Sponge

The story of Sponge begins, like so many other bands, with an earlier, failed attempt at rock-stardom. Loudhouse was formed in the mid-1980's by drummer Vinnie Dombrowski along with guitarists Mike Cross and Joey Mazzola, and they would go on to become a tried and tested almost famous story. They released a debut album on Virgin in 1988 before losing their record contract and splitting at the dawn of the 1990s, but Dombrowski, Cross and Mazzola weren't done. Deciding to form their own band, Dombrowski switched from drums to lead vocals, and the trio recruited Mike's brother Tim Cross on bass along with drummer Jimmy Paluzzi, christening the new group Sponge in 1992.

Previously playing a brand of gritty hard rock that most thought had been left dormant since the mid-70's, the new band incorporated influences cribbed from the fast exploding grunge movement, and struck gold very quickly as a result. By 1994, two years after they came together, they had signed a record deal with Columbia and released “Rotting Piñata”, their debut studio album. Thanks to the radio success of its singles “Plowed” and “Molly”, the album was a sleeper hit, eventually selling over half a million copies to be certified Gold by the RIAA. While the band were never able to match that record's commercial success, they quickly settled comfortably into their role as elder statesmen of alternative rock, remaining to this day a cult act still able to tear it up live and release records that are still as vital as they were in their commercial heyday. For that, they come highly recommended.