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THE
MEANIES got together in Melbourne, Australia in 1989 and immediately
made a name for themselves with a succession of sold out 7" singles
on the Augogo label. They continued the relationship with Augogo
(home to Australian groups like Magic Dirt, Scientists and Spiderbait)
with the EP "Gangrenous" and the album "Come 'n' See" in 1991. In
this time THE MEANIES had established themselves as one of
Australia's pre-eminent underground rock bands through cultivating
a huge all-age following and upsetting the rock establishment by
breaking attendance records in the nation's capital cities. MEANIES
songs were also released as singles on international labels around
the world such as Sympathy For The Record Industry, Merge, Lance
Rock, Get Hip and Munster.
In 1992 THE MEANIES took their mutual admiration for The 5.6.7.8's
a step further with combined tours of Australia in August '92 and
Japan in September. Osaka based label Time Bomb Records released
their CDs "In Search Of..." and "Come 'n' See" and the Japanese
tour also saw THE MEANIES do shows with Jackie & The Cedrics, Concrete
Octopus, Blow One's Cool and Rise From The Dead.
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In 1993 the "Cruelty's Fun" EP and "The Meanie of Life" compilation
of early deleted singles were released in Australia. The Meanies toured
Australia to support those releases and then ventured to Seattle America
to record their second album, "10% Weird". While recording in Seattle
they squeezed in shows with the likes of The Supersuckers and made
friends and fans with many of the locals including Eddie Vedder and
Pearl Jam, who invited The Meanies onto Pearl Jam's 1994 Australian
tour (much to the chagrin of Pearl Jam's promoter who was heard to
yell in his office, "who the fuck are THE MEANIES?"). "10% Weird"
spurned the hit singles Ton of Bricks and the title track 10% Weird
and set the band up to tour solidly from then on for a good 18 months.
As well as touring with the aforementioned PJs, THE MEANIES have performed
with such international luminaries as Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Bad Brains,
Redd Kross, Superchunk, Fugazi and the Hard-Ons and performed aat
festivals including the Big Day Out, Livid and Push Over. THE MEANIES
also toured through countries such as Spain, Germany, France, Italy
and Switzerland. THE MEANIES had a relatively quiet 1997 and 1998.
The various members found some side projects were proving popular
and followed through in those groups such as Tomorrow People (Link),
Even (Wally), Skivvy (Ringo), and Seaweed Gorillas (Tas). It was in
fact an invitation from The 5.6.7.8's who returned to Australia in
September 1998 that got THE MEANIES back into performing mode.
In front of a huge house in Melbourne The Meanies performed an incredible
set that reaffirmed their stature as one of the great bands of the
era. They toured around Australia in March 1999 and have since focused
on recording their third long anticipated album.
Web Oficial: themeanies.tripod.com |
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