Patent Pending

Pop-punk outfit Patent Pending, also known as the P-Unit, came together in Mount Sinai, New York, on Long Island, guided by the guiding principle “We mosh because we care.” The lineup featured vocalist Michael Ragosta, guitarist Joe Ragosta, bassist Drew Buffardi, and drummer Anthony Mingoia, each of whom took “Pending” as a surname. For several years the band carried its high-energy performances nationwide, appearing in coffeehouses and basements as well as on side stages at the Warped Tour and Bamboozle and as openers for Brand New and Taking Back Sunday. During this period Patent Pending issued two self-released albums in 2004, ...Is Your Biological Father and Don't Quit Your Day Job, along with the DVDs Drop and Give Me 20 in 2003 and Bring It On in 2005. In early summer 2005 the quartet signed with We Put Out Records and entered the studio under producer Joe Pedulla, whose credits include Thursday and We're All Broken; the Ragosta brothers are cousins of Pedulla, brother of Thursday guitarist Steve Pedulla. The sessions yielded the full-length Save Each Other, the Whales Are Doing Fine, which reached stores in June 2006. The Attack of the Awesome!!! EP followed in 2009 and the I'm Not Alone EP in 2010. The following year the band released its second album, Second Family, which included the hit “Dance 'Til We Die.” Brighter, Patent Pending’s third studio album, appeared in 2013, after which the group toured the U.K. with Bowling for Soup. The next two releases, the digital-only Armageddon EP and the full-length Riot Hearts Rebellion, both arrived in 2015 on the independent label Rude Records. Two years later the covers collection Other People's Greatest Hits surfaced, presenting new versions of songs originally recorded by Spice Girls, the Killers, Rick Astley, and others.