Mad Planets

Mad Planets were a pop-punk trio based in Stony Brook, Long Island (NY), active from 1994—1998, featuring Tara Emelye Needham (bass, vocals), Erik Robinson, (guitar, vocals) and John Kapp (drums). The Planets sprung up in the post-Nirvana, riot grrrl DIY indie-pop/rock scene, zine driven (Tara also co-wrote Cupsize with Sasha Cage), often recording on their own, releasing tracks on small labels, playing shows in basements, on boats, on a backyard deck, at a regatta, and even more respectable venues and colleges, including Yale University, the 1997 Popfest Northwest in Seattle and the NYU Music Festival. Their influences included Throwing Muses, Sonic Youth, Versus, Swirlies, The Smiths, the Police, and lots of contemporaneous indie-pop. In reviews they were compared at varying times to Sleater Kinney, The Primitives and the Cure. (?!) The Planets recorded and produced their debut cassette Learn to Say Goodnight (1995)on 4-track in the basement of 3 Ring Neck, the infamous epicenter of the LI indie rock pop scene. It featured fan favorites "Befriending Darcy" and "Slice me on Cheerios" as well as the sentimental "California." Florida-based label Papercut then released a split-cassette with the Planets and The Cups, "A History of Rain" which included "Yr. Version of Cool." Following that, the Planets released their song "Super-8" on a split 7" from papercut records with tracks by Low, Lois and The Receptionists. They also released a split 7" with fellow Long Islanders and kindred spirits My Favorite on Harriet Records, with their song "Yr Version of Cool" on one side and My Favorite's "Working Class Jacket" on the other. They contributed to comps based on Long Island, including the Comp Shmomp series, the first of which included their song "Intrigue and Division" as well as many other throughout the U.S. In 2000, Tara pulled together their final recordings, including the anthemic and desperate "Franny" and mastered them together with all earlier recordings for the collection "Music Makes me Think of You." The band spent alot of time riding around Long Island and in NYC to obscure practice spaces, drinking coffee in Dunkin Donuts, watching TV, sometimes fighting, always striving for music that meant something, made you think, feel and maybe even dance. .