alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band from
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. The band was created around 1999 by vocalist/guitarist Blake Smith and bassist Mike Willison after the breakup of their previous band Fig Dish, due to disputes with their label. After visiting
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Smith and Willison took an interest in electronica's rise in popularity, deciding to implement this to their more guitar-driven sound. Lead guitarist Dave Suh and drummer Jason Batchko were added to complete the lineup. The band released their debut self titled album in 2000, under major label
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
, but only received modest success. They would release their second album, The Thin Mercury Sound in 2004, under smaller label Aezra. Smith and Willison later performed with Scott Lucas of
Local H
Local H is an American rock band co-founded in 1990 in Zion, Illinois by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, who has remained the band's sole consistent member. Following the departures of the early line-up's bassist and lead guitarist, Lucas a ...
in the electronica project The Prairie Cartel. Smith later performed with Chicago
noise pop
Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegaz ...
band Forgotten Species. Willison would do a Portland-based solo project called Merit Badge, and has also been in the wine industry. Guitarist Suh has remained active and is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist of Chicago band
The Assembly
The Assembly were a British synth-pop project formed in 1983 in Basildon, England, by Vince Clarke (songwriting, keyboards, backing vocals) and Eric Radcliffe (songwriting, production).
Feargal Sharkey was hired as a guest vocalist for the ...
, along with his multi-instrumentalist brother, Nathan Suh. During his time in Caviar, Suh would also play in the power-pop band Woolworthy, with whom he reunited with in 2023 to record some tracks for their album "Electric Heartbreak."
Caviar has had several songs played on the radio. The songs "Tangerine Speedo" and "On the DL" were their biggest hits. "Tangerine Speedo" was featured in the first ''
Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...
'' movie and "Sugarless" was featured on the soundtrack of '' Gone in 60 Seconds''.
Safeway
Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...
has featured in its TV commercials two songs from ''Thin Mercury Sound'', including "Clean Getaway" in the summer of 2005 and "Lioness" in 2004. "Tangerine Speedo" was also featured in the ending of the 2003 film ''
The Cat in the Hat
''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by American author Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house ...
Caviar
Caviar or caviare is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or spread. Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspi ...
'' (2000)
*''
Thin Mercury Sound
''The Thin Mercury Sound'' is the second album by Caviar (band), Caviar. It was released July 27, 2004. Vocalist/guitarist Blake Smith claimed the album would be reminiscent of bands such as Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, and the Cu ...
'' (2004)
Singles
* "Tangerine Speedo" (2000 #28 ''Billboard''
Hot Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...