The Koopas (2)

Formed in early 1999 (rumored to be on Valentine's Day '99, but who knows?), The Koopas were comprised of 2/3rds of the Texas punk-pop group JOE JITSU - Charmin' Charlie on bass and Tron Carter on drums, along with Poppy Robbie (who, at the time, was most recognizable for his efforts with an online pop punk review ezine called "The Punkhouse") on lead vocals and guitar. The three members had grown up together, playing alongside in various short-lived childhood musical projects and at this time were all in their final year of high school in their hometown of Silsbee, Texas. After only their second show, the band temporarily switched bass players during the next year of 2000, bringing in another close friend, Jacob Vance in Charlie's place while he returned his attention to his primary project, Joe Jitsu. The Koopas began playing semi-regularly in the Beaumont/Houston area of Southeast Texas and could soon typically be seen playing alongside other underground Texas pop punk bands of the time like Joe Jitsu, The Wallys, The Diabetics, The Put-Downs, The Dropouts and The Gargamels. Soon after recording and releasing a cdr demo containing live tracks which was given out/sold in very small numbers at early shows, the group recorded an 8 song project which was initially planned to be a srcd with Mutant Pop Records, but then was ultimately picked up by Smelly Menace, a small upstart label from Texas, as their first release in 2001. By this time Jacob had moved and Charlie had taken back his post as bass player in the band - for history sake, the recording was coupled up with the two demo tracks from the demo cdr, making the Smelly Menace project more of a complete history of the recordings of the band before the (then) present time: all of the recordings with Jacob Vance on bass. Later that year, in Fall 2001 with Charlie back on board, the band released their most notable record, self-releasing a 6 song 7" EP titled "When Opposites Attack" under the name of Top Five Records. The record received rave reviews from those in the pop punk community and helped the band reach a few new ears outside of their local area and abroad. The Koopas soon recorded once again in early 2002, material that was intended to become an EP for Mutant Pop Records, entitled "New Wave of An Old Sound". Soon the label would go on hiatus and the release got lost in the shuffle of time. The band continued until mid-2002. September 2021, The Koopas 'In Reverse' collection compiling the group's complete recorded works, remastered, was released by Mom's Basement Records in conjunction with Something to Do Records on limited CD format and all digital platforms. Currently, Charlie is fronting BREAKLIGHTS, Tron is playing drums in DROPPED OUT, and Robbie continues to release material under his solo moniker. PAST RELEASES: (OUT OF PRINT / NO LONGER AVAILABLE!) The Koopas - 'When Opposites Attack' 7" EP Top Five Records Recorded October, 2000 Released November, 2001 20 black vinyl test w/ color sleeve 100 on green vinyl w/ color sleeve 2nd press - 200 red vinyl (152 w/ yellow sleeve, 25 w/ black & white sleeve, 23 w/ alternate art "Japan-only" export sleeve) 1. Math of Love 2. Nothing Unexpected 3. Whimper 4. Those Three Little Words 5. Let Me Go 6. Fool The Koopas - 'Sex, Lies, and Video Games' CD (The Jacob Danger Koopa Recordings) Smelly Menace Records Recorded April 2000 Released April, 2001 limited to 100, hand-numbered 1. Me and My NES 2. No Way Out 3. Virtual Pet 4. Tomorrow You Break My Heart 5. She's Outta Sight (and Outta My Mind) 6. Once Upon a Time the End 7. Jenna My Love 8. You Said Goodbye 9. Lonely Teens Club (demo) 10. Shut Up (demo) The Koopas - 'demo' cdr self released Recorded fall 1999, Feb. 2000 Released March, 2000 limited to 30 1. You Said Goodbye (live - Leap Year Fest 1) 2. Virtual Pet (live - Leap Year Fest 1) 3. Once Upon a Time (live - Leap Year Fest 1) 4. Lonely Teens Club 5. Shut Up V/A - Are You Ready to Rock n' Roll All Night Long? free COMP w/ Bam Bigelow Zine (KOOPAS Interview) Released June, 2001 limited to 300, various colored sleeves - Italy import featured 'Tomorrow You Break My Heart' from 'SLVG' srcd RECORD REVIEWS: 'When Opposites Attack' 7" EP Reviews: "Out of Texas, these guys have the Queers/Screeching Weasel thing down pretty well, but with less of the punk pretension and more pop hooks than you can shake a stick at. Bands like this seem to have died out in recent years, but with the return of the Mutant Pop label from oblivion and bands like this that put the bubblegum melodies and shy guy lyrics back into pop punk, you've got the beginnings of a renaissance for great heavily melodic pop punk. Totally fun." ..-Steve, Shredding Paper 13 "American Pop Punk is dead? If you find yourself saying that to your stupid pretentious friends, then you haven't heard The Koopas. Blasting out of Texas is this brilliant piece of pop punk history. If American Pop Punk is, in fact, dead, then this record will lead the group to revive it. And I believe they will. Poppy Robbie and crew knock out six tracks on this 7" (not bad for a seven-incher!)--all of which is filled to the brim with buzzing guitars, a rocking backbeat, and wonderful vocals. I've been in love with this 7" since it came to my doorstep, playing it almost every day before work and humming its choruses while dragging through another day. This is a piece of eye candy also. Great full color art and a nice tasty slab of olive green wax. Yum. The Koopas restore some faith in American Pop Punk. Maybe now we won't have to completely rely on Europe to feed the hungry masses. Buy this now and own a part of the 2k pop punk history." ..-Mike Welch, Now Wave "90’s pop-punk, once thought to be either dead or terminally ill, seems to be coming out of its coma---especially in Europe. And now Texan lads The Koopas are making a case for the continuing relevance of three-chord cotton candy on American soil. Like The Peabodys circa 1999-2000, these kids find a winning combination by mining the poppiest elements of mid-period Screeching Weasel and eschewing any pretense of being “punk”. So it’s punky pop rather than poppy punk---and it’s pretty damn good! The band’s latest effort, WHEN OPPOSITES ATTACK, is a 7” vinyl affair that has me feeling like it’s 1996 all over again! Remember those pre-Viagra, pre-boyband good old days? When Clinton was president, Leo DiCaprio was still a waifish pretty boy, and Mutant Pop Records was the hottest thing going? Ah, yes: love songs, power chords, and gushing melodies! This is classic Mutant Pop-style lovestruck adolescent bop all the way---but fine production, a solid guitar buzz, and a firm grasp of a timeless pop aesthetic put these guys WAY ahead of all the ultra-generic wanna-be WeaselQueers! How could I NOT dig a bad with the punchy musical chops of ROCKET TO RUSSIA-era Ramones and the tender soul of the Modern Lovers?! All hail the shamelessly sensitive bleeding-heart-bubblepunk splash! ..- Josh Rutledge, Now Wave "This Pop Punk band brings as much to the table as the mighty Queers and Screeching Weasel, if that's your scene check this out, you'll be glad you did. This put me in a good mood right away! I approve!" ..-Honkey Thomas, Under the Volcano 69 "This is pretty musically straight-forward. Simple pop-punk songs that sound like the RIVERDALES if Ben Weasel sang all of the songs. The first song is a little acoustic song that actually sounds like it could have been on DR. FRANK's solo album, clever lyrics and all, but that's the biggest departure you're going to get from the pop-punk formula. Lyrics are about love and girls who don't like Mutant Pop bands. Standard, but not awful." ..-Max Tremblay, MRR 288 'Sex, Lies, and Video Games' CD Reviews: "There's some serious SCREECHING WEASEL damage on display here, which in this day in age is a decidedly mixed blessing. But their garagy production, RAMONES-y wall of guitar sound, and juvenile snottiness lift the KOOPAS far above today's hordes of generic pop-punk bands. Most of the songs on here are pretty catchy, too, so if you're looking for some exuberant, non-commercialized poppy punk fix you needn't look any further" ..- Jeff Bale, Hit List (Sept. 01') "First up is THE KOOPAS Sex, Lies, and Video Games. First planned as part of the Mutant Pop Short-Run series, the band gave it over to Smelly Menace instead, who did it up in a tray card with a silk-screened disc and computer printed insert card. For those of you hip to the band's newest single When Opposites Attack, don't expect the same high-level hits but did expect buzz-caked, cotton-ball-up-the-nose vocalled songs about heart murdering girls with at least two hits out of ten tracks. Smile along as Poppy Robbie croons and laments over the lose of girl after girl. A nice document of the beginnings of one of buzz-pop's newest sensations." ..- excerpt taken from 'short run cd article' by Lew Houston for the Mutant Pop mailorder catalog (2002) PAST SHOW LIST: Jan. 27th, 2007 @ Vortex | Beaumont, TX Surprise Set w/ Molly Maguires and Ryan Gist Feb. 26th, 2005 @ Art Studio | Beaumont, TX - @ Final Leap Year Fest w/ Atomic Trinity, Joe Jitsu, Mayday, Bullets on Broadway and more May 18, 2002 @ Helio's | Houston, TX w/ Saturday Night Kids and The Jewws February 23, 2002 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX @ Leap Year Fest 3 w/ The Put Downs, Joe Jitsu and Dropouts Oct. 26th, 2001 @ Tyrell Park | Beaumont, TX w/ Japcrash, ANG, Diabetics, Putdowns, and Mayday June 23rd, 2001 @ Imagination Station | Beaumont, TX w/ Putdowns, Janitors, Zero Cool, and Trinidad Fiasco April 28th, 2001 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX w/ The Jewws, Antifreeze, and Junior Varsity Feb. 23rd, 2001 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX @ Leap Year Fest 2 w/ Putdowns and FFFFA Nov. 11th, 2000 @ The Oven | Houston, TX w/ The Gargamels, Suffragettes, Dropouts, and Wallys Nov. 3, 2000 @ District Plaza | Beaumont, TX w/ Whoa Sam and The Put-Downs July 08, 2000 @ District Plaza Beaumont, TX w/ The Wallys, Gargamels, and Joe Jitsu June 18, 2000 @ Greek Tony's | Spring, TX w/ The Proteens and The Drop Outs March 25, 2000 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX w/ The Diabetics, Mayday, and Bain March 17, 2000 @ The Mausoleum | Houston, TX w/ Henry the Eighths, The Wallys, and The Drop Outs Feb. 26, 2000 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX @ Leap Year Fest 1 w/ Lacky, Scooter, Joe Jitsu, Zero Cool, Mayday, and Diabetics Feb. 19, 2000 @ The Art Studio | Beaumont, TX w/ The Diabetics Dec. 4, 1999 @ The Oven | Houston, TX w/ The Wallys, The Drop Outs, and Substandard Nov. 20, 1999 @ House Show | Warren, TX w/ Joe Jitsu Sept. 17, 1999 @ KC Hall | Beaumont, TX w/ The Diabetics, Zero Cool, and Lacky.... May 21, 1999 @ House Show | Warren, TX w/ Joe Jitsu....