Pain (U.S. band)

History

The main songwriters, Dan Lord and Mark "Pose" Milewicz, grew up in Mobile and graduated from Mcgill Toolen High School in midtown Mobile. Though they did not produce any chart-topping hits, the band enjoyed a semi-mainstream following after touring relentlessly. Pain received a mini-revival when Cartoon Network aired a short two-minute music video set to their song "Jabberjaw (Running Underwater)", featuring the cartoon character of the same name along with "updated" versions of the rest of the show's characters. Pain also received minor mainstream attention through the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. In a number of episodes station engineer Joe Garelli (played by Joe Rogan) can be seen wearing a T-shirt bearing the Pain logo.

Pain's sound featured fast-paced lyrics, energetic punk rock rhythms and frequent use of horn instruments. Their lyrical content was often humorous, touching lightly upon such subjects as Dungeons and Dragons as well as Greek and Arthurian legends, often creating entire plots and stories about fictional characters. Despite similarities in instrumentation and sensibility to third wave ska, Pain has expressed resentment towards being labeled as ska, stating a dislike for the genre.

Pain recorded a version of "The Time Warp" for a ska tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show which was never released. The song is now available on the Pain DVD entitled In a Band: The Pain Years 1994-2000."

Although the band has not toured or released an album since 2000, the band's official status is "on hiatus." Considering that Milewicz is currently the dean of University of North Carolina at Pembroke's Esther G. Maynor Honors College, Lord is the Director of Religious Education and Evangelization at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Charleston, South Carolina). Former trombone player, Dr. Demondrae Thurman, is now the director of graduate studies, professor, euphonium, trombone, tuba, wind ensemble at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The majority of the rest of the band remains in or around Tuscaloosa, any new material seems extremely unlikely.

Band members

Former members

Discography

Albums

Released in 1994 on Goggins Records.

1. "Idle Hands"
2. "Milk"
3. "Gavin"
4. "The Man Upstairs"
5. "Excalibur"
6. "Nitro"
7. "Put Together"
8. "Enough"
9. "Army Of The Bored"

Released in 1996 on Goggins Records. Re-issued in 2003 on Springman Records.

1. "Pose Ode"
2. "Milk"
3. "Square Pegs"
4. "Fight"
5. "Midgets With Guns"
6. "One-Legged Girl"
7. "The People, The People"
8. "Grudge"
9. "Chuck Al Hashib"
10. "Derision"
11. "Island Of Fear"
12. "Adam's Apple"
13. "Ellen"
14. "Pose Ode" (fast)

Released in 1997 on Springman Records.

1. "Malk"
2. "In A Band"
3. "Antidote"
4. "Thimbledrome"
5. "Put 'Em Back"
6. "The Man Upstairs"
7. "The Song Of The Seven Inch Cowboy"
8. "Kokamantratarius"
9. "The Bottlerocket War"
10. "Gavin"
11. "Suckerpunch"
12. "Umbrella"
13. "Easy Out"

Released in 1999 on Vegas Records. Reissued in 2004 on Springman Records.

1. "Juice"
2. "Right On"
3. "Full Speed Ahead"
4. "Upright"
5. "Codcake"
6. "Who Took Botu's Picture?"
7. "Futz Said Julie"
8. "Goggins"
9. "The White Recluse"
10. "Jonathan Fallow"
11. "Cap’n Scrub"
12. "Excalibur"
13. "Bean Bag"
14. "Ukulele"

Released in 2001 on Vegas Records. Live radio recordings.

1. "Antidote"
2. "In A Band"
3. "Put 'Em Back"
4. "Midgets With Guns"
5. "The Man Upstairs"
6. "The Bottlerocket War"
7. "Gavin"
8. "Milk"
9. "Juice/Square Pegs"
10. "Derision"
11. "Suckerpunch"

EPs

Released in 1999 on Springman Records. CD-ROM version is enhanced for computer with music videos, pictures, and more.

1. "Jabberjaw (Running Underwater)"
2. "Full Speed Ahead" (Battleship Version)
3. "The Comeback"
4. "The White Recluse" (demo)
5. "Chris Gets Up On It!"
6. "The Man Upstairs" ("What a Man" version, Live)

1. "Jabberjaw"
2. "Full Speed Ahead"
3. "The Comeback"

DVDs