Michigan band POP EVIL, any SH Forums fans?

They are a good live band, if a bit heavy for my tastes. Saw them at an outdoor summer show a few years back in support of their Up album. Solid songwriting if I recall correctly.

 

Sure, knew all of the guys from when this first started out. Dave Grahs and I worked about 3 retail jobs together, the last of which was starting a new Guitar Center store in Grand Rapids in 2001, which is where I met Kakaty as well, as he was shopping there regularly. They were pretty much confined to the West Michigan area at the time, and just beginning to branch out regionally. I remember them playing a lot of covers then, but their big original was something called Unwrap My Tootsie Roll (tasteful, huh?) and Lee was also releasing Rap projects on the side. Also remembering that when bigger gigs started to come along, we had to twist some arms to get them in to investing in some better equipment, particularly, a decent drum set for Dylan. They got a big boost when they did a sort of new fight song for University Of Michigan Football, which was blasted in the stadium during games, and it still might be. They weren't great then, but they stuck to it, and Lee always had that frontman thing down. Eventually, after they had some national success, the other 3 local guys were out, and it was one of those did they jump or were they pushed kind of things, leaving just Lee and Dave from the original line-up. What ever you think of their music, they earned their success the old-fashioned way.

 

I always support Michigan bands. They're not my favorite band, but I've got all five albums. I'm surprised that they're not bigger. They used to get quite of airplay on the local active rock station, but they might have been displaced by Greta.

And rattus, I thought Dylan Allison was out because he hurt his back or his neck, some kind of injury. Was that just smoke-and-mirrors, did he really leave due to artistic differences?

 

That's likely true of Dylan, as a drummer, I have neck issues myself, and can be sidelined if i don't have therapy on that. However I remember reading something that the others came in at the behest of lablel or management, that could have been conjecture, one never knows. If they left on their own, might have been the lifestyle wasn't for them, happens a lot.

 

A good friend of mine and her husband are complete Evil junkies, summer will follow their gigs. Think I actually blocked her on FB a couple years ago as that's all she'd post (pics of them with the band)