Playing with acts such as ELO, Elton John, Glen Campbell, Lee Aaron and John Waite, amongst a plethora of other platinum selling pop and rock icons not only makes you an in demand sideman, it also helps you develop your creative side. And, silly name aside, that’s exactly what the three members of THE SQUIRTS have capitalized on.
Formed while they were on tour as Rick Springfield’s backing band two decades ago, Matt Bissonette (Bass / lead vocals), George Bernhardt (Guitars, backing vocals) and Rodger Carter (Drums, percussion) aka THE SQUIRTS came to life as a way to burn up some creative energy – and wound up becoming Rick’s opening act before turning around and playing alongside the headliner himself.
Releasing two albums in short order – 2003 and 2005, respectively – they had intended to release a third album to round things off but life took them all in sorts of different directions.
Two decades later that third album, creatively titled, III surfaces on independent label F-Bomb Records, which is realizing it’s own resurrection of sorts, releasing it’s first string of new albums since 2006.
III sees THE SQUIRTS deliver ten tracks of bombastic, high energy no-holds-barred power pop nirvana as only they can.
The Squirts Are:
Matt Bissonette – Lead vocals, Bass
George Bernhardt – Guitars, backing vocals
Rodger Carter – Drums, percussion
Okay, first off, get your mind out of the gutter. As far as the name is concerned, the band were referencing kids in the Little Rascals era, simple as that. If you’re of a certain age, you will remember that children were often referred to as “squirts” … and many other things we can’t openly say! “We actually had Matt’s son Josh on the cover of the first two “records” wearing a beanie with a propeller (ala The Little Rascals affable but mischievous “Spanky McFarland” character),” says drummer Rodger Carter. That beanie found its way onto Matt’s head when we used to play live opening for Rick Springfield.”
The Squirts, who could easily be referred to as a “supergroup” – but they’d rather you didn’t – have spent their collective lives playing in the spotlight with the likes of David Lee Roth, Lita Ford, Beau Nasty, Ringo Starr, Elton John, John Waite, Lee Aaron and others throughout their careers and they teamed up as their own band for fun while they were working as Rick Springfield’s backing band. “We’d play our set then come back out and play Springfield’s show… he was cool enough to let us be in his band and the opening act, too,“ says Bissonette. “The audiences were definitely not there to see THE SQUIRTS but we think we may have won some of them over in the end… and at least no one threw tomatoes at us!”
As for III, as the title would indicate, this is the band’s third album, their debut being released back in 2003 and the follow up, ‘II – Resqurited’ surfacing just two years later. So, why the long wait for a new album? Well, life, of course. Working, spending time with families, and well, falling into all the trappings of fame and fortune, the band’s lead singer took off for a solo career. Fast forward to 2020. Like a lot of people during the COVID lockdown, the guys all had so much time on their hands that they ended up digging through stuff and finding things they forgot they had. “We found a song we had recorded fifteen years earlier that was just living on a hard drive called “The Other Side of Paradise.” We re-recorded it and that became the first song we had for this new project. We never actually talked about or made a plan to write a whole new record, but one song led to another and we just kept going. The strangest part is that we were never in the same room at the same time recording these songs. Not once. We would just send the files back and forth and it all came together. If there was an unwritten rule it was that each of us could play whatever parts we wanted and knew that it would just work. Something you don’t get to do very often working as “sidemen” for other artists.”
Tracked at the guys’ own studios, The Recovery Center, The Barn and The Doghouse Studio, III is ten solid tracks of no-frills, top quality, melodic rock / power pop greatness kicking off with the hook heavy “Gotta Believe You Now,” a song that immediately showcases the trio’s melodic sensibilities and vocal harmonies and sets you up for what you’re about to hear over the course of the next near hour. Launching into “When We Die,” which was actually tracked at a friend’s studio while on the road with Rick Springfield, you are once again pleasantly assaulted with stacked vocal harmonies and an uplifting chorus accompanied by a solemn verse. From heavy to light and darker to lighter, first single, “Not A Good Time for a Clown” is a fun, feel-good number with an instantly catchy melody and “Nothing New Under the Sun” is a riff heavy stadium anthem with that mile wide hook to pull you in that THE SQUIRTS do to perfection
In a world where the only constant has always been uncertainty, repeated listens to the new album from THE SQUIRTS, III, is a surefire prescription for a party in your ears and peace of mind. As Matt, George and Rodger say, “now that Squirts III is done, we don’t mind saying that we are proud of these songs… and we hope you like them too. Play them LOUD!”
