Founding members Lance Myers and Jeremy "Jerm" Pollet met while working at a Greek restaurant, with Myers being introduced to Pollet around 1990 by a friend.[4][3] Myers contributed to Pollet's humor magazine Powerball, and briefly served as an auxiliary member of Pollet's rap group Brother's Cup.[5][3] Gals Panic was formed in 1992 after Pollet approached Myers with the suggestion of forming a ska band where he would be the guitarist and Myers would be the lead singer.[6][7] Both lacked formal music training, with Myers having never sung before.[4] The group was named after the Kaneko arcade game Gals Panic, where articles of clothing on women are removed upon level completion.[6] The original lineup for Gals Panic consisted of vocalist Lance Fever (a name Myers took on), guitarist Jerm Pollet, and bassist DJ Saturn playing along to a drum machine programmed by Mark Nineteen.[8]
The band's first performances were at the Cavity Club in Austin, Texas.[4] They soon found the drummer Steve Austin who replaced Mark Nineteen and the drum machine in 1993.[8] DJ Saturn quit after one year[8] and was replaced by Erik "the Butcher" Grostic, who played with the band for six months.[citation needed] In 1994, the band appeared on Fallout: A Radioactive Compilation by KVRX, and the compilation Skarmageddon.[9][10] Bassist Cardinal Connor joined.[8] The band embarked on their first US tour in the summer of 1994, with Rancid, Total Chaos and the Offspring.[4] Gals Panic songs appeared on the soundtrack for the 1995 Steven Soderbergh movie, The Underneath, in which the band also makes an appearance, playing at a nightclub.[4][11] In 1995, the band self-released their debut – and only – full-length album, I Think We Need Helicopters, through Goopy Pyramid Records. The album features cover versions of "Superstar" and "We've Only Just Begun", two tracks previously recorded by The Carpenters.[1][4] Nearly 10,000 copies of the album have been sold.[12] Starting on 16 August 1995, another US tour occurred, with the band visiting 56 cities in eight weeks.[13]
Dissolution
By 1996 the drummer was Dave Keel.[14] In July, it was announced that Lance Fever and Cardinal Connor would play their final show with Gals Panic in August.[2] By this point, Fever had formed the Playdoh Squad with GP bandmates Connor and Austin; they played their first show in July.[15][2][3] Towards the end of Gals Panic, Lance Fever began working at an Austin animation company, Heart of Texas Productions.[5][16] According to Fever, his departure was due to Connor leaving over personal differences with Pollet, while Pollet stated that Fever quit due to getting a job as an animator.[14] Nevertheless, Gals Panic toured from June to October.[3] The group amicably disbanded.[15] Gals Panic have since played hometown reunion shows in Austin, Texas, such as in 2001, 2007, and at Emo's in 2010.[12][15]
Post-breakup
The band Missile Command – similarly named after a video game – was formed by Jerm Pollet in late 1996, with him becoming its singer, in addition to being a guitarist.[16] He was joined by bassist Rory Phillips and drummer Kelly Kusumoto.[3] After Missile Command, Pollet formed the band the Ongoing Wow with Timothy "Speed" Levitch in 1998,[3] had a solo musical project titled Tall, Dark, and Lonesome,[17][3] and later became a member of The Total Foxes.[18] He has performed in the ComedySportz troupe and Mr. Sinus Theater 3000, a live show that imitated Mystery Science Theater 3000.[19] The Playdoh Squad released their first album, Mutate, in 2000.[20] Lance Fever has worked on various music projects and films such as A Scanner Darkly,[15]Prince of Egypt, and Space Jam,[5] as well as his own animated projects, such as The Astronomer, The Ted Zone (which was on Super Deluxe and Adult Swim), and Boxer Story.[21] His step-daughter is the singer Ariel Abshire.[22] Steve Austin has performed with The Ugly Beats.[23]
^ ab"Back Room". Austin American-Statesman. 14 March 1996. ProQuest256740413. Retrieved 6 October 2023. Austin pop-punk band GALS PANIC has been described as a cross between Devo and the Dead Kennedys. The band's self-released debut "I Think We Need Helicopters" includes not one, but two Carpenters covers.
