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 Rocket to Russia and Radio Birdman. [ [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=exploding_white_mice Exploding White Mice] . Trouser Press. Accessed November 17, 2007.]

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, who was the guitarist for the bands Zippy & The Coneheads and Kaos. 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. [http://www.divinerites.com/nk_ewm2.htm Exploding White Mice] article #1 from "Noise for Heroes" magazine, 1990(?). Accessed November 17, 2007.]

At this point in the group's history, they were primarily still a cover band, but soon after began working on originals. After adding another former member 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. The record saw released 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. [http://www.divinerites.com/nk_ewm1.htm Exploding White Mice] article #2 from "Noise for Heroes" magazine, 1993. Accessed November 17, 2007.] 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 at Soundtrack Studios in Kent Towne. 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 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; David's brother Andrew Bunney replaced Stephen on guitar. In the summer of 1991 they began recording again at Soundtrack 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. The group's final release was 1994's "We Walk Alone", on Au Go-Go.

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)

References