The Shermans

Following the breakup of Red Sleeping Beauty, Mikael Matsson and Torbjorn Thorsen launched The Shermans in December 1997, bringing bassist Chrisster Nilsson aboard to launch their jangley pop across Sweden. When Torbjorn departed to start Aerospace, Ingela Karlsson took over lead vocals. Japan's Quince label soon stepped in with an album offer, resulting in the 1999 release Casual, which gathered the group's early singles, prior compilation contributions, and newly recorded tracks. Shelflife also signed on that year to handle American releases. The band issued its first full-length U.S. album, In Technicolor, in 2000. Shelflife followed with a stateside reissue of Casual in early 2001. Throughout this period the group continued fusing modern indie pop, soft rock, and Motown influences. A split EP titled Falling out of Love appeared in spring 2001 through a joint effort by Shelflife and California's Sky Blue Records. Later that fall, Shelflife put out the CD Happiness Is Toy Shaped.