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Earwig

"Lizard McGee knows how to write a catchy, intelligent song. And his band Earwig is one of the few bands out there today that can successfully focus this much melody and driving intensity into a three minute pop anthem. I am still humming their songs. What Earwig does, they do very, very well."  -Jared Kotler (multi-platinum producer of Marcy Playground)

Earwig is (l-r):

Matt Wagner (bass), Lizard McGee (guitar & vox), Joshua Sheik (drums)

underground, heart-on-yr-sleeve, melodic rock

Earwig has been around the block. But that's not to say that they don't care. Bred from garages in Columbus, Ohio they send honest and passionate feelings thru lyrics and no-frills musicianship. A largely unknown midwestern three-piece who are often compared to the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Radiohead or The Foo Fighters, they have been called one of the best underground bands in America. And rightly so, their latest album, Perfect Past Tense, is an obscure gem of uncompromising indie rock anthems that will make you leap out of your chair in spontaneous fits of air guitar strumming. Their simple straight-ahead sound pulls no punches while perfectly complimenting Lizard McGee's bummed-out, heart-on-my sleeve lyrics. Earwig never pushes the extremes of lo-fi garage rock, but with Mayfeeder, their debut release on LFM records and Bored In Chicago, the live album that followed it, critics declared their sound to be a helluva lot more likeably listenable than, say, the latest releases of peers like the Foo Fighters. Lizard McGee, lead singer, has a kind of nevously melodic voice- not reedy enough to annoy, but tight enough to complement the decidedly un-produced sound of their songs. With their new album, Earwig brings a splendid balance and unpretentious honesty that has been lost in this scene for awhile.

Earwig returns to packed house at the Distillery

by Chad Painter

 

Earwig, the flagship band for local label Lizard Family Music, ended a year and a half absence Jan. 29 at the Distillery.

Playing to a packed house of long suffering fans, the rusty but powerful Earwig put on the kind of a show that you tell your grandchildren about.

Earwig relied on songs from 1994's Mayfeeder album, including the should have been classics When You're Dying and Lorax. The evening had many highlights as the band- Lizard McGee on guitar and vocals, Rich Cefalo on Bass and Justin Crooks on drums- put on a show that made you forget that you hadn't seen them in a couple of years. But because of space restaints , I'll narrow the highlights down to two.

The first was Cinema East, first heard on the live tape Bored in Chicago, a song which could make Charles Manson cry. In the song, McGee sings "when I'm gone, I'm gone." Let's all pray that McGee and his bandmates don't go away for a long time. The second highlight was a new song- didn't catch the name- about local living legend Ron house of the Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and Great Plains fame. Oh Lordy was I in heaven during that one. Earwig sounds, and please forgive me, kind of like Pavement was part of the Seattle scene. Rumor has it that a new album is in the works, which could further aid the suffering fans, many of whom came out in droves to see the lo-fi legends of Columbus.

Of course the show was enhanced by the venue, bernies Distillery. The intimacy that the space provided served well for a band such as Earwig, a band that thrives on intinacy both in songsmanship and in performance.

Hometown:   Columbus, Ohio

Musical Style:     Underground, heart-on-yr-sleeve melodic rock

Record Label:     LFM records

New Album:        Perfect Past Tense

Singles:               1. Drag        2. Best Kept Secret