Washington D.C. pop-punk outfit the Max Levine Ensemble came together in 2000, founded by singer/guitarist David Combs alongside bassist Ben Epstein and drummer Nick Popovici. The group took its name from Combs’ high-school acquaintance Max Levine, the individual who first introduced him to punk sounds and radical political ideas. The original trio issued two self-made CD-R recordings in 2001 and 2002; these later received reissues through Fight the Octopus Records. Their distinctive style fused socially and politically conscious lyrics with energetic, tuneful pop-punk. In 2003 they delivered their third full-length and debut proper label effort, How to Build an Intergalactic Time Machine, which was succeeded by split 7" singles shared with Operation: Cliff Claven and the Spirit Animals. Frequent touring marked the rest of the decade, during which the band placed its fourth album on Plan-It-X Records and joined that imprint’s bus tour. Following an on-air mocking by punk singer and radio host Ben Weasel on his ESPN program in 2008, the group responded with the track “Ben Weasel Thinks We Suck,” constructed as a fabricated collaboration that incorporated sampled audio from the broadcast. An Asian Man Records EP appeared in 2010, succeeded by the anthology Mr. Gikokovich 2000-2005: A Retrospective. After issuing the 2011 EP The Elephant in the Room, activity slowed while Combs focused on his solo endeavor Spoonboy. The Max Levine Ensemble resurfaced in 2015 with Backlash, Baby, marking their fifth album and first full-length in eight years.
