With a name like Sick Puppies, you wouldn't think hugs would play a major role in the gutsy indie crew's rise to fame, but they do. The band's mojo took off in 2006 when singer Shimon Moore met performance artist Juan Mann, who carried a "Free Hugs" sign around a mall. Moore used him as the centerpiece of the video for "All the Same" and by the end of 2006 the heartwarming video had ten million views. Moore met bassist Emma Anzai in 1997 over a shared love of Silverchair and the Living End plus many of the other angst rock/punk rock bands from their native Australia. While many pop punk bands are fly-by-night, Sick Puppies placed album after album on the American charts, and were a touring and radio staple of the late-'00s.

















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