Biography
The alt-pop quintet Sugarbomb, based in Fort Worth, Texas, features Les Farrington on keyboards and lead vocals, Daniel Harville on guitar and lead vocals, Michael Harville on drums and vocals, Greg Bagby on guitar and vocals, and Kelly Riley on bass. Though the group took shape officially in March 1998, its members had already shared a longstanding friendship. They chose the name Sugarbomb because, as Harville put it, "The sweetness of sugar and the chaos of a bomb fits our music and personalities." From October 1998 onward the band performed regularly throughout Texas, then signed with the independent Rainmaker Records label in early 1999 and issued its first release, Tastes Like Sugar, that summer. The record drew the interest of RCA Records, which quickly added the group to its roster and issued the follow-up album Bully in September 2001. Mark Endert, whose prior credits include work with Fiona Apple, Vertical Horizon, Semisonic, and Madonna, handled production; the resulting set highlights Sugarbomb’s power-pop leanings, evoking the late-’70s and early-’80s work of Jellyfish and Todd Rundgren/Utopia while aligning the band with contemporary peers such as Ben Folds and Jason Falkner.
Albums
