Spunge

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Template:Infobox band Template:Bracketed title [spunge] are a ska punk band from Tewkesbury, England. The lead singer, Alex Copeland has commented that the brackets are in the name so that the letters don't fall out! The correct name does not capitalise the 'S', probably for aesthetic reasons. [spunge] are the only band who has ever officially been given permission by the Marley family to change the lyrics of a Bob Marley song, on their cover of "No Woman, No Cry" (this can be found on their second album, Room For Abuse).

Originally formed in July 1994 they didn't release their debut album until 1999. However, they did create The Kicking Pigeons EP in 1998 to sell at gigs and promote themselves, which eventually sold in excess of 5000 copies. Copeland used to play bass for the band in addition to his singing duties, but eventually the band was joined by a dedicated bassist, Simon Bayliss, who was then replaced by Martin Holt. Eventually Martin was replaced by Chris Murphy and so far he has stayed with the band. Hence the lyrics from the song "The Story So Far" - "The lineup's been the same from the start, apart from the bassist, had three replacements..."

The Tewkesbury quintet don't believe in the idea of 'manufactured' bands, and dedicate themselves to almost constant gigs. They are strong believers in the school of touring hard and building a following that way (the old, hard way!). In that vein, the band got sick of being messed about by other record companies (namely Sucka-Punch Records, Moon Ska Europe and B-Unique Records) so started their own on January 23 2004 - Dent'All Records. The band have released all of their CDs since and including That Should Cover It! on this label, and have recently signed new band Cousin Joey, though as of February 13th, Cousin Joey have disbanded. [1]

As of 30th Jan 2006, according to the official site, 'rhythm guitarist Wol (Paul Gurney), after much thought, decided to leave the band'. This is due to personal reasons. [spunge] decided to carry on as a four piece to record the first part of their 4th album as well as some select live shows.

Through many years of constant touring, [spunge] have played alongside, supported and toured with a huge number of moderately successful UK bands and several more famous American bands like Green Day and Bowling For Soup (who contributed backing vocals to the song "Centerfold" on the That Should Cover It! album). Bands that [spunge] have played with over the years are Cousin Joey, Glueball, Whitmore, SolaBeat Alliance, Phinius Gage, Uncle Brian, Not Katies, Graveltrap, The Damned, Never Heard of It, Caffeine, Waiting For Taylor, Farse, Gash, 4ft Fingers, Hug Lorenzo, No Comply, The Living End, Telegraph and Teenage Frames.