RECORD: Michael Wells - guitars, bass, vocals; Yves Gerard - drums, vocals. LIVE: Michael Wells - lead guitar and vocals; Yves Gerard - drums and backing vocals; Sean Lahey - 2nd guitar; Elizabeth Rossa - bass.
Influences
Paul Westerberg, The Replacements, Bob Mould, Husker Du, Sugar, Ian MacKaye, Fugazi, Embrace, Minor Threat, The Evens, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, The Clash, Wire, Ramones, Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Bad Brains, Faith, Iggy Pop, The Stooges, The Fall, The Jam, The Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Joy Division, Government Issue, Wipers, Ingmar Bergman, Guided By Voices, Stephen Malkmus, Pavement, Frank Black, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Sue Tompkins, Life Without Buildings, PJ Harvey, Nick Lowe, Mike Scott, Big Star, Juliana Hatfield, My Bloody Valentine, Suicide, Ivor Cutler, Low, Scientist, John Lydon, Sex Pistols, PiL, Lee Perry, King Tubby, Viv Albertine, International Harvester/Parson Sound, Elysian Fields, Mazzy Star, The Posies, Massive Attack, The Mice, The Promise Ring, JD Salinger, The Stratford 4, Scrawl, Yeti...
Bipolar Explorer features Yves Gerard on drums and backing vocals, Sean Lahey on 2nd guitar, Elizabeth Rossa on bass and Michael Wells on lead guitar and lead vocals. The band's debut (recorded prior to the addition of Lahey & Rossa) is "Go Negative" (Slugg Records), which finds Wells on all guitars, bass and lead vocals and Gerard on drums and backing vocals. It was recorded by Gerard and Tommy Uzzo, who also did the mixes, and features 12 new tunes by Wells, the former guitarist, singer, and chief songwriter for NYC-based pop-punksters, Uncle. Gerard, former Patti Rothberg Band and Better Days drummer, also produced. CDBaby calls it, "Highly infectious, guitar-driven, hyper-literate indie rock. Melodic with punky echoes, bringing to mind The Replacements, Husker Du, Guided By Voices, Pavement and even a touch of mid-period Clash. In fact, it might be added that some very healthy mixture of Anglo-American influence, a trans-Atlantic vibe, can be detected in much of their sound." All good but an even more succinct assessment may have been articulated by one fan who recently described the results as sounding "like (Paul) Westerberg rocking out with the guys from Wire or something." And before you ask, yes, that's a GOOD thing.
Thanks for the kind comment. Sorry for the delay, but I've been putting the final touches on the debut record. It's up now on itunes and amazon (amiestreet, rhapsody, etc.) There are 2 sides: Sink and Fall. "Sink" is more pop and electronic; "Fall" is more punk and country. We appreciate all your support. Have a happy MWU year
thanks for being so friendly! i absoulutly love your music and hot name. i saw you guys on corrine bailey ray's profile and your name struck me as funky and sweet. like i sayed i love tha music nd yall should hit up texas sometime. latter!
-alysse
