Sponge (band)

Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, and Tim Cross were in a band called Loudhouse, fronted by vocalist Kenny Mugwump. They released one album and had a song appear on the soundtrack to the 1991 film Point Break. The band then recruited Joey Mazzola as a second guitarist. Shortly after, Mugwump decided to pursue a career in acting and directing, so Dombroski switched from drums to vocals and drummer Jimmy Paluzzi was recruited to round out the lineup. The band decided to start fresh and named themselves Sponge. They began working on new music and performed in bars and clubs; recognized for having a dual-guitar sound reminiscent of the MC5. Their debut album, Rotting Piñata, released in 1994 through Columbia Records, received heavy airplay on radio and MTV, and was certified gold by the RIAA. The two biggest singles from that album were "Plowed" and "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)". By the end of 1994, Charlie Grover had replaced Paluzzi on drums. Sponge went on tour with the band Live in 1995 as their opening act, and also performed at the music festivals Edgefest, X-Fest, Sunstroke (Ireland), and Pukkelpop (Belgium) that year.

On June 28, 1996, Sponge, along with Alice in Chains, opened for Kiss at Tiger Stadium in Detroit on their reunion tour. It was previously announced that Stone Temple Pilots would open the show, but had to cancel their performance due to vocalist Scott Weiland's issues related to substance abuse. The show was reported as having an attendance of almost 40,000 people. Sponge's second album, Wax Ecstatic, was released shortly after in 1996 and the first single, "Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina)", received significant airplay on radio and MTV. Sponge also performed on the Lollapalooza festival tour that summer. The second single, "Have You Seen Mary", also received significant airplay and was included in the 1997 film Chasing Amy. Columbia was dissatisfied with the sales figures for Wax Ecstatic however, and dropped Sponge from the label once the album left the charts.

Undaunted, Sponge signed a new deal with Beyond Records, and released their third album New Pop Sunday in 1999. The album was a departure from the grittier sound of their first two albums, featuring songs that were more pop rock in nature. The band also performed again at Edgefest and X-Fest that year. The new album attracted little commercial attention; however, "Live Here Without You" was nominated for the Outstanding National Single award by the Detroit Music Awards Foundation in 2000. Around this time, the Cross brothers had gotten tired of touring and left Sponge. Charlie Grover also left shortly after. The remaining members (Mazzola and Dombroski) recruited Robby Graham on bass along with Paluzzi on drums to form the side project group Crud.

In 2001, Dombroski joined the Seattle-based side project group Spys4Darwin, which recorded one EP and worked together into the following year. Around this time, Dombroski also began performing and recording music with the side project group The Orbitsuns. Dombroski and Mazzola then created a new solidified lineup of Sponge consisting of drummer Billy Adams, guitarist Kurt Marschke, and bassist Tim Krukowski. Sponge released their fourth studio album, For All the Drugs in the World, in 2003 through Idol Records. Afterwards, Dombroski created a new lineup once again, this time without other founding member Mazzola, replaced by guitarist Andy Patalan, while Marschke was replaced by guitarist Kyle Neely. At this point, Dombroski became the only remaining original member of Sponge. The band released their fifth studio album, The Man, in 2005 through Idol Records. Both Crud and The Orbitsuns also released albums around this time.

After releasing the promo album titled Hard to Keep My Cool, Sponge released their first official live album, Alive in Detroit, in 2007. It was also announced in November 2007 that the band would release their sixth studio album, Galore Galore, through their new label, Bellum Records. It contains songs from the promo Hard to Keep My Cool plus new tracks and was released on December 4, 2007. In 2009, former Sponge producer Tim Patalan replaced Krukowski on bass. The band then released the promo album titled Destroy the Boy. Songs from this release along with new tracks would round out the seventh studio album by the band in 2013, Stop the Bleeding. Sponge also performed on the Summerland festival tour that summer and again in 2016.

The band's eighth studio album, The Beer Sessions, was released on October 8, 2016 through Three One Three Records. In May 2018 at the annual Detroit Music Awards, the original lineup of Vinnie Dombroski, Mike Cross, Tim Cross, Jimmy Paluzzi, and Joey Mazzola reunited for one night only. This was the first time in 24 years that all of the original members performed on stage together.[2]

Sponge's original lineup in 2018. From left to right: Joey Mazzola, Tim Cross, Vinnie Dombroski, Jimmy Paluzzi, and Mike Cross.

The current lineup of Sponge announced tour dates in North America during the spring and summer of 2020. However, the shows were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim to reschedule them for a later date.

Current members

• Vinnie Dombroski – vocals (1992–present)
• Kyle Neely – guitar (2004–present)
• Andy Patalan – guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)
• Tim Patalan – bass (2009–present)
• Billy Adams – drums (2001–present)

Former members

• Joey Mazzola – guitar, backing vocals (1992–2004)
• Mike Cross – guitar (1992–2000)
• Tim Cross – bass (1992–2000)
• Jimmy Paluzzi – drums, backing vocals (1992–1994)
• Charlie Grover – drums (1994–2000)
• Kurt Marschke – guitar (2001–2004)
• Tim Krukowski – bass (2001–2009)

Timeline

• List of alternative rock artists

• Sponge website
• Sponge at AllMusic