Samiam

When the California-based punk band Isocracy broke up in 1988, bandmates Lenny Johnson, Martin Brohm, and Jason Beebout rebounded by forming Samiam. Hailing from the punk-rock stronghold of Berkley, California, the group began playing shows in 1989 and released a self-titled debut album, Samiam, in 1990. Soar and Billy followed in 1991 and 1992, respectively, with all three albums being released by the Bay Area punk label New Red Archives. Following the unprecedented commercial success of Green Day — who, like Samiam, hailed from Berkley and spent their earlier years playing shows at the iconic punk venue 924 Gilman Street — Samiam found themselves being courted by multiple major labels. They signed with Atlantic Records and released their major label debut, Clumsy, in 1994. The album's biggest single, "Capsized," enjoyed moderate airplay on MTV but failed to chart. After completing a second album for Atlantic Records in 1996, Samiam was dropped by the label before the record's release. The album appeared one year later, courtesy of Ignition Records, under the title You Are Freaking Me Out. "She Found You" enjoyed radio airplay in both America and the UK, and the band's ever-shifting lineup included a brief appearance by Green Day drummer Tré Cool, who toured with Samiam for a portion of 1999. After releasing Astray in 2000, the group embarked upon an extended hiatus before reuniting for 2006's Whatever's Got You Down. Trips reached Number 42 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart in 2011, and 2023's Stowaway — the band's first album after another hiatus — debuted at Number 47 in Germany upon its release.

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