Menthol

With wry yet perceptive songwriting laced by sensual undertones, Menthol fuses alternate tunings and distortion to shape its singular strain of brash punk pop. The trio first assembled in 1991 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the hometown of its three members—Balthazar De Ley, formerly Hum’s bassist and now handling vocals and guitar, Joel Spencer on bass and vocals, and Colin Koteles on drums. Under the name Mother they released one full-length album and a 45 on Mud Records. Several years afterward the group moved to Chicago and secured a contract with Capitol Records. Realizing that Mother was already shared by numerous other acts, the members chose Menthol as their new moniker and issued a self-titled album in 1995.