Synonymous with Perth’s trademark indie-pop sound of the late 1990s is the name Jebediah. After forming in 1994 while students at Leeming Senior High School in Perth’s southern suburbs, the band went on to deliver four studio albums and a seemingly endless string of Triple J favourites.

Like fellow sandgropers Eskimo Joe, Jebediah’s big break came through the National Campus Band Competition. Taking out the national prize in 1995, the four-piece started attracting attention from labels and winning festival and support slots. Kicking off 1996 opening for Beck, Sonic Youth, Pavement and Rancid at Summersault, they went on to release the Twitch EP before signing to Sony’s Murmur label.

In September 1997 Jebediah released debut album Slightly Odway, which peaked at number seven on the ARIA album charts and made them one of the top live acts in the country. With huge hits in the form of Leaving Home, Teflon, Military Strongmen and Harpoon, Slightly Odway broke the band to a mainstream following as well as scoring them a support spot on The Smashing Pumpkins’ Australian tour in 1998.

Of Someday Shambles, the band’s second album, came at the back end of 1999, and with Animal and Feet Touch the Ground dominating Triple J airwaves, the band were again favourites on the summer festival circuit. They went on to tour the record internationally and made names for themselves with the release of a split EP with US pop-punk act Jimmy Eat World.

After response to Jebediah, the band’s eponymous third album, paled in comparison to what the band’s first albums achieved, Jebediah split with Sony in 2003. Their tenure was capped with Gleesides and Sparities, a collection of B-sides and rarities, featuring fan favourites Monument and Clint.

The following year, Kevin Mitchell, Chris Daymond, Vanessa Thornton and Brett Mitchell returned with Braxton Hicks, a self-funded album that featured the single First Time. Since Braxton Hicks, the band has been on hiatus, with Kevin selling bucketloads under the alter-ego Bob Evans and Thornton playing bass in Felicity Groom’s band, The Black Black Smoke. The band will close 2007 with an appearance at Mandurah’s Rollercoaster festival, before heading into the studio to record album number five in 2008.