her ukulele playing and who rose to prominence on the Internet. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevan ...

, Sammus and Shubzilla.

Band members

All the members' stage names are based on ''

'' and its expanded universe.

Current members

* Minn — Jaime McGeathy (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

) * Skolnick ( guitar) * Scott Starkiller — Scott Cushman ( bass guitar) * Trey K421 — Trey Miles (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

)

Former members

* Dwight Solo — Dwight Reid (guitar) * Ed Thousand-One — Ed Cole (guitar) * CS-DU3 —

Colin Sears Colin Sears is an American drummer who has performed in Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, Dag Nasty, The Marshes, Rumblepuppy, Grave Goods, Bloodbats, Los Vampiros, Thundering Asteroids! and currently Handgun Bravado and The Valley Floor. He wa ...

(drums) * Mack 1138 — Brendan Mack Hagin (drums)

Discography

''Thundering Asteroids!''

EP released in 2011. The Punk News review states "Overall, this is a pretty solid EP. The band straddles new wave and punk rock with a hint of rock 'n' roll thrown in for good measure."

''Tomorrow's Yesterdays Today!''

First

; released December 2012. The Punk News review lists "Scott Pilgrim Vs My Heart" as the strongest song on the album, stating that the band "unleash some strong riffs and clever lyrics, once again delivered in an almost disinterested, but perfect, way by the excellent Minn." Also highlighted is "I've Got a Thing for the Goblin King" as "an extremely catchy tune with a basic but memorable refrain." Overall the album is described as "quite riff laden, with the guitar driving the songs along assisted by some energetic bass lines and a keen, snapping drum sound, all of which helps makes this the amusing and enjoyable musical romp it is."

''The Nerd Punk Guide to the Galaxy''

Second studio album; released October 2014.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://thunderingasteroids.com/
Thundering Asteroids!
on Bandcamp 2009 establishments in Oregon Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Geek rock groups Punk rock groups from Oregon