Caviar

Caviar was an alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was created around 1999 by vocalist/guitarist Blake Smith and bassist Mike Willison after the breakup of their previous band Fig Dish, due to disputes with their label. After visiting London, England, Smith and Willison took an interest in electronica's rise in popularity, deciding to implement this to their more guitar-driven sound. Lead guitarist Dave Suh and drummer Jason Batchko were added to complete the lineup. The band released their debut self titled album in 2000, under major label Island Records, but only received modest success. They would release their second album, The Thin Mercury Sound in 2004, under smaller label Aezra. Smith and Willison later performed with Scott Lucas of Local H in the electronica project The Prairie Cartel. Smith later performed with Chicago noise pop band Forgotten Species. Willison would do a Portland-based solo project called Merit Badge, and has also been in the wine industry. Guitarist Suh has remained active and is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist of Chicago band The Assembly, along with his multi-instrumentalist brother, Nathan Suh. During his time in Caviar, Suh would also play in the power-pop band Woolworthy, with whom he reunited with in 2023 to record some tracks for their album "Electric Heartbreak."

Caviar has had several songs played on the radio. The songs "Tangerine Speedo" and "On the DL" were their biggest hits. "Tangerine Speedo" was featured in the first Charlie's Angels movie and "Sugarless" was featured on the soundtrack of Gone in 60 Seconds. Safeway has featured in its TV commercials two songs from Thin Mercury Sound, including "Clean Getaway" in the summer of 2005 and "Lioness" in 2004. "Tangerine Speedo" was also featured in the ending of the 2003 film The Cat in the Hat, a movie adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, as an instrumental. The track samples "El Bossa Nova" by Los Bucaneros.

A snippet of their song "The Good Times Are Over" was used in the 2008 English dub of Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku.

Discography

• Caviar (2000)
• Thin Mercury Sound (2004)

• "Tangerine Speedo" (2000 #28 Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks)