I Voted for Kodos was a ska punk

Ska punk

Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...

 and pop punk

Pop punk

Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...

 band, signed to Snapdragon Records.

History

They were founded in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

 in 1999, after singer-trombonist Rick Bisenius met guitarist Chris Holoyda at a Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...

 concert. They began playing together when the members were in high school/college. Their name comes from an episode of The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, "Treehouse of Horror VII

Treehouse of Horror VII

"Treehouse of Horror VII" is the first episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired October 27, 1996. In the seventh annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, Bart discovers his long-lost twin, Lisa grows a colony of small beings and Kang & Kodos impersonate Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in...

", in which Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 says, "Don't blame me—I voted for Kodos." Although known for their tongue-in-cheek material (they have noted that celery is the band's official vegetable), their song lyrics have also tackled serious issues such as murder and teenage depression. Their first album, Close Enough for Ska

Close Enough For Ska

Close Enough For Ska is the first full length release by I Voted for Kodos.The title refers to a phrase the band typically used while they were tuning up before shows: "We can never quite get in tune or do the songs completely right every time so we often end up saying that the sound isn't perfect...

, is considered the success story of a small independent record label, Close to Nothing, which was founded by three teenagers.

The band members would begin shows with informal instruction on how to skank

Skank (dance)

Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, and other music scenes.The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them...

 so that the audience would appreciate the style of dance associated with ska music. They toured nationally in 2004, and placed number 7 in PureVolume

PureVolume

PureVolume was the first independently run website of its type, allowing for the upload and stream of music files. It was created in 2003 by Jennifer Welch , in conjunction with the Unborn Media team; Brett Woitunski, Nate Hudson, and Mitchell Pavao; all from the University of...

's top ten unsigned bands in the US. The band played the 2004–2006 Vans Warped Tours, and music critic Joe Lynch described their 2006 performance as "freewheeling and energetic". During a separate national tour in early 2006, one music journalist wrote that the band "uses a hot horn section, plenty of guitar and on-the-mark lyrics to fuel a high-energy show."

The band stopped working together in 2007, although Bisenius and Holyda continued to collaborate on a new band, Firefight, and Bisenius began a solo project, The Faster We Fall.

Past members

• Rick Bisenius (1999–2007) – lead vocals, trombone, Moog, piano, alto sax (on My New Obsession), tenor sax (on Close Enough For Ska).
• Lee Gordon (1999–2007)– guitar, mellophone, backing vocals, french horn (on Not Penis Cream), synth
• Chris Holoyda (1999–2004) - guitar, synth (on Close Enough For Ska)
• Tyler Christensen (2004–2007) – guitar, backing vocals
• Ross Gilliland (1999–2005) - bass, upright bass
• Nick Rydell (1999–2003) - alto sax, tenor sax (on Not Penis Cream)
• Calum Lugton (2004–2007) - guitar, alto sax, backing vocals
• Michael Pulling (2006–2007) - bass, guitar, keyboards, theremin, mellotron
• Andrew Anderson (1999–2003) - keyboards, trumpet
• Dave Bartov (2000–2001) - trumpet
• Tom Kaboski (2000–2001) - tenor sax
• Andrew "Dafe" Fenton (2000–2001) - guitar, bass
• Paul Reinke (1999–2003) - drums
• Troy Riechenberger (2004–2005) – drums

Touring members

• Dustin Frost (2004) - touring trombone player
• Jim Bower (2005) - touring trombone player
• David Gage (2005–2006) – touring drummer
• Andy Christoffersen (2004) - touring drummer
• Adam Dettwiler (2004) - touring bass player
• Mo Olig (2004–2005) - touring bass player
• Seamus Arena (2004–2006) - touring bass player
• Rick Riechenberger (2005) - touring bass player, touring keyboard player
• Jeremy Braband (2005–2006) - touring bass player
• Tim Lappin (2006) - touring bass player
• Keith Cronin (2001–2002) - touring bass player
• Tim Ford (2000–2001) - touring drummer
• Devin Munson (2005) - touring drummer
• JT Turret (2005–2006) - touring keyboard player
• Andrew Singer (2006) - touring bassist
• Brian Lee (1999) - Alto Sax
• Aaron Joneson (2000) - Tenor Sax
• Dan Gillis, Lee Fennel, Cari Stebbins - Merch Girls

Albums

• 2001: Close Enough For Ska
  Close Enough For Ska
  Close Enough For Ska is the first full length release by I Voted for Kodos.The title refers to a phrase the band typically used while they were tuning up before shows: "We can never quite get in tune or do the songs completely right every time so we often end up saying that the sound isn't perfect...
  
  (Close to Nothing)
• 2006: My New Obsession
  My New Obsession
  My New Obsession is the second full length release by I Voted for Kodos. Unlike the previous album, My New Obsession focused less on ska, and branched to other genres such as pop punk and rock...
  
  (Snapdragon Records)

Compilations

• 2003: Dead Baby Vs. Jesus (Dead Baby Records)
• 2003: Kicked Squat in the Nuts (Danger Zone Records)
• 2006: Best of Minnesota Punk & Ska Compilation
• 2007: If You Can't Make It Big.....Just Give Up!
  If You Can't Make It Big.....Just Give Up!
  If You Can't Make It Big.....Just Give Up! is the final full length release by I Voted for Kodos. It is more of a compilation of sorts, with songs from each of the bands three previous albums, along with live versions, covers, and unreleased new songs....
  
  (Snapdragon Records)

External links

• I Voted for Kodos official site
• I Voted for Kodos on MySpace
  MySpace
  Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....