Meet… Defecting Grey

Written By Mike Greenblatt
Defecting Grey

Brothers CJ Grogan (vocals/guitar) and Vince Grogan (bass) have been in a lot of bands together:  The Phantom 5, The Grievous Angels, Gigantic, Buzzed Meg. Their longtime drummer friend Mike Polilli was in Buzzkill and Atom Driver. The three of them—for the last seven years—make up Defecting Grey combining pure power, speed and melody like their inspirations in Husker Du, The Minutemen and The Jam. They recently celebrated the release of their new Circuits (Fake Chapter Records) at Pino’s in Highland Park. The label is out of Maywood and boasts such bands as The Bright Road, The Nuclears, Bayaz, Thirsty Curses and Dryer.

There’s a sweet spot where punk meet power pop and Defecting Grey has been defining it since 2017. Their Rising Son came out in 2018, followed up by Run Silent a year later. Arc was birthed in 2022 and featured the six-minute+ psychedelic “7 Hunters.” The first single off the new Circuits is “Gibralter,” a primal yell that wouldn’t be out-of-place on Little Steven’s “Underground Garage.” “Flat Earth Theory” is power pop and “Blind Country” veers towards, uh, country music. Their Jersey cred is well-established:  CJ’s from Hightstown, Vince lives in Westfield and Polilli’s in Piscataway.

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Mike Greenblatt

MIKE GREENBLATT has been writing for Goldmine magazine and New Jersey's Aquarian Weekly for more than 35 years. His writing subjects fill the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He's interviewed Joe Cocker, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Carlos Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, and members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. He was 18 when he attended Woodstock in 1969.

In addition to writing about music, Greenblatt has worked on publicity campaigns for The Animals, Pat Benatar, Johnny Winter, Tommy James and Richard Branson, among others. He is currently the editor of The Jersey Sound.

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Meet… Francis Fell