Sick Puppies

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Sick Puppies
Origin Sydney, NSW, Australia
Genre(s) Alternative rock
indie
New Grunge
Years active 1997–present
Label(s) Virgin Records
Website Sick Puppies at MySpace
Members
Shimon Moore
Emma Anzai
Mark Goodwin
Former members
Chris Mileski

Sick Puppies is a rock band from Sydney, Australia. The band was formed by singer/lead guitarist Shimon Moore and bassist Emma Anzai in the music room of Mosman High School in 1997, where the two connected because of their shared love for Silverchair. Initially with Shimon on drums and Emma on guitars, the duo would frequently meet up to play Green Day, Rage Against the Machine and Silverchair songs and eventually felt compelled to write their own songs. Soon, Chris Mileski was added to the band to fill in on drums.


Contents

[edit] Unearthed

Sick Puppies released an EP called Dog's Breakfast in 1999. This was independantly recorded and produced. Only 500 copies were pressed and this is a collectors item now. It is also notable as featuring the only song to date where bass player Emma Anzai sings the lead.

Sick Puppies started attracting national attention when their song "Nothing Really Matters" won Triple J's Unearthed in 2000. Later that year, they released their debut album called Welcome to the Real World and were voted for "Best Live Performance" at a rock festival in Sydney. This album was initially supposed to feature a humorous cover version of Destiny's Child's hit single "Say My Name", however the song was not included due to the threat of a lawsuit by Destiny's Child's record label. It was leaked, however, and is readily available and easy to find on the internet on websites and P2P networks. Also, they sometimes play this song live.

Leaving their record label they released another EP independantly called 'Fly'. Soon after this in 2005 they made the move to the LA, seeking a record deal in the US. While taking meetings, performing showcase gigs for recording companies, and recording their next album, Shimon Moore created a video get-well card for a friend of his who had recently suffered a death in the family. This was created from footage Shim himself had shot about 18 month before of his friend - Juan Mann - offering Free Hugs to passers-by in Sydney. He used one of the songs finished from the sessions for their album in progress - "All the Same" - as a soundtrack. The video was also posted on YouTube and became a instant sensation, spawning the Free Hugs Campaign. As a result there were TV apearances on 60 minutes (US and Australia), Good Morning America, Oprah and Jay Leno.

[edit] Recent activity

The video (which has received over 46 million hits on YouTube already) has helped the band gain airplay in the United States and Canada. The song recently peaked at #8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a massive feat considering the lack of chart success in their home country, Australia.

Following the Free Hugs success, an EP, Headphone Injuries, was digitally released in June 2006. Which was then followed by a CD single release of 'All The Same'. The album 'Dressed Up As Life' followed a few months later on April 3, 2007 via Virgin Records [1]. On April 21st, the album debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart in the U.S. Sick Puppies have had considerably more success in the US, where their debut album, Dressed Up As Life has stayed in the top 20 of the Billboard Top Heatseekers for 18 weeks. The album didn't chart within the top 50 on the ARIA album chart.

With the release of the album the band began touring the US consistently - first as a support act to bands like Breaking Benjamin and Evanescence. They returned to Australia briefly in January 2007 to take part in the Big Day Out festival tour, but returned to LA soon after to continue touring the States. In 2008 they released their second single/ video from Dressed Up As Life called "My World", and began their own headlining tour.

Other projects include the bands cover of Cherub Rock originally performed by Smashing Pumpkins. It was to be released on Helio Presents: The Smashing Pumpkins Tribute CD, but was cut from the track listing. Recently released on the band's MySpace was a single written for the holidays "Killing Myself for Christmas". Shimon Moore also performed a song for the Australian movie Mortal Fools (yet to be released) - Directed by his own father.

[edit] Line-up

Current members

Former members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Date Label Peak Chart Position
Billboard 200 Top Heatseekers
Welcome to the Real World 2001 - - -
Dressed Up as Life April 3, 2007 Virgin Records # 181 [1] # 4 [2]

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

  • "Nothing Really Matters" (2001)
  • "Every Day" (April 30, 2001)
  • "Rock Kids" (July 30, 2001)
  • "Fly" (March 3, 2003)
  • "All the Same" (2006, Digital release)
  • "My World" (2007, Digital release)
  • "What Are You Looking For" (2008)

[edit] Chart positions

Artist Chart History data from Billboard.com[3]

Year Title U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Mainstream Rock Album
2007 "All the Same" - #8 #36 Dressed Up as Life
2007 "My World" - #20 - Dressed Up as Life
2008 "What Are You Looking For" - #40 - Dressed Up as Life

[edit] References

  1. ^ Billboard Sick Puppies Albums Chart History. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  2. ^ Billboard Sick Puppies Albums Chart History. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  3. ^ Billboard Sick Puppies Singles Chart History. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Sick Puppies
Shimon Moore | Emma Anzai | Mark Goodwin
Former members
Studio albums
EPs
Dog's Breakfast (1999) | Fly (2003) | Headphone Injuries (2006) | Sick Puppies EP (2006)
Singles
"Nothing Really Matters" (2001) | "Every Day" (2001) | "Rock Kids" (2001) | "Fly" (2003) | "All the Same" (2006) (Digital release) | "My World" (2006) (Digital release) | "Killing Myself for Christmas" (2007) (MySpace) | "What Are You Looking For" (2008)