Cub

Crush pop trio Cub came together in 1992 once vocalist/bassist Lisa Marr, guitarist Robynn Iwata, and drummer Valeria Fellini connected through their shifts at the college radio station of the University of British Columbia, their shared alma mater. The group entered the music scene with zero previous experience, yet their early performances—marked by Iwata remaining seated onstage and consulting chord-progression cheat sheets—built a devoted local audience for the band’s straightforward, catchy punk-pop sound through regular Vancouver club appearances that frequently included tossing candy into the crowd. By October 1992 the trio had placed their first recording, the EP Pep, with Mint Records, the Vancouver label co-owned by Iwata’s brother Randy.

After issuing Betti-Cola, a collection that gathered earlier EP cuts with fresh tracks and featured a Josie and the Pussycats-styled cover illustrated by famed Archie Comics artist Dan DeCarlo, Fellini departed; Marr recruited replacement drummer Lisa G. after discovering her through the pages of the fanzine Self-Esteem Queen. The 1994 album Come Out, Come Out appeared next, and Mint’s subsequent distribution arrangement with the U.S. punk imprint Lookout! helped raise the profile of the more aggressive 1996 follow-up Box of Hair. Another set of singles, Mauler, arrived in early 1997. On June 10 of that year three separate handwritten notes—one from each member—were posted on the Mint Records website to declare the band’s dissolution.