Hailing from Laguna Niguel, CA, the power pop melodies of
Limbeck formed at the turn of the new millennium, anxious to deliver sweet pop hooks and a solid, energetic performance. Signed to Utility Records,
Limbeck issued an early 2000 split EP titled Connection, sharing props with Cali pop-punkers
Home Grown. Around the same time, the guys -- singer/guitarist
Robb MacLean, guitarist/singer
Patrick Carrie, bassist Justin Entsminger, and drummer Matt Stephens -- were also featured in an Apple iMac commercial, playing their song "Stop Internet Romance" as the fictional band the Garage Monkeys. A year later, the full-length This Chapter Is Called Titles was released.
Limbeck signed on to the roster at Doghouse Records in late 2002, and when their label debut,
Hi, Everything's Great, appeared in the first half of the next year, they were found to be evolving from emo into alternative country terrain.
Limbeck continued to bring their organic sunny pop almost nonstop around the country over the following year, sharing dates along the way with acts like
Rocky Votolato,
the Early November, and
Sleep Station. Their next offering,
Let Me Come Home, was issued in August 2005, boasting a sound that tapped more fully into influences like
Wilco,
Old 97's, and
the Replacements. Stephens left the band that same year and was replaced in September by Jon Phillip, a Milwaukee native who'd formerly drummed with
the Benjamins and the Obsoletes. Ever on the road, more touring followed before
Limbeck entered a Kansas studio in the summer of 2006 to work again with longtime producer and friend
Ed Rose (
the Get Up Kids). The quartet's resulting eponymous album surfaced in April 2007. ~ MacKenzie Wilson