The Mono Men were an American garage punk band, based in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

. Their sound contained elements of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

(distortion-heavy guitars, sneering vocals), but the Mono Men filtered these through a mimicry of 1960s Washington proto-punk,

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

bands such as

The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspir ...

History

The group was formed by members of another Washington band, the Roofdogs. John Mortensen came from the Dehumanizers and Game for Vultures before joining the Mono Men. The band came together in late 1987. They played shows in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They were featured in the Northwest Rock & Roll documentary '' Hype!''.Anderson, Kyle.
Accidental Revolution: The Story of Grunge
'. United States, St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2007. 109. Their albums all received generally positive reviews. The band split in 1998, though in 2006, the Mono Men reunited to play a series of concerts called the "Spanish Attack." The band reunited in 2013 to play shows in Bellingham and Seattle in the US, plus a tour in Latin America with shows in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.

Trivia

*Members of the Mono Men went to the same

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

as the Fastbacks. *In 2006 the Mono Men launched the 5-show "Spanish Attack" tour with shows in Bellingham, WA and various venues in Spain. *

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

performed Mono Men's "Watch Outside" with C Average in Alpine Valley 13.6.1999 (Tibetan Freedom Concert).

Members

*Dave Crider (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

) *Ledge Morrisette (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) *Aaron Roeder (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) *John Mortensen (guitar,

) (from late 1990, died 2022) *Marx Wright (vocals, guitar) (1987–1990; 2013) File:Mono Men 25 (9273025583).jpg, John Mortensen File:Mono Men 12 (9275918440).jpg, Ledge Morrisette File:Mono Men 19 (9275862784).jpg, Aaron Roeder File:Mono Men 11 (9273141793).jpg, Dave Crider File:Marx Wright Mono Men.jpg, Marx Wright

Discography

Albums and EPs

*'' Stop Dragging Me Down'' (Estrus, 1990) *''Wrecker!'' (Estrus, 1992) *''Back to Mono'' (1+2 Records, 1992). The title is a reference to a

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

slogan, advocating monophonic recording. *''Shut the Fuck Up!'' (Estrus, 1993) *''Bent Pages'' (Estrus, 1993) *''Sin and Tonic'' (Estrus, 1994) *''Those Mono Men Recorded Live at Tom's Strip and Bowl'' (Estrus, 1995) *''Gypsy Woman Live'' (Impossible Records, 1995) *''Ten Cool Ones'' (Scat, 1996) * ''Have a Nice Day, Motherfucker ''(Estrus, 1997)

Split Singles

* 1993 - Demolition Derby w/ Apeman Dragship * 1994 - Kronophonic w/ Stokastikats * 1995 - Gearhead w/ Girl Trouble

External links

* * AMG entrybr>Interview with Dave Crider

References

{{Authority control American garage punk groups American grunge groups Garage rock groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Musical groups reestablished in 2013 Musical groups disestablished in 2013