Long Island singer/songwriter Brendan B. Brown launched Wheatus specifically to showcase his witty, energetic rock songs. The group first coalesced in 1995 once Brown recruited his brother Peter Brown on drums, multi-instrumentalist Phil A. Jimenez, and bassist Rich Leigey, who departed in July 2000 and was succeeded by Mike McCabe. Working out of the Brown family home, the musicians produced their self-titled debut themselves before Columbia Records signed them and issued the album in August 2000. Their first hit, “Teenage Dirtbag,” rose to number seven on the U.S. rock charts and reached number two in the U.K. “A Little Respect” likewise connected with British listeners, yet Brown risked squandering that momentum by declining to lip-sync on Top of the Pops. Columbia responded by withholding the follow-up, Hand Over Your Loved Ones, from American stores. Although the album surfaced in the U.K. in 2003, weak promotion yielded no major singles. In 2005 the musicians exited Columbia, founded an independent imprint, and reissued the same record as Suck Fony. That year also brought Wheatus’ third full-length, Too Soon Monsoon. Between 2005 and 2007 the band toured extensively while cycling through personnel shifts, then announced in 2008 that fresh material was underway. The effort produced two EPs: Pop, Songs & Death Vol. 1 The Lightning, issued via the group’s website in 2009, and Pop, Songs & Death Vol. 2 The Jupiter, released the next year on Blacktop Records.
