Nerf Herder

Formed in Santa Barbara, California, during 1994, the self-proclaimed nerd rock trio Nerf Herder consisted of vocalist and guitarist Parry Gripp, drummer Steve "The Cougar" Sherlock, and bassist Charlie Dennis. Their name derived from an insult exchanged between Princess Leia and Han Solo in The Empire Strikes Back. The group specialized in post-grunge punk-pop laced with geeky humor, a sound that recalled Weezer crossed with the nervy edge of the Descendents and the snarky pop culture obsession of the Dead Milkmen.

A demo of the track "Sorry" reached Lagwagon singer Joey Cape, who was seeking acts for his small independent My Records label. Although the initial contact concerned only a various-artists compilation appearance, the band ultimately cut a ten-song self-titled debut for the imprint, with Cape serving as co-producer. In 1996 a humorous tribute titled "Van Halen" exploded locally after airplay on a San Francisco modern rock station, which then circulated the single nationwide. Arista subsequently signed Nerf Herder, remastered the debut album, and reissued it later that year; "Van Halen" simultaneously achieved modern rock radio success across the country. The group next supplied the theme song for the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer before receding from view.

Their return featured bassist Pete Newbury, formerly of Ten Foot Pole, and second guitarist Dave Ehrlich. Newbury soon departed to focus on his radiologist career and was succeeded by Marko 72 for a European tour. Marko exited shortly afterward, leaving the band to record its second album, How to Meet Girls, with Justin Fisher handling bass. Finished in summer 1999, the album appeared in early 2000 on the Honest Don's label. American Cheese followed in August 2002, after which the group toured with yet another bassist, Ben Pringle. Nerf Herder disbanded the next year, only for the three founding members to reconvene in 2005 and begin work on new material; IV emerged three years later.