Drive Like Jehu

Singer Rick Froberg and guitar player John Reis were in a band named Pitchfork.^[2] They were in this band from 1986 to 1990.^[1] Bass guitar player Mike Kennedy and drummer Mark Trombino were in a band named Night Soil Man from 1987 to 1990.^[3] The two bands played music at concerts together many times. The people in both bands knew each other. Pitchfork ended because the people in the band did not agree about the music they wanted to make. Night Soil Man also ended around the same time. Reis and Kennedy talked to each other and became friends. They both liked a punk band from Richmond, Virginia named Honor Role. The guitar player for Honor Role inspired Reis to play the guitar more. In July 1990, Reis made a band named Rocket from the Crypt. One month later, he made Drive Like Jehu with Froberg, Kennedy, and drummer Chris Bratton. The group made five songs. After making the songs, they replaced Bratton with Trombino.^[1]

Froberg sang and played guitar for Drive Like Jehu. He played rhythm guitar, and Reis played the main guitar parts. The band made many songs with jam sessions. They used ideas that Reis had, and the band played music based on them to make new songs. The band released their first album in 1991. It is named Drive Like Jehu. Cargo Music and Headhunter Records released it.^[1] Many music critics liked the album.^[4][5] In 1992, the band released a single named "Hand Over Fist"/"Bullet Train to Vegas". Merge Records released it.^[1]

The band joined Interscope Records, an important record label. Rocket from the Crypt also joined the label. Drive Like Jehu released their second album in 1994. It is named Yank Crime. Trombino did the some of the audio engineering for the album.

In 1995, Drive Like Jehu ended. Nobody in the band said that it ended, but they stopped playing music together.^[1] Reis wanted to make more music with Rocket from the Crypt. Trombino became a record producer, and worked with many bands, such as Blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World.^[6] Kennedy became a chemist.^[1] Later, Reis and Froberg made a band named Hot Snakes. The band existed from 1999 to 2005, then got back together in 2011. The band existed until Froberg died in 2023.^[7]

On August 31, 2014, Drive Like Jehu came back together to play music at Balboa Park in San Diego.^[8] Dr. Carol Williams played the organ with the band. The band played five songs: "Do You Compute", "Super Unison", "Sinews", "If It Kills You", and "Luau".^[9] Rob Crow sang with the band for "Luau", as he sang parts of the song on Yank Crime. Drive Like Jehu played at many concerts in 2015, such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.^[10] They ended their concert tour in 2016.