Sponge (band)

Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, and Tim Cross were in a hard rock band called Loudhouse, fronted by vocalist Kenny Mugwump. They released one album and had a song appear on the soundtrack to the 1991 film Point Break. The band then recruited Joey Mazzola as a second guitarist. Shortly after, Mugwump decided to pursue a career in acting and directing, so Dombroski switched from drums to vocals and drummer Jimmy Paluzzi was recruited to round out the lineup. The band decided to start fresh and named themselves Sponge. They began working on new music and performed in bars and clubs; recognized for having a dual-guitar sound reminiscent of the MC5. Their debut album, Rotting Piñata, was released in 1994 through Columbia Records. The songs "Neenah Menasha" and "Plowed" were released as the first and second singles, with "Plowed" entering the Mainstream Rock chart on November 19, 1994. By the end of 1994, Charlie Grover had replaced Paluzzi on drums. Sponge went on tour with Live and Love Spit Love in 1995, and also performed at the music festivals Edgefest, X-Fest, Sunstroke (Ireland), and Pukkelpop (Belgium) that year. "Plowed", along with the third single that was released, "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)", received heavy airplay on radio and MTV, and the album was certified gold by the RIAA on July 14, 1995.[2] The fourth single, "Rainin'", was released in October 1995 and had moderate success on the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Songs charts. Rotting Piñata entered the Billboard 200 in February 1995, peaked at #58 in May, and stayed on the chart for 40 weeks.[3]

Throughout 1995 and 1996, the band also performed on several late-night talk shows, including The Jon Stewart Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien (with Kay Hanley of Letters to Cleo as a guest vocalist). On June 28, 1996, Sponge, along with Alice in Chains, opened for Kiss at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on their reunion tour. It was previously announced that Stone Temple Pilots would open the show, but had to cancel their performance due to vocalist Scott Weiland's issues related to substance abuse. The show was reported as having an attendance of almost 40,000 people. Sponge's second album, Wax Ecstatic, was released shortly after in 1996 and the first single, "Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)", received significant airplay on radio and MTV. Sponge also performed on the Lollapalooza festival tour that summer. The second single, "Have You Seen Mary", also received significant airplay and was included in the 1997 film Chasing Amy. Columbia was dissatisfied with the sales figures for Wax Ecstatic however, and dropped Sponge from the label once the album left the charts. Undaunted, the band continued making music while in search of a new label.

Sponge signed a new deal with Beyond Records and released their third album, New Pop Sunday, in 1999. The album was a departure from the grittier sound of their first two albums, featuring songs that were more pop rock in nature. The band also performed again at Edgefest and X-Fest that year. The new album attracted little commercial attention; however, "Live Here Without You" was nominated for the Outstanding National Single award by the Detroit Music Awards Foundation in 2000. Around this time, the Cross brothers had gotten tired of touring and left Sponge.[4] Charlie Grover also left shortly after and the band would go on a brief hiatus. The remaining members (Mazzola and Dombroski) recruited Robby Graham on bass along with Paluzzi on drums to form the side project group Crud.[5]

In 2001, Dombroski was invited by Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney to jam with him in Seattle, along with bandmate Mike Inez on bass and Queensrÿche guitarist Chris DeGarmo. The supergroup independently recorded and released an EP entitled microfish under the name Spys4Darwin. They performed at Endfest on August 4, 2001[6] and continued working together into the following year. Around this time, Dombroski also began performing and recording music with the side project group The Orbitsuns. Dombroski and Mazzola then created a new solidified lineup of Sponge consisting of drummer Billy Adams, guitarist Kurt Marschke, and bassist Tim Krukowski.

Sponge released their fourth studio album, For All the Drugs in the World, in 2003 through Idol Records. The album includes songs that were previously released independently by Sponge on an EP of the same name, which was only available at shows and on their website.[7] The band toured with Soul Asylum, Gin Blossoms, Spin Doctors, The Verve Pipe, and The Presidents of the United States of America that year. Afterwards, Dombroski created a new lineup once again, this time without other founding member Mazzola, replaced by guitarist Andy Patalan, while Marschke was replaced by guitarist Kyle Neely. At this point, Dombroski became the only remaining original member of Sponge. The band released another EP independently in 2005, entitled Hard to Keep My Cool. Sponge's fifth studio album, The Man, was also released in 2005 and includes songs from Hard to Keep My Cool plus new tracks. Both Crud and The Orbitsuns also released albums around this time.

In November 2007, Sponge announced that they would release their sixth studio album, Galore Galore, through their new label, Bellum Records. The album was released on December 4, 2007. In 2009, former Sponge producer Tim Patalan replaced Krukowski on bass. The band then independently released an EP entitled Destroy the Boy. In 2010, the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock was released, featuring a re-recorded version of "Plowed" as a downloadable song.[8] Sponge performed at EarthFest on May 21, 2011.[9] On February 21, 2012, Sponge opened for Guns N' Roses at The Fillmore Detroit during their tour that year.[10] Sponge's seventh studio album, Stop the Bleeding, was released in 2013 and includes songs from Destroy the Boy plus new tracks. Sponge performed on the Summerland festival tour and also toured with Spacehog that year.[11] In 2014, Sponge won the Detroit Music Awards Foundation's Outstanding National Single award for "Come in From the Rain".

Sponge continued recording new music and performed on the Summerland festival tour again in 2016. The band's eighth studio album, The Beer Sessions, was released on October 8, 2016 through Three One Three Records. In May 2018 at the annual Detroit Music Awards, the original lineup of Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Tim Cross, Jimmy Paluzzi, and Joey Mazzola reunited for one night only. This was the first time in 24 years that all of the original members performed on stage together. The group received the Distinguished Achievement award at the ceremony in recognition of their debut album, Rotting Piñata.[12][13]

Sponge performed on The Howard Stern Show and toured with the band The Nixons in 2019. The band also announced tour dates in North America during the spring and summer of 2020. However, the shows were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim to reschedule them for a later date. Sponge is currently working on their ninth studio album.