Grinspoon are an Australian post-grunge band from Lismore, fronted by Phil Jamieson with Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass, and Kristian Hopes on drums.
Founded in 1995, they came to fame when they were Unearthed by national, commercial-free radio station Triple J thanks to their track "Sickfest". This won them the competition for the Lismore area. The band was heavily influenced by the nu metal movement in their early career, including the bands Helmet and Prong, and developed a strong following among mosh pit crowds. Their sound changed in their later career to a more mainstream rock sound with their 2002 album New Detention and at this point they lost many of their earlier fans and gained a lot of fans in the mainstream. Lyrically, the band are very cryptic and disjointed, most lines from their songs are not related to the next line and the songs rarely make sense as a whole. This has been attributed to the writer Phil Jamieson and his tendency to pen short lyrics of only a few lines each, and then tying many of these together into a song, creating a lack of consistent themes.
The band name was taken from marijuana supporter Dr. Lester Grinspoon. The band has at times promoted recreational drugs during concerts and in their song lyrics. Jamieson has also gained a reputation throughout the industry as a heavy drinker.
The band has had limited success in the United States, most notably for the songs "Champion", due to Gran Turismo 3, "Post Enebriated Anxiety", which was on the international version of Guide to Better Living, "Chemical Heart", via the internet, and a cover of the Prong song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck", which was included on ECW: Extreme Music.
(Wikipedia)