By Annie Holub
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 25, 1997

Shoebomb: Changing the Energy of the Tucson Music Scene with 'Pop Quiz'

Photo courtesy of Shoebomb Arizona Daily Wildcat The guy and gals of Shoebomb: (l-r) Joe, Margaret, Melissa and Diane.

We actually met here," Melissa Manas says as she looks around the exterior of Cuppucinos.

That's where I met with Melissa, Joe and Margaret (Diane had to work) of local band Shoebomb to talk to them about their new album, Pop Quiz.

"I met Joe here when I was trying out for Shovel and then I met you here," she says to Margaret, Shoebomb's bassist, "So it's like a coming together."

Shoebomb's been coming together in Tucson for the past three years, playing amazing live shows and literally changing the energy of the Tucson music scene. With their new album coming out Friday, airplay on KFMA and radio stations in Phoenix, it's been a really exciting year for them.

Shoebomb started out with just Melissa and Margaret and another boy drummer and then eventually evolved into what it is today: Melissa on vocals and guitar, Joe on guitar, Margaret on bass and Diane on drums.

Joe some of you may remember from Shovel, which is now more of a side project for him, and Diane used to play for the Sidewinders.

"She, like, fell from the sky, " laughs Melissa, "We were screwed and we didn't have a drummer and that's when we got our first big show at Club Congress. So the drummer from Shovel sat in for a while and then Joe started playing with us. And then we met Diane. It was a big turning point, too, because it's so hard for people to have the right chemistry."

When I first saw Shoebomb a couple of years ago at Luna Loca, I was blown away by their super-pop chemistry. Melissa would bounce around playing her guitar and the audience would actually dance and bounce along. (That is really rare in Tucson. People usually sit and watch shows. But not for Shoebomb.) They've got this really energetic sound that is unlike any of the other pop bands I've heard coming out of Tucson, or Arizona for that matter.

Shoebomb's influences range from Husker Du and the Pixies to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Real classic stuff that creates a real classic yet fresh sound. Stuff that fits in perfectly with the KFMA rotation, except it's from ... Tucson?

"Half of us are from the East Coast, " Melissa says, "A lot the bands that have influenced us the most are from different areas, so maybe that's why our sound is a bit different."

"We weren't aspiring to be the next Gin Blossoms or anything. Every band out of Tempe sounds like that," says Joe.

"We're also younger, " says Margaret, "we're too young to be in that whole Desert Rock thing."

"Although, with 'Hody Hody,' you never know," muses Joe. KFMA picked "Hody Hody," the fifth track on Pop Quiz, as the second single.

"That's sort of different from all the other tracks," Joe told me.

Melissa adds, "it's almost like a parody of a band that isn't us. We're really pleased with the recording of it, and when I hear it on the radio I'm really psyched about it and everything, but against the rest of our songs, it's a little bit different."

"When I hear 'Show Off' I'm like, 'That's us!' When I hear 'Hody Hody' I'm like, 'Is that us?'" Margaret quips.

Photo courtesy of Shoebomb Arizona Daily Wildcat

But "Hody Hody" still has that memorable Shoebomb catchiness that makes me remember the songs from the few Shoebomb shows I've seen. And I haven't seen Shoebomb since last year. Songs like "Deli Girl" and "Bigger" just really stand out; they're the kind of songs you find yourself singing along even if you've never heard them before. "Maddie" and "Argumentative" are Shoebomb classics; they've been around since the beginning and they keep sounding better. "Argumentative" is actually the same cut that's on my tape, but there's something about it being on a CD with all the other songs around it that makes it sound better.

"Randy's forte is electric guitars," Joe says, and then makes a grinding noise. Melissa laughs "Yeah, and then at practice, we're like, 'How do we get that sound?'"

They recorded most of the songs with Randy McReynolds and three tracks were recorded with Jim Waters at Waterworks.

"We started out doing stuff with Jim, but Randy's got a long history with Diane," says Joe, "He was a big tour support for the Sidewinders; he's a really good guitar tech. We recorded at his house/studio over the last year or so."

"It was really comfortable; we were in his home, eating his chip," says Margaret.

"This whole thing is self-produced," adds Melissa, "so it's like, we don't have a producer-guy coming in and going, 'This is the vision, and this song will do this and this song will do that' or whatever. I think it really helped to give some diversity to the disc."

"Even the sessions we did with Waters and Randy were done at different times; we did part of the disk in the spring and the second part in the summer," Joe continues, "One song's really old - it was done a year or so ago. A lot of bands go in to record and they do everything in two days and everything kinda sounds the same. We tried to get a little different sound." For example, "Red Boots" has Sapphire Kieft playing violin and Melissa on acoustic guitar, and "it just came out so beautiful." Melissa, Margaret and I nod in agreement.

"So do you have any plans for the album?" I ask them.

"Margaret's gonna be dancing in Janet Jackson's next video," Melissa smiles.

Shoebomb's CD Release Party will be held on Friday night at Club Congress with Panik Over Trainwreck and Al Perry. The 21 and over show should start about 9 p.m. and costs $5. You can buy a CD, which I highly recommend, or try to win one in a CD giveaway. Shoebomb is also working on trying to play some all-ages shows in the next few weeks, so keep your ears open.