Boston's Darkbuster formed in 1996 around vocalist/guitarist Lenny Lashley, bassist Mike Gurley, and drummer Eric Edmonston. Fueled by cheap beer and good times, the hard-drinking punk outfit recorded and self-released a nine-song demo in 1997 that set things up nicely for 1999's 22 Songs That You'll Never Want to Hear Again! With the right amount of speed, humor, stupidity, and catchiness, the album became a word-of-mouth success around Darkbuster's native Brockton; it included such tongue-in-cheek hits as "I Hate the Unseen" and "Amazing Royal Shaft," the latter with priceless lines like "It's not as funny as it sounds/My girl fucked the singer of the Royal Crowns." In 2000, strong local support helped the band -- which by now also included second guitarist Paul Delano and new drummer Danny O'Halloran -- win WBCN's annual Rock 'n' Roll Rumble. Releasing a split with Tommy & the Terrors in 2001, Darkbuster decided to take their show on the road that summer.