History
Perth-based band Ammonia started life as Fuzzswirl. With a name change, Ammonia supported You Am I and overseas visitors Redd Kross, and then signed to Sony's development label Murmur (home to silverchair). Ammonia issued the CD EP `In a Box' (November 1994), which reached #15 on the West Australian mainstream charts and the national alternative Top 10. Like `In a Box', the second CD EP, `Sleepwalking' (March 1995), outlined the band's brand of guitar-driven power pop.

It was the success of the infectious CD singles `Drugs' (September) and `Suzi Q' (December), plus the Kevin `Caveman' Shirley-produced album Mint 400 (September) during 1995, however, that established the band at the forefront of national indie-pop. Mint 400 showcased the band's uncanny pop sensibility. `Drugs' reached #32 on the mainstream chart in November. `Drugs' was later voted #27 on the 1995 Triple J Hottest 100 list. A spot on the 1996 Big Day Out national tour and the release of the third CD single from Mint 400, `Ken Carter' (#50 in February 1996) followed.

Epic Records issued Mint 400 and `Drugs' in the USA, and the band toured the States to a positive response. `Drugs' went on to sell over 50 000 copies in the USA. Ammonia issued a new CD single, `Satin Only' (October 1996). In 1997 the band recorded a new album in New York with producer Dean Friedman (Flaming Lips), with the first CD single `You're Not the Only One Who Feels this Way' appearing in August. As with other contemporary three-piece bands like silverchair, You Am I, Regurgitator, Spiderbait, Pollyanna and Even, Ammonia combined pop economy, power, melody and rock intensity in equal measure.

‘You’re Not the Only One who Feels This Way’ logged the #43 placement on the 1997 Triple J Hottest 100 list. In late 1997, to fill out the live sound, Ammonia toured as a four-piece with temporary member Paul Dempsey (on loan from Something for Kate) on guitar. Following that, Phill Matt (guitar, vocals) joined as a permanent member. Interestingly, Matt was the original Fuzzswirl bass player in 1992. Ammonia’s new CD single, ‘Monochrome’ (February 1998), included a cover of Blondie’s ‘Union City Blue’ as a B-side track.

The second album, the New York-recorded Eleventh Avenue, appeared in May 1998. The initial pressing of the album featured a Limited Edition, 6-track bonus CD of live and rare tracks, including ‘Drugs’ (live). The album made its debut at #20 on the national chart, but fell out of the Top 40 a week later. The third CD single, ‘Keep on My Side’ (June 1998), featured melodic rock akin to UK bands like Radiohead or Teenage Fanclub. The album’s overall lack of success, however, precipitated Ammonia’s break up in December 1998. Just prior to the break up, Ammonia contributed an exclusive track, ‘Keeping My Hands Tied’, to the original soundtrack of the Australian feature film, Occasional Course Language (November). Dave Johnstone had his new band, Parlour, on the road by mid-1999.