"I'd say that the way we like to live is more the Rat Pack way of life than the Motley Crue way of life," explains Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff. "Five guys being best friends, and doing their thing every night and getting decked out and the whole booze and broads thing. That was a great time for showbiz." Without a doubt, this year has been a great time for Lit. Their ubiquitous radio anthem, "My Own Worst Enemy," has earned the quartet opening slots with Silverchair and Eve 6, and their major-label debut A Place in the Sun has, since its February release, sold an impressive 160,000 copies, and is averaging another 20,000 sales each week.

Lit has come a very long way from their early days in Orange County, Calif. Unwilling to follow the ska-and-swing revival trends like their contemporaries, the band has adhered to a blend of rock-fueled punk-pop for almost a decade. "We've just always been a straight rock band and I guess that's not always the cool thing to be," muses frontman and Jeremy's brother, A. Jay.

Though local critics trashed their 1997 indie debut, Tripping the Light Fantastic -- calling it "so five years ago," the fans connected with the intensity of the band's live show and unpretentious approach. "I think our songs for the most part are pretty down to earth," says A. Jay. "A lot of people can relate to our lyrics ... we're not too political, we're not really poetic, we're really pretty cut and dry." Probably the best example of that is in the "what the hell did I do last night?" lyric in "My Own Worst Enemy." "I had something written in my car on a little scratch paper that said 'It's no surprise to me/I am my own worst enemy' and that sort of sat in my car for awhile," explains A. Jay. "There are a lot of places you can go with being your own worst enemy and the first thing that came to my mind was the typical night out, drinking and sort of kicking yourself in the ass."

Although the band (rounded out by bassist Kevin Baldes and drummer Allen Shellenberger) is excited about their upcoming slot on this summer's Warped tour ("It's been our dream tour for some time now," says Jeremy), the brothers Popoff can hardly wait for the opportunity to do their own headlining dates and deck the stage out in high Rat Pack style. "We've got a lot of ideas," says A. Jay, who wants to combine staging elements of Eighties arena metal bands like Iron Maiden with mid-Fifties aesthetics. "We had this idea for a big giant rear view mirror with big huge fuzzy dice coming down from the ceiling and hanging over the stage," explains Jeremy. Lit even has an idea for their own version of the Maiden mascot Eddie. "Ours would be a giant front end of a Cadillac that comes out over the drums," says Jeremy. "Yeah!" adds A. Jay, "an inflatable Cadillac!"

DAVID DERBY
(May 24, 1999)