| Lemon Demon | |
| Origin: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2003–present |
| Current Members: |
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Lemon Demon is a musical project and band created by American comedian and musician Neil Cicierega in 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lemon Demon's studio work is performed solely by Cicierega, who is the project's sole official member. Live performances also include a backing band, with previous performances consisting of Alora Lanzillotta, Charles Sergio, Anthony Wry, Dave Kitsberg, and Greg Lanzillotta. As of 2024, Lemon Demon has released seven studio albums and five EPs.
Neil Cicierega began releasing instrumental music and several remixes of video game music under the moniker Trapezoid in the late 90s and early 2000s, creating 3 albums whilst frequently active on Adventure Game Studio.[1] The artist name was changed retroactively to "Deporitaz" (an anagram of "Trapezoid") as an existing band called Trapezoid demanded that he change it.[2] On January 21, 2003, Cicierega released Lemon Demon's first song, "Don't Be Like the Sun", later saying "eventually I started experimenting with singing, and once I felt ready to do that full time, I christened myself Lemon Demon and went into it head on".[3] He then released his first four albums: Clown Circus (2003), Live from the Haunted Candle Shop (2003), Hip to the Javabean (2004), and Damn Skippy (2005).[1]
In late 2005, Cicierega and animator Shawn Vulliez released a Flash animated music video for Lemon Demon's "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny".[4] The video amassed over 6.5 million views in 6 months on Newgrounds and topped the "Funny Five" on The Dr. Demento Show for several weeks, becoming the No. 1 Request for 2006.[3] [5] The song was later included in Lemon Demon's fifth album Dinosaurchestra (2006).[6] An updated recording of it was released to the Rock Band Network in 2010.[7] Lemon Demon's sixth studio album, View-Monster (2008),[8] features "Modify" as a bonus track, which later became a popular song on TikTok.[9] A remix of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is additionally included as a bonus track on the album.[10]
Cicierega released Spirit Phone as Lemon Demon's seventh studio album on February 29, 2016.[1] The album was the No. 1 best-selling album on Bandcamp for the first week of its release.[11] On July 10, 2018, it was announced that copies of the album on CD, cassette, and vinyl would be sold through Needlejuice Records, who would later physically distribute remastered versions of all of Lemon Demon's studio work dating back to 2005.[6] "Touch-Tone Telephone" later became Lemon Demon's most-streamed song, surpassing "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" in September 2020. This was then surpassed by "Fine" in July 2024, which had garnered over 75 million streams on Spotify at the time.[12]
Cicierega uploaded the song "Funkytown" to his Patreon page in 2017, later contributing it to the 2020 charity compilation album Needlejustice, which benefits the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.[13] It would later be released as an official single alongside "One Weird Tip" on January 21, 2023.[2]
See main article: The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.
On December 22, 2005, Lemon Demon and animator Shawn Vulliez released the Flash music video "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" on Newgrounds. The video features cartoon versions of dozens of real-life celebrities and fictional characters, largely from 1980s and 1990s pop culture, in a large century-long brawl.[14] It gained a cult following among web enthusiasts and became the "user's choice" on December 28, 2005, accumulating 6.5 million views within 6 months.[3] It appeared on several other websites including Albino Blacksheep.[4]
On June 1, 2010, Cicierega released a video and single titled "Brodyquest" on his main YouTube channel, picturing famous actor Adrien Brody going about his daily life in a comedic manner.[15] The video became a viral meme, later receiving placement on the EP Nature Tapes (2014).[2] It would be brought up by Stephen Colbert during his interview with Adrien Brody in a 2016 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[16] The video was also featured on Polygon's list of the greatest achievements in dumb internet video.[17]
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Extended plays
Official members
Live members