greetings! this is the official cub myspace!
(run by cub and mint records)
Crush-pop trio cub formed in 1992 after vocalist/bassist Lisa Marr, guitarist/vocalist Robynn Iwata and drummer Valeria Fellini met while working at the college radio station of their alma mater, the University of British Columbia.
Their first performance took place in front of a standing room only crowd in the basement of Marr's home for a summer solstice party in 1992.
Despite no prior musical experience — throughout the band's first year, Iwata played live seated cross-legged on the stage floor while looking at cheat sheets for chord progressions — cub's early live shows (during which the group tossed candy to the audience) won their unique brand of direct, infectious punk-pop a cult following on the Vancouver club circuit, and in October 1992 the trio issued their debut 7" EP, pep, on Mint Records, the Vancouver-based label co-owned by Iwata's brother Randy (future home of the New Pornographers, cub tour drummer Neko Case and Nardwuar The Human Serviette).
Following the release of their first album Betti-Cola — a superb collection of EP tracks and new recordings complete with a Josie and the Pussycats-styled cover by famed Archie Comics artist Dan DeCarlo — Fellini left the band to pursue her calling as a chocolatier; she was replaced by drummer Lisa G., whom Marr met through the pages of the fanzine Self-Esteem Queen. After the release of 1994's Come Out, Come Out (featuring the song "New York City" which would eventually become a mainstay of They Might Be Giants' covers repertoire), Mint signed a distribution deal with the U.S. punk label Lookout. 1996 brought the ambitious and edgy Box of Hair, as well as tours with They Might Be Giants, Sebadoh, and Elliott Smith (who played his cover of The Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" for Robynn on her birthday in L.A.!). Mauler, another collection of singles, followed in early 1997. On June 10 of that year, a series of three handwritten messages posted on the Mint Records website — one from each member — announced cub's breakup.
Robynn continued her graphic design (which was a constant visual presence on cub's t-shirts, posters, stickers, and the cub kids club newsletter), and in 1997 would go on to co-found I AM SPOONBENDER with composer / multi-instrumentalist / philosopher Dustin Donaldson.
Lisa Marr and Lisa G moved south to L.A. and formed the short-lived BUCK, a pop trio with guitarist Pepper Berry. Each would later pursue independent film endeavours. Marr would also take to the open road as a solo troubadour and in movies'n'music duo THE HERE AND NOW, as well as form THE BEARDS with Kim Shattuck of The Muffs and her ever-evolving country/rock group THE LISA MARR EXPERIMENT.
-- www.allmusic.com (revisions and updates courtesy of mint records)
for further cub related whatnot, please visit:
www.lisamarr.org (lisa m's post-cub pursuits)
www.iamspoonbender.com (one of robynn's post-cub pursuits)
www.mintrecs.com (mint records - cub's label home from day one)
www.cygnals.com/cub (a wonderful, if very outdated, page maintained up to about 2000 by cub kids club member scott cygnals)
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