The Missingmen are a punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 trio fronted by Minutemen/fIREHOSE

FIREHOSE

Firehose was an alternative rock band consisting of Mike Watt , Ed Crawford , and George Hurley .-History:...

/Stooges

The Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...

 bassist Mike Watt

Mike Watt

Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...

. The band features Watt, guitarist Tom Watson (Slovenly, The Pair Of Pliers

The Pair of Pliers

The Pair Of Pliers is Mike Watt's second-longest running project band. It consisted of former Slovenly and current Red Krayola guitarist Tom Watson and drummer/saxophonist/harpist Vince Meghrouni as well was Watt himself. All three members shared vocal duties...

, The Jom And Terry Show

The Jom and Terry Show

The Jom and Terry Show was the backup band led by American punk legend Mike Watt for tours of the USA and Canada in 2001 and 2002...

, Red Krayola

Red Krayola

Red Krayola was a psychedelic, avant-garde rock band from Houston, Texas, formed by art students at the University of St. Thomas in 1966. The band was led by singer/guitarist and visual artist Mayo Thompson, along with drummer Frederick Barthelme and Steve Cunningham...

), and drummer Raul Morales

Raul Morales

Raul Morales, sometimes known as just "Rawl", has been one of San Pedro's most prolific drummers from the 1990s to present. He is currently the drummer for Killer Dreamer as well as Mike Watt of the Minutemen fame's current projects.-Bands and Line ups:...

 (FYP, Killer Dreamer, The Leeches, The Secondmen

The Secondmen

Mike Watt and the Secondmen is the punk rock trio formed by former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt to perform and record his third solo album, The Secondman's Middle Stand...

).

The band's name is a humorous reference to the fact that during a 2005 European tour behind Watt's album The Secondman's Middle Stand

The Secondman's Middle Stand

The Secondman's Middle Stand was Mike Watt's third solo album and the first full-length recording that he had made under his own name since the release of Contemplating The Engine Room in 1997....

, neither of the original Secondmen (Pete Mazich

Pete Mazich

Peter Mazich is a punk rock organist best known for his work with Mike Watt And The Secondmen. A classicly trained pianist, Mazich became interested in playing the organ after hearing the classic Deep Purple album Machine Head; he also counts jazz organ pioneer Jimmy Smith as an influence.A...

 and Jerry Trebotic

Jerry Trebotic

Jerry Trebotic is an American drummer, best known for his longtime association with veteran punk bassist/songwriter Mike Watt, with whom he has toured in the project bands The Jom and Terry Show and The Secondmen...

) were able to participate.

The Missingmen began performing in the autumn of 2006, opening for M. Ward

M. Ward

Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...

. Watt has stated his intention to record an album with the Missingmen since 2007, but no formal plans were made until 2009, when the group laid down the guitar and drum tracks for Hyphenated-man

Hyphenated-man

Hyphenated-Man is the fourth solo album by Mike Watt, and the first full-length recording he made under his own name since parting with Columbia Records in 2005...

in New York during a planned break in an American tour by Watt. According to Watt interviews with Guitar Worldhttp://www.hootpage.com/hoot_bassgrt2006apr.html and Bass Guitar Magazinehttp://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?sectioncode=21&storycode=17397, the album would feature short songs inspired by the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch. The album, first released in Japan in October 2010, is the first release on Watt's new independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 Clenchedwrench

Clenchedwrench

Clenchedwrench is an independent record label founded by Mike Watt, bassist for The Minutemen, fIREHOSE and The Stooges....

.

On a 2009 tour with Dinosaur Jr

Dinosaur Jr

Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005...

, Watson and Morales performed without Watt under the moniker lou barlow + the missingmen. This lineup, fronted by Dinosaur bassist and Sebadoh

Sebadoh

Sebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...

 frontman Lou Barlow

Lou Barlow

Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...

, performed material from Barlow's solo recordings.