Atomic Boy

recorded at Ameraycan Studios in North Hollywood, the limited release of 500 copies started

spreading across the country on college radio and indie record stores. Legendary tastemaker

DJ Rodney on the Roq began featuring Atomic Boy on his weekly KROQ show and soon” We

Want A Revolution” was the number one most requested song on the show. Other major

alternative stations such as KUKQ Phoenix, KRZQ Reno, Live 105 San Francisco and Matt

Pinfield at WHTG Jersey Shore featured Atomic Boy on their specialty shows. WCBR Chicago

threw Atomic Boy into regular rotation and soon “Everywhere and Nowhere” was the number

one song on their play list. Indie fanzines and trade magazines were hyping Atomic Boy and

famed rag LA Weekly stated “this is the kind of band that major labels salivate over.”

Atomic Boy was formed in 1991 by Denny Lake and Strangler. Originally Lake had formed a

band called “The Difference” (think 80’s alternative pop band with keyboards—Angelina

included as bonus track). Although the songs were good, the passion and energy that defined

Atomic Boy was not present in this first group. A concert by English punk band Birdland

(grossly underrated) at the Roxy changed everything and jump started Lake who came to the

next band practice with demos for We Want a Revolution and Don’t Give up on Me.(song

included as bonus track). The band found a new energy and direction and changed the name

to Exploding Boy and recorded a raw yet melodic first demo and immediately doors started

opening. At that time Strangler was working as a roadie for Dramarama and once he got

comfortable with the guys popped in the demo and the whole band jumped out of their seats.

Chris Carter said “Exploding Boy!! This band should be on KROQ!! Exploding Boy went into

the studio, only to find out that there was a band in Buffalo NY called Exploding Boy. After

much discussion the band came up with Atomic Boy and Strangler began developing the Atomic

Boy character featured in the artwork. (After his music career Strangler worked as animator for

Disney and other major studios)

The band began frequent regional tours and multiple recording sessions over the next couple of

years. Bonus tracks featured on this release include Silent Majority, Writing on the Wall, Crazy,

cover tune Stiff Competition and Action from the Time Bomb Tapes sessions recorded with

Chris Carter. The song Time Bomb along with B side Stacie were released as a 7” single on

indie label Guilt Ridden Pop which led to Time Bomb being included on a respected compilation

“Shreds American Underground Volume 2 https://www.discogs.com/release/2509782-Various-

Shreds-Volume-2-American-Underground-94. Continued regional touring led to a strong

following in the Bay Area with frequent shows at Paradise Lounge and Berkeley Square as well

as multiple runs down to AZ with support and airplay from KUKQ. The band kept writing and

recording new and better songs (I Wanna Go bonus track ) and solidified the lineup and all of

these factors led to the bank hooking up with management and legal representation that led to a

recording contract with Victory/A&M (who had just signed Face to Face) in 1995.