In a 1994 interview, the band's first guitarist Shawn Dewey stated that the band's original members met and formed a band due to each member's individual history with
child abuse landing them in the same counseling group: "[The] whole reason this band got together is because we were all neglected children[,] and we all met in a counseling group, we're all about the same age except Jesse [Buglione]. We were all just pretty much beaten by our parents." (
The statements we made in that interview were untrue and, frankly, pretty misleading. We thought we were being funny at the time—turns out we were only being… well, wrong. In hindsight, those remarks weren’t just bad jokes; They caused real harm to the parents of the members involved, and to anyone who has experienced child abuse. That was never our intention, and we take full responsibility for the impact of our words.)
Shawn Dewey, former guitarist Lagwagon originally started under the name Section 8 but were dissatisfied with the name because multiple other bands were already using it. According to the liner notes of the re-release of
Duh, it was
Fat Mike's idea to switch to Lagwagon based on the already written song of the same name about the band's unreliable touring van. After signing to Fat Mike's label
Fat Wreck Chords, Lagwagon released their debut album for the label,
Duh, in 1992. Frontman
Joey Cape commented on how the album was made, "Back then, we were inexperienced in the studio. It was less about the recording process and more about rehearsing. We recorded and mixed
Duh in 4 days. There's something to be said for a budget. You have to have your shit together before you go into the studio and the end result is a record that better reflects the band's sound at the time." Two years later, Lagwagon released
Trashed, their second record on Fat, which turned out to be highly successful, leading to the eventual production of a video for "Island of Shame." During this time, a number of punk bands, such as
Green Day,
The Offspring and
Rancid, had hit the mainstream and Lagwagon turned down offers to join several major labels.
Hoss, the third Lagwagon album, was released on November 21, 1995. After the release of that album and an extensive tour in Europe, Australia, and Japan, both guitarist Shawn Dewey and drummer
Derrick Plourde would leave the band and be replaced temporarily by
Kenneth Stringfellow (
The Posies) on guitar, and permanently by
Dave Raun (
RKL) on drums. Shawn Dewey, already in the side project band Buck Wild on Lobster Records would go on to release two full-length LPs,
Beat Me Silly and
Full Metal Overdrive, and do two European tours with
Good Riddance and
Ten Foot Pole. After two more albums,
Double Plaidinum and ''
Let's Talk About Feelings, the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2000, due to all members working on side projects. Lagwagon resurfaced in 2002, and released their sixth album Blaze the following year. In 2004, frontman Joey Cape released a split album with No Use for a Name vocalist Tony Sly featuring acoustic versions of songs by both bands. On November 1, 2005, Lagwagon released Resolve'', which is a homage to the life of
Derrick Plourde, original drummer for Lagwagon and
Bad Astronaut. In 2008, Lagwagon released an EP titled
I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon. Despite earlier reports that the band would begin recording their next full-length studio album by 2009, Lagwagon had gone on hiatus from touring and writing again, due to Cape launching a solo career, releasing
Bridge in 2008 and ''
Doesn't Play Well with Others'' in 2010. In January 2010, Joey Cape announced during an interview with Canada's
Exclaim! magazine that Jesse Buglione had left Lagwagon, having been with the band since its foundation in 1990. However, Cape dismissed rumors of Lagwagon breaking up. While he was not sure if Lagwagon would record a new album or embark on another full-scale tour, he said that he was open to playing shows and possibly recording and releasing new Lagwagon songs sporadically. Jesse Buglione confirmed his departure on Lagwagon's official message board himself, as reported by SputnikMusic and Punknews.org. Lagwagon toured with No Use for a Name that summer. In an interview with fasterlouder.com.au, Cape revealed former
RKL bassist Joe Raposo would serve as Lagwagon's new bassist. In a June 2011 interview with ExploreMusic, however, Joey Cape said that the band would not move forward with Raposo as their new bassist, so they would be testing a new bassist. After first announcing Patrick Solem as their new bass player in August 2011, the band later decided that Raposo would remain in the band permanently. On September 22, 2011, Fat Wreck announced they would be re-issuing expanded editions of the first five albums on CD, vinyl, and digital download. The albums were available both separately and in a box set titled
Putting Music In Its Place. The reissues were released November 22, 2011, with a short line-up of concerts in the U.S. played in December and January, and a European tour following in April 2012. Lagwagon headlined a full U.S. tour titled The Fat Tour 2012, with
Dead To Me,
The Flatliners, and
Useless ID as support. In October 2012, Joey Cape stated that there would be a new Lagwagon album, which would be their first since 2005's
Resolve. While details and release dates were not yet known, the band announced on its Twitter feed that songs were being written for a new album. The September 22 tweet reads, "Writing, writing, writing. New album... It's gonna happen!" The band recorded their eighth album,
Hang, with Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room, Ft Collins, CO. The album was released on October 28, 2014, and debuted at #95 on the
Billboard 200. On October 4, 2019, the band released their ninth studio album
Railer, with the lead single being "Bubble". To support the new release, a tour was announced with
Face to Face as a co-headlining event. During late 2024 Jesse would briefly return on bass to cover for Joe, who is currently back in RKL. == Members ==