THE LOVE ME NOTS

The Love Me Nots formed in the hot Phoenix summer of 2006, originally as a side project for its members’ other bands. The band was heavily influenced by bands like The Animals, The Ventures, The Sonics, The Gun Club, The Dead Kennedys, The Seeds, The Detroit Cobras, April March and The White Stripes, as well as 60s R&B. The Love Me Nots dubbed their sound “spy-surf-fuzz-gogo” and posted a scratchy rehearsal recording on Myspace.com in June of 2006. Within weeks the tracks were being aired on radio stations in England and New Jersey.

The band traveled to Detroit in September of 2006 to record their debut album with Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Romantics, Gore Gore Girls). Five days later, they returned with twelve finished tracks and again posted them on myspace.com. The tracks received over 1000 plays that very day. The band was soon booked at venues all around the Southwest.

In Black & White, the band’s debut album, was recorded by Jim Diamond (White Stripes, Romantics), and was released on the band’s own label, Atomic A Go Go Records, in January 2007. Within one week of its release, the album went to the CMJ Top 100 chart and spent ten weeks on the charts, getting regular airplay on satellite radio (including The Underground Garage channel on Sirius and the XMU channel on XM Radio), college and specialty commercial radio (including KEDJ, KUPD, and KZON in Phoenix), European and British garage-rock radio shows, podcasts and web stations. The band was asked to perform live on radio stations in Phoenix, New Jersey, Seattle, San Francisco, and several other cities on their tour. The single 'Move In Tight' was included on SPIN's list of "Songs You Need to Download Now." A panel of twelve editors from Billboard Magazine selected The Love Me Nots to perform at the 2007 Independent Music World Series showcase in San Francisco. By the end of 2007, XM Radio had named the debut album one of its Top XMU 25 albums of 2007, rock magazines and radio stations all over the U.S., Europe, and South America included it in their best-of-2007 lists, and Stinkweeds Records in Phoenix called it one of their Top 10 best-selling albums of the year.

In May 2008, The Love Me Nots brought on a new rhythm section. Along with Nicole Laurenne on lead vocals and Farfisa and Michael Johnny Walker on guitar, the lineup now includes two other Arizona music scene veterans: bassist Kyle Rose Stokes, and drummer Vince Ramirez.

The Love Me Not’s second album, Detroit, recorded by Jim Diamond for Atomic A Go Go Records, was released worldwide on August 1, 2008. The album is available at iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, Merchsquad, Get Hip Records, Dead By Mono Records (UK), Soundflat Mail Order (DE), Copasetic Mail Order (DE), and Fuzz Overdose Records (GR).