Riff-shredding, ass-shaking, louder-than-life Morningwood is a glorious hodgepodge of personalities, backgrounds and influences -- much like their NYC hometown -- but that's where the pigeonholing ends.

"There's an attitude, this balls-to-the-wall feeling, you don't hear so much in New York these days," says Morningwood frontwoman Chantal Claret.?"At one time there was a grittiness here with the local bands, a passion and energy, but now it seems pretty safe."

Claret, who grew up in New York, is the youngest member of the group at 23.?She met Pedro Yanowitz (who had played drums for the Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant and Money Mark before turning to the bass) at a birthday party in 2001.

"They spontaneously asked everyone to take turns singing a birthday song on the spot," remembers Yanowitz.?"When it was Chantal's turn I thought she'd pass because she doesn't play an instrument, but she launched into a song she wrote when she was sixteen with no accompaniment and her voice just blew everyone away.?You could hear a pin drop.?I was hooked and Morningwood was born that night."

The newly christened duo immediately began writing songs together, and was soon joined by former Cibo Matto drummer John Paul Keenon O.

After becoming the stuff of local legend for their off-the-wall live shows -- which always provoke a lot of bumping, grinding and dancing, both onstage and off - Morningwood were spontaneously added to a showcase for Capitol Records executives where they proceeded to completely wipe the stage with the intended headliners and were soon signed to the label.

Ceaselessly inspired by the insanity of their home city but dying to get away from the endless distraction of living in it, the band was eager to record their debut elsewhere.?That's when famed producer Gil Norton called to invite the band to London.

Norton, who rarely works with new bands (but who has been responsible for masterworks by everybody from Echo and the Bunnymen to the Pixies to the Foo Fighters) got a hold of Morningwood's demos and reached out to the band directly to produce their debut album.

The band moved to England to record at London's Rak Studios, and in a house adjacent to the studio the band holed up for three months and created their self-titled debut record.?"There were no girlfriends, no boyfriends, no family - it was like summer camp except with analogue equipment and Gil Norton," says Chantal.

Most of the Morningwood catalogue used for the record was already written by Chantal and Pedro by the time they got to the studio, but a new sonic hugeness courtesy of Gil Norton turned the songs into bigger animals altogether.?"Jetsetter" was born via a phone call in which Pedro, who was on tour in Texas, played a riff for Chantal in London.?She wrote the first line after waking up in the middle of night with the riff in her head and they finished it the next time they were together in New York.?"Take Off Your Clothes" was the first song the band recorded together.