Burlington, ON · alt-rock · post-grunge

Finger Eleven

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Canadian alt-rock with a knack for a slinky, unexpected groove under the radio singles — 'Paralyzer' the funkiest thing rock radio played that decade.

Finger Eleven began at Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington, Ontario, in 1990, performing as Rainbow Butt Monkeys with Scott Anderson on vocals, James Black and Rick Jackett on guitars, Sean Anderson on bass and Rob Gommerman on drums. The band won a local radio Rock Search competition in 1994 and signed to Mercury Records, releasing four EPs and the album Letters from Chutney in 1995.

In 1997 the band renamed itself Finger Eleven, borrowing the phrase from a demo of their song 'Thin Spirits,' and released Tip, produced by Arnold Lanni. Mercury dropped the band afterward, and Wind-up Records re-released the album in 1998. Heavy touring followed, including the Vans Warped Tour and dates opening for Creed and Fuel; drummer Rich Beddoe replaced Rob Gommerman around this time.

The Greyest of Blue Skies (2000) went Gold in Canada and produced songs picked up for the film Scream 3 and the show Daria. Fronted by Anderson, the band worked a post-grunge template early on but showed an unusual interest in rhythm and space, something that surfaced clearly on 'One Thing,' the 2003 ballad from their self-titled album that gave them their first US Hot 100 entry.

That self-titled record went Gold in the US and Platinum in Canada. Them vs. You vs. Me (2007) followed with 'Paralyzer,' a stuttering, near-danceable single that topped the Canadian Hot 100 and both US rock charts, reached number six on the Hot 100, and became the band's biggest international hit; it won a Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2008.

Later albums, Life Turns Electric (2010) and Five Crooked Lines (2015), kept moving between heavier riff-driven material and more restrained songwriting, with the guitar interplay of James Black and Rick Jackett a constant. Finger Eleven ranked among Canada's best-selling bands through much of this period.

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alt-rockpost-grunge