GRAINS OF WISDOM

You know the one. That song, that bloody venus flytrap of a pop single with the inexorable power to take up crazed occupancy of your head at the oddest moments, forcing you to hum along mindlessly to the sugary tale of adolescent loserdom, puppy love, and Iron Maiden. Yep, in the face of Wheatus, resistance is futile.

Meeting the band behind the infuriatingly catchy 'Teenage Dirtbag' one expects to be confronted by a mass of day-glo frat-boy brashness. But the half of Wheatus I encounter, shy and retiring bassist Mike McCabe and drummer Peter Brown are the very model of courtesy and reticence.
'Teenage Dirtbag' initially seized record company interest as a result of the huge volume of hits that ensued when it was posted up on the Billboard Talent Net, and swiftly shot to the number one spot in their chart. Latterly, Wheatus have also benefited from the inclusion of the song on the soundtrack to the teen-flick Loser, (with the added bonus of a Mena Suvari-adorned video thrown in.)
Brendan B. Brown is the man responsible for most of the songwriting, with his younger brother, Peter, happy to take care of percussion duties. Wheatus features the multi-instrumental and engineering talents of their fellow Long Islander Phil A. Jiminez, with Mike McCabe completing the outfit, replacing original bassist Rich Leighey in July of last year. Peter is particularly quiet and intense, diligently doodling on hotel stationary throughout, with Mike just a tad more talkative.
All members are well beyond the 'gym class in half an hour' stage as lovingly depicted in 'Teenage Dirtbag', but they still recall the trauma of their youth.
"Everyone's schooldays were traumatic," Peter murmurs. "We went to Catholic school, and had to walk in our uniforms everyday past a certain neighbourhood. The local kids would lie in wait and beat the living crap out of us on a daily basis."
The eponymous album (their moniker comes from an inexplicable pet-name employed by the Brown brothers' father when the pair were kids) consists of more variations on the Dirtbag theme, although not all the songs are as sweet - most are none-too-subtle expositions on the kind of people who irritated Brown and the boys. They're getting their own back on songs such as 'Wannabe Gangstar', and 'Hump 'Em 'N' Dump 'Em'.
Forgive my curiosity, but killer single notwithstanding, exactly what kind of sexual favours were involved in persuading a major label to let them self-produce their debut album?
"It was necessity really. The record company actually wanted to release the demo we'd given them. It was good quality, but we knew we could improve on it, so we said 'Give us a month.' They said, 'You've got three weeks.' So we spent three weeks cooped up in our parents' basement, stressing out to get it done," Peter says.
Another theme of the album is the importance of doing things their own way, without so much as a whiff of compromise.
"I'm not gonna work for somebody else's dream" is Brown's motto, as encapsulated in songs like 'Sunshine' and 'Mr Brown' and the band are aware of how lucky they've been to make it so quickly. Mike bemoans the state of the music scene on their home turf.
"Long Island seems to have skipped the eighties, musically. It's full of seventies covers bands. Bands like us have to go and play in Manhattan, at some crappy club with five other bands and nobody paying much attention.'
Eighties music is close to their hearts, judging by the reverent cover version of Erasure's 'A Little Respect' which graces the album. "We always liked Erasure, but the typical attitude growing up was it was assumed that if you liked Erasure you must therefore be gay. Like you could catch it by listening to them. So it's just our tribute to Vince Clark and Andy Bell."
Wheatus plan to go to Australia to record the next album.
"We just spent two weeks there and it seems like a nice place to do it. Sharks and good weather - that should provide the right kind of atmosphere. We'll be touring in April and have a few summer festivals lined up, so it's gonna be a busy year".
McCabe is sanguine about the process, "I loved touring America on the bus, that was my favourite time, hanging out on the tour bus. It's just perpetual comedy, joking around, warming up before gigs, watching the bus get in more and more of a mess as the tour progresses. It does get tiring, especially these days with all the press and stuff we have to do."
He becomes suddenly downcast, "Then when you get home to your friends and family, they start to interview you as well, because they're excited about it and want to catch up on what you've been doing. It's like I don't want to talk about it, I love you, you're my father and all, but no, I don't want to sign an autograph just now."
At this juncture, I hand them a copy of the album and ask them to sign it for my thirteen-year-old sister and they crack up laughing. Nice guys.

Wheatus is available now on Sony.