The Polyphonic Spree
The Polyphonic Spree is an American music group from Dallas / Texas.
history
The band was formed in 2000 by songwriter Tim DeLaughter after his band Tripping Daisy broke up because of the drug death of their guitarist Wes Berggren. Julie Doyle joined the "Sprees" as the second songwriter. Furthermore, the former Tripping Daisy bandmates Mark Pirro and Bryan Wakeland belonged to the first line-up.
The group currently has 24 members - rock instrumentalists, wind instruments, strings, keyboard players , lead and choir singers. The first two albums The Beginning Stages of ... and Together We're Heavy met with a mixed response in the USA. It was irritating that The Polyphonic Spree presented themselves in flowing white or red robes, where some suspected a sect. With their third album The Fragile Army (2007), the group also changed their appearance: Black uniforms with red cross and heart patches (allegedly peace emblems) and a gold pin with the respective name of the band member. The album title comes from the director Mike Mills , for whom DeLaughter wrote the soundtrack for the independent film Thumbsucker in Berlin . David Bowie's keyboardist Mike Garson also took part in the recording of the twelve songs . Bowie invited Polyphonic Spree to the Meltdown Festival in Great Britain in 2002 . Songs from The Polyphonic Spree were used in Michel Gondry's film Forget mine! , Leander Haußmann's film comedy NVA (2005) and in a Volkswagen commercial.
The band also appears in an episode of the US hit series Scrubs , in which they present their song "Light and Day" (season 3, episode 19: "My trickiest decision" / "My choosiest choice of all"). They had another guest appearance in the US series Las Vegas , in which they make music in the Casino des Montecito.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 2000 | The Beginning Stages of ... |
UK70  (6 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 2004 | Together We're Heavy |
UK61 (1 week) UK |
US121 (1 week) US |
|
| 2007 | The Fragile Army | - |
US113 (1 week) US |
|
More albums
- 2005: Thumbsucker, OST
- 2012: Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays, Vol. One
- 2013: Yes, It's True
- 2014: Psychphonic
EPs
- 2002: Soldier Girl EP
- 2003: Light & Day EP
- 2006: Wait EP
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 2002 | Hanging Around The Beginning Stages of ... |
UK39 (2 weeks) UK |
|
| 2003 | Light and Day The Beginning Stages of ... |
UK40 (2 weeks) UK |
|
| Soldier Girl The Beginning Stages of ... |
UK26 (2 weeks) UK |
||
| 2004 | Hold Me Now Together We're Heavy |
UK72 (1 week) UK |
|
| Two Thousand Places Together We're Heavy |
UK76 (1 week) UK |
More albums
- 2003: The March (together with Grandaddy )
- 2007: Running Away
- 2007: We Crawl
- 2011: Bullseye
- 2011: It's Christmas
- 2012: What Would You Do?
- 2013: You Don't Know Me
Video albums
- 2004: Live From Austin, TX: The Polyphonic Spree
- 2006: Coachella
- 2007: SXSW Live 2007 DVD
- 2013: You + Me - Live in NYC