The band's first performance was at a party in banjo player Brad Kluck's backyard.
Their 1996 debut full-length album was Statutory Grape and was produced by Mickey P. Original synth player and backing vocalist Lisa Papineau left the band partway through recording the debut album to pursue a major label deal with her other band, Pet, and was replaced by Mary Ellen Mason.
Sugar Fix Recordings released this CD, which was named after a Mopar paint color from the 1950s and featured a purple target on the cover.
Sissy Bar played at South by Southwest and North by Northwest in support of this album and gained in notoriety.
They competed (tongue-in-cheek) in a Battle of the Bands that offered a major label deal to the winner, and narrowly lost to Save Ferris.