It's not easy being the first punk rock band in a backwater midwestern town, and even though Lafayette, Indiana is a relative oasis of civilization out there in the corn belt, it took a long time for brothers Mass and Flav Giorgini and their punk rock boyhood playmates, Dan Lumley and Matt Hart, to break through to a national audience. Their first band, Rattail Grenadier, built up a healthy following,... Read More.

Related Bands: Potatomen, Screeching Weasel, Common Rider

It's not easy being the first punk rock band in a backwater midwestern town, and even though Lafayette, Indiana is a relative oasis of civilization out there in the corn belt, it took a long time for brothers Mass and Flav Giorgini and their punk rock boyhood playmates, Dan Lumley and Matt Hart, to break through to a national audience. Their first band, Rattail Grenadier, built up a healthy following, but it never extended too far beyond the midwest. Now, with a new lead singer and reincarnated as Squirtgun, their shimmering and sparkly pop punk tunes are being heard all across America. One hook-laden epic, "Social", will grace the sound track of the recent movie "Mall Rats", and that song plus 11 more make up Squirtgun's first full length release. Bassist Mass Giorgini had already achieved a sort of punk rock stardom by proxy, having produced and/or engineered many classic records at his Sonic Iguana studio in lovely downtown Lafayette. Among the artists who've come there to shock the local bourgeoisie while rewriting punk rock history have been the Riverdales, the Queers, Screeching Weasel, Born Against, the Potatomen, Cub, the Smoking Popes, and many more. Needless to say, when it came time for Squirtgun to take its own step into the limelight, they didn't need to look far for a recording studio: with Mass at the helm, the band themselves produced every track of the new LP, making it truly a DIY effort in every sense of the word. Squirtgun were just about to take their proverbial show upon the road when tragedy struck. The Giorgini brothers' father, Aldo Giorgini, a distinguished Purdue professor and internationally known artist, fell victim to what was to prove a fatal brain tumor. Mass and Flav immediately put the band on hold and spent the last year of their father's life caring for him. Professor Giorgini was himself a legendary figure in the punk rock scene, having befriended and encouraged numerous young bands over the years. He was a regular attendee at shows put on by his sons' first band, and if there's a downside to the success now being enjoyed by Squirtgun, it's only that Aldo can't be there to see it.