Announce debut album ‘Destroy Ourselves’. Out July 26 on Rare Bird/Duck! Records. Featuring members of Screeching Weasel, Ashers, Bombpops, Mixtapes. FFO: The Clash, Angry Samoans.

From the mind of Screeching Weasel co-founder John Jughead Pierson (Even In Blackouts, The Mopes, Mitochondriacs), comes the creation of Semi-Famous, the fictional band from his 2001 book, ‘Weasels In A Box’. Now, over 20 years later, it’s being re-released on paperback and audiobook for the very first time. Voiced by Jughead himself, along with the debut full-length from Semi-Famous, ‘Destroy Ourselves’, will be available on Friday, July 26, 2024 via Rare Bird. Vinyl preorders are available on Bone Opaque Vinyl (Limited to 300 Copies) and Standard Black Vinyl. Art by Paul Russel, Christopher Appelgren and Tommaso Eppesteingher.

“One of my most favorite periods of Screeching Weasel was during the rehearsal for ‘Wiggle’. Ben would introduce a new song, and then since he was not playing an instrument at that time he would leave. Then me, Johnny Personality, Dan Panic and Dan Vapid would spend the rest of the time rehearsing the songs and also playing around, having fun. We loved playing together. So when writing songs in the genre of early pop-punk for Semi-Famous, I definitely wanted Vapid to write a song for us. He penned ‘Clown In The Window.’ And we replicated it exactly from his audio file and video rehearsal sent to us.” — JOHN JUGHEAD PIERSON

‘Weasels In A Box’ ended up being the intro of the album, and I think it’s the only place it could be. It has a little sarcasm, a little joy, and some sadness as well (the line some friends have fallen hit me a lot harder when Billy Brown passed away before the album got released). Overall it is a celebration though, of punk rock, getting to write music, the friends here and past.” — RYAN ROCKWELL

“The intention from the beginning was to take the fictional band of Semi-Famous out of my book ‘Weasels In A Box’, and to record some songs under that name for the audiobook release. We had so much fun writing in a form that most of us had not been engaging in for years so we decided to write more. But the thing that happened is, even though still influenced by Screeching Weasel, the songs took on their own life. I have high regard for the songs written by Ben Weasel and Dan Vapid, and I have always stayed away from trying to sound like them. I don’t have the vocal talent of Vapid, or the humorous darkness of Ben, so it made sense that Ryan and my emulation of that time period would sound different from the originals. Semi-Famous’ music will continue to be inspired by that music and the music’s multiple time periods but, especially with the writing of Poli Van Dam and inspiration of Billy Brown, our sound will continue to grow in exciting new directions.” — JOHN JUGHEAD PIERSON

Photo by Mike McNamara

L—R: Zach Kibbee, Billy Brown, Ryan Rockwell, John Jughead Pierson, Poli Van Dam, Tyson Cornell.