Biography
Kisschasy formed as an Australian rock band whose sound stretches across infectious pop tunes, ballads laced with emo sensibilities, and full-throttle hard rock. During the 2002 Warped Tour, Darren Cordeux, handling vocals and guitar, crossed paths with Joel Vanderuit on bass while both stood among the audience. Each had previously experimented with their own projects, yet the caliber of performances surrounding them prompted the pair to abandon those efforts and launch Kisschasy together. Vanderuit soon brought in two acquaintances, guitarist Sean Thomas and drummer Karl Ammitzboll, to complete the lineup. The band’s initial releases arrived in 2004 as the EPs Darkside/Stay Awake and Cara Sposa, both issued through the independent Below Par Records. The following year they completed their debut album, United Paper People, a restrained collection of pop and rock material. Over the subsequent two years Cordeux stockpiled enough material for two separate albums, one consisting of country-inflected tracks he characterized as “Lemonheads-y” and the other comprising more aggressive rock compositions. The group ultimately favored the heavier direction, resulting in the 2007 album Hymns for the Nonbeliever. Its lead single, “Opinions Won’t Keep You Warm at Night,” was accompanied by a widely viewed video that cast George W. Bush and Tony Blair as adolescents on a romantic outing, with Blair portrayed as the female counterpart and Australian Prime Minister John Howard cast as an intrusive younger sibling. In the closing moments Bush leaves his companion for Vice President Dick Cheney. The track reached number ten on the ARIA Singles Charts.
Singles
