The Connie Dungs are a poppy snotty punk band similar in style to The Ramones and, later, Jawbreaker. The Dungs gained some degree of prominence in the American underground punk scene based on sporadic concerts around the middle U.S. including Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
The Connie Dungs were a poppy snotty punk band from Ashland, Kentucky, composed of Brandon Tussey and brothers Chris Griffith and Wayne Griffith. They existed as an active band from 1994-2000, taking part in over 20 releases during that time. The Dungs gained some degree of prominence in the American underground punk scene based on sporadic concerts around the middle U.S. including Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
In 1994, the Connie Dungs began performing at local shows for friends and punk fans in Eastern Kentucky. During this early period they recorded and released two cassette-tape demos (Songs for Swinging Lovers and Nice Guys Finish Last) which were sold exclusively at shows. Both "Songs for Swinging Lovers" and "Nice Guys Finish Last" were later collected on one album, Songs for Swinging Nice Guys, released in 1999 on Mutant Pop Records.
Their first official release was a split 7" with fellow local punk band Tugboat. These demos and early releases resulted in a 7" single with Chicago indie label Harmless Records, Missy and Johnny. This single was selected in 1995 by Shredder Records as one of the top punk singles of the year and was included in volume three of their annual compilation, Shreds.
After signing with Mutant Pop and releasing a series of singles and albums, more buzz came by way of positive coverage from every major underground punk publication including Flipside, Punk Planet, The Probe, Jersey Beat, and maximumrocknroll. Two writers at maximumrocknroll were particularly enthusiastic about the group: George Tabb and Mykel Board [1]. Board once wrote: "They're my new favorite band. In case you haven't heard, they've got the best punk vocalist since H.R.!...I love you!"[2]. Zac Damon (of Zoinks! and, later, Squirtgun and Screeching Weasel) provided back-up vocals for the second LP, Driving on Neptune. The fourth LP, Eternal Bad Luck Charm, featured back-up vocals from Mass Giorgini, the prominent pop punk producer who was a member of later incarnations of Screeching Weasel and a founding member of Squirtgun. Mass also had a hand in recording, mastering, or producing several Connie Dungs releases.
Following the break-up, the three permanent members (Brandon, Chris, and Wayne) started a new band with a less pop oriented direction, A Radio With Guts. Brandon also played some solo acoustic shows, including a gig with pop punk luminary Dr. Frank. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.