Samiam

Part of the Bay Area punk revival of the late '80s and early '90s, Samiam specialized in the catchy, anthemic punk-pop typical of the Warped Tour crowd, but separated themselves with a greater debt to hardcore and a more introspective lyrical bent that won over emo audiences. Formed in 1988, most of the band's founding members had played in other Berkeley-area punk groups: vocalist Jason Beebout had been in Isocracy with bassist Martin Brohm; guitarist Sergie Loobkoff had been a drummer for Sweet Baby Jesus; and second guitarist James Brogan had been in Social Unrest. Drummer Mark Mortinsen -- the first of many -- completed the charter Samiam lineup, which caused an immediate stir on the Gilman Street punk scene with its local-supergroup pedigree. Samiam signed with the indie label New Red Archives and issued their self-titled debut album in 1990. Once the record was completed, drummer Mortinsen left to finish college and was replaced by Dave Ayer for the band's first European tour. Their sophomore effort, Soar, appeared in 1991 and was produced by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz. Its follow-up, Billy, was released in 1992, after which Ayer decided to leave the group. The breakout success of Green Day, meanwhile, sparked a major-label feeding frenzy in the punk-pop arena, and Samiam wound up signing a contract with Atlantic. Not wanting to get that serious, bassist Brohm left and was replaced by Loobkoff's longtime friend Aaron Rubin (also of the Mr. T Experience). Meanwhile, original drummer Mortinsen returned for a brief period, but he was replaced during sessions for the band's major-label debut by onetime Redd Kross drummer Victor Indrizzo. Samiam's first album for Atlantic was Clumsy, issued in 1994 and produced by Lou Giordano. The video for "Capsized" was a hit on...