Runner & The Thermodynamics

Formed in 2000 by Marc Pinansky, who is the ex-singer of Boston's the Zips, and drummer Roger Knight of Washington, D.C.'s the Statue Factor, Runner and the Thermodynamics quickly received rave reviews for their tribute to rock music's power to transform. The addition of bassist Mike Oor opened the floodgates to the band's creativity. The trio set out on an ambitious plan to record and perform relentlessly, including a few rock operas. Without an official release, the band's buzz led to them sharing stages with the likes of Mike Watt, the Rapture, Electric Six, Broken Social Scene, the Dillinger Escape Plan, and even Ol' Dirty Bastard and Alice Cooper. They set out to release an eight-track EP produced by Oor. That release was followed by two more EPs with producers Matt Squire and Jim Buckey. Completing their self-titled full-length album for Ace Fu Records in 2003, the band produced the disc themselves. Runner and the Thermodynamics was released in March 2004. The disc's heady, emotional force jolted music listeners the world over. Having taken cues from some of rock music's fiercest bands, the band supplies substance and outside-of-the-box thinking rare in the world of rock. ~ Stephen Cramer