TSOL
Encyclopedia
TSOL is an American punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band which formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

. TSOL is short for True Sounds of Liberty although they are rarely referred to by their full name.

Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

, TSOL's music varies on each release. They have also released music in the styles of deathrock
Deathrock
Deathrock is a term used to identify a sub-genre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in 1979.-Characteristics:...

, art punk
Art punk
Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....

, horror punk
Horror punk
Horror punk is a music genre that mixes Gothic and punk rock sounds with morbid imagery and lyrics, which are often influenced by horror films...

, and other varieties of punk music.

History

Formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, TSOL originated as a hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 band, developing from earlier bands Johnny Coathanger and the Abortions, and SS Cult. Later on Vicious Circle would form and TSOL would take a brief hiatus.

Featuring the lineup of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, Jim Woo and James DeLauge), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes, the band's first release was a harshly political eponymous EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love," "World War III" and "Abolish Government."

Evolved sound

After their debut 4 song TSOL EP EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 in 1979 and 1980 they released Dance With Me
Dance With Me (TSOL album)
Dance with Me is the debut album of American punk band TSOL. A departure from the entirely political nature of their previous release , "Dance With Me" is far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia, and the song "Silent Scream", which is made up entirely of horror movie...

. A departure from the political themes of the previous release, "Dance With Me" was far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...

, and the song "Silent Scream," which is made up entirely of horror movie clichés. Their most popular release, both then and to this day, the album earned them the title of the "West Coast Misfits" (a reference to Glenn Danzig's band on the East Coast), and has made the band a favorite amongst horror punk
Horror punk
Horror punk is a music genre that mixes Gothic and punk rock sounds with morbid imagery and lyrics, which are often influenced by horror films...

 fans.

They later signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...

, for which they released the Weathered Statues
Weathered Statues
Weathered Statues is a compilation album by the punk band TSOL, released in 1997 by Nitro Records.The album consists of the five songs of the T.S.O.L...

7" extended play and the Beneath the Shadows
Beneath the Shadows
Beneath the Shadows is an album by the punk band TSOL. It was reissued in 2001 by Nitro Records.-Track listing:*All Songs Written By TSOL.#"Soft Focus" - 3:33#"Forever Old" - 2:51#"She'll Be Saying" - 2:48#"Beneath The Shadows" - 3:51...

album which featured, for the first time, keyboard player Greg Kuehn who added a new dimension to the band. Around this period their style had taken yet another new direction, moving towards a highly experimental and varied style, featuring art punk and psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 leanings, as well as their customary horror themes. There was a violent backlash against this change among fans at the time, and when on tour the band was harshly heckled. Today, Beneath the Shadows is acclaimed by fans and critics as an achievement in art punk
Art punk
Art punk or avant punk refers to punk rock of an experimental bent, or with connections to art school, the art world, or the avant garde....

 and new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 experimentation, and while Dance With Me remains the favorite release for most people, it is Beneath the Shadows that separates TSOL from the Hardcore genre.

Amid personal turmoil, Jack Grisham
Jack Grisham
Jack Grisham is an American rock musician, raconteur and political activist. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. , which emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Social Distortion. Grisham has also fronted the bands The Joykiller, Tender...

 and Todd Barnes left the band and were replaced by singer Joe Wood (Grisham's brother-in-law) and drummer Mitch Dean. This new line-up released the album Change Today?
Change Today?
Change Today? is an album by the punk band T.S.O.L. recorded in 1984. This album included founding members Mike Roche and Ron Emory.- Track listing :# "Blackmagic" - 2:34# "Just Like Me" - 2:43# "In Time" - 2:12# "Red Shadows" - 3:46...

in 1984 on Enigma Records
Enigma Records
Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...

, which continuous the post-punk direction and finished this era with Revenge
Revenge (T.S.O.L. album)
Revenge is the fourth album of gothic rock/punk rock band TSOL. This was the bands second release on Enigma Records. Along with Change Today? and Hit & Run, Revenge also saw release on Enigma Records' subsidiary label, Restless Records....

 in 1986, which featured more polished production but still kept some punk and hardcore tunes.

Grisham
Jack Grisham
Jack Grisham is an American rock musician, raconteur and political activist. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. , which emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Social Distortion. Grisham has also fronted the bands The Joykiller, Tender...

 has gone on separately to a lengthy recording career.

Metal experimentation

The band became friends with Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...

 and TSOL t-shirts can be seen in the GNR video for "Sweet Child o' Mine
Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S...

", most notably on drummer Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...

. They followed up with an album in a similar style, titled Hit and Run. Before it was released, original guitarist Ron Emory
Ron Emory
Ron Emory is an American rock musician and guitarist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L. . An original member of the band, founded in Southern California in 1979, Emory left in 1987 prior to the release of the album Hit and Run. In 1996, he joined the other original members of T.S.O.L. to reform the...

 quit the band, leaving Mike Roche as the sole original member.

TSOL were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to Hit and Run. They eventually hired former Dino's Revenge guitar player and actor Marshall Rohner
Marshall Rohner
Marshall Lambert Rohner was a guitarist whose credits include: TSOL, The Cruzados, Jimmy and The Mustangs, Kenny Brown and Dino's Revenge....

. They released a blues-metal album titled Strange Love in 1990. Mike Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving no original member in the band. A compilation album entitled Hell and Back Together 1984–1990 was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. Murphy Karges, later of Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...

, briefly replaced Roche on bass as did Josh Also.

This late-eighties lineup was popular enough to invite bookings in Brazil and Argentina, where the Grisham-led band hold no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as TSOL. Since 1996, Wood has been joined by guitarists including Mike Martt and Drac Conley, drummers Steve "Sully" O’Sullivan and Mitch Dean and bassist Dave Mello, who joined the band near the end of its Enigma years run. Additionally, Wood has pursued musical work in Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones and Cisco Poison.

Original TSOL reform

Meanwhile, the original members started playing shows featuring the band's early material under the name TSOL, often playing the same cities, the same nights as the other TSOL. Since Joe Wood and Mitch Dean now owned the rights to the name TSOL, they threatened to sue the original members, who released a live album of their early material under the name "Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes" but stopped playing together soon after because of drug problems. They also did some gigs during this time as "LOST," TSOL backwards.

In 1996, most of the original members settled down and realized that they still had a passion for their music and that fans wanted them to reunite. In 1999, they fought with Wood for rights to the name and won before joining the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name TSOL.

Todd Barnes died of a brain aneurysm on December 6, 1999, at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien and released the "Anticop" single and the albums Disappear and Divided We Stand on Nitro Records
Nitro Records
Nitro Records is an independent record label created and owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel . They started the label in 1994. The label is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notably AFI...

, the latter of which featured Greg Kuehn back on keyboards. The Original TSOL recorded two more full length albums. In September 2007, Cider City Records released the posthumous live album Live From Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two "farewell" performances.

Their departure was short-lived, however, as they returned to perform a couple of local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in Feb. 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I.

They are an independent band under the Nitro Records
Nitro Records
Nitro Records is an independent record label created and owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel . They started the label in 1994. The label is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notably AFI...

 banner, which was started by Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland
Dexter Holland
Bryan Keith "Dexter" Holland is the singer and rhythm guitarist for the California punk rock band The Offspring...

, for whom TSOL is cited as an influence.

In December 2008, the band, in cooperation with Hurley International
Hurley International
Hurley International is a clothing company located in Costa Mesa, California founded by Bob Hurley. The company puts emphasis on skateboarding, surfing, music, and "fun"...

, entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads
Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads
Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads is a studio album released by American punk rock band TSOL. The album was released for free as a download through Hurley...

which was, as the title suggests, made available as a free download through Hurley's website on January 8, 2009.

Film

In 1981, director Paul Young made Urban Struggle: The Battle of The Cuckoo's Nest, a film which features live performances by TSOL, as well as several other Orange County punk and hardcore bands. Dave Markey's 1982 film The Slog Movie also features live TSOL performances. Their music is also featured in the 1984 movie Suburbia
Suburbia (film)
Suburbia, also known as Rebel Streets and The Wild Side, is a 1984 film written and directed by Penelope Spheeris about suburban punks who run away from home. The kids take up a minimalist, punk lifestyle by squatting in abandoned suburban tract homes...

, the 1985 version of popular horror movie Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa....

, Summer Sessions (Skateboarding Video) in 1985 and Dangerously Close
Dangerously Close
-Plot:At an elite school, a group of student who call themselves "The Sentinels" begin terrorizing their socially undesirable classmates. Soon, one of their targets ends up brutally murdered....

in 1986. They were also mentioned in the documentary Punk's Not Dead. The 1986 Billabong's legendary 'Surf into Summer 86' featured TSOL and Agent Orange on a soundtrack.

Members

  • Jack Grisham
    Jack Grisham
    Jack Grisham is an American rock musician, raconteur and political activist. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. , which emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Social Distortion. Grisham has also fronted the bands The Joykiller, Tender...

     - vocals
  • Ron Emory
    Ron Emory
    Ron Emory is an American rock musician and guitarist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L. . An original member of the band, founded in Southern California in 1979, Emory left in 1987 prior to the release of the album Hit and Run. In 1996, he joined the other original members of T.S.O.L. to reform the...

     - guitar
  • Mike Roche - bass
  • Tiny Bubz - Drums
  • Greg Kuehn - piano, synthesizers

Former members

  • Todd Barnes (deceased) - drums
  • Murphy Karges (born Matthew Murphy Karges) - bass
  • Joe Wood - vocals, guitar
  • Mitch Dean - drums
  • Marshall Rohner
    Marshall Rohner
    Marshall Lambert Rohner was a guitarist whose credits include: TSOL, The Cruzados, Jimmy and The Mustangs, Kenny Brown and Dino's Revenge....

     - guitars
  • Jay O'Brien from ALLDay - drums
  • Travis Johnson
    Travis Johnson
    Travis Johnson is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft...

     - drums
  • Billy Blaze - drums
  • Frank Agnew
    Frank Agnew
    Frank Agnew is an American guitarist, best known for being a member of punk band The Adolescents.Agnew joined The Adolescents in 1980 after leaving Social Distortion. He left when The Adolescents broke up in the summer of 1981, and joined the band Legal Weapon with Steve, and then played with TSOL...

     - guitar
  • Jay Bentley
    Jay Bentley
    Jay Dee Bentley is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group Bad Religion. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1983 and 1985.-Bad Religion:...

     - bass

Studio albums

  • Dance with Me
    Dance With Me (TSOL album)
    Dance with Me is the debut album of American punk band TSOL. A departure from the entirely political nature of their previous release , "Dance With Me" is far darker and more macabre, featuring such themes as necrophilia, and the song "Silent Scream", which is made up entirely of horror movie...

    (1981)
  • Beneath the Shadows
    Beneath the Shadows
    Beneath the Shadows is an album by the punk band TSOL. It was reissued in 2001 by Nitro Records.-Track listing:*All Songs Written By TSOL.#"Soft Focus" - 3:33#"Forever Old" - 2:51#"She'll Be Saying" - 2:48#"Beneath The Shadows" - 3:51...

    (1982)
  • Change Today?
    Change Today?
    Change Today? is an album by the punk band T.S.O.L. recorded in 1984. This album included founding members Mike Roche and Ron Emory.- Track listing :# "Blackmagic" - 2:34# "Just Like Me" - 2:43# "In Time" - 2:12# "Red Shadows" - 3:46...

    (1984)
  • Revenge
    Revenge (T.S.O.L. album)
    Revenge is the fourth album of gothic rock/punk rock band TSOL. This was the bands second release on Enigma Records. Along with Change Today? and Hit & Run, Revenge also saw release on Enigma Records' subsidiary label, Restless Records....

    (1986)
  • Hit and Run (1987)
  • Strange Love (1990)
  • Disappear (2001)
  • Divided We Stand (2003)
  • Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads
    Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads
    Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads is a studio album released by American punk rock band TSOL. The album was released for free as a download through Hurley...

    (2009)

Compilation albums

  • Rat Music for Rat People (1982)
  • American Youth Report
    American Youth Report
    American Youth Report is an American punk compilation originally released in 1982 and reissued on CD in 1991.-Track listing:# "One for All" - Modern Warfare# "Only Gonna Die" - Bad Religion# "Catholic Boy" - Channel 3# "Losing Battle" - Adolescents...

    (1982)
  • Enigma Variations
    Enigma Variations (album)
    The Enigma Variations is a compilation album of newer artists that were on Enigma Records or one of its subsidiaries. It was originally released as a double LP and cassette, but was then subsequently also released as a CD with a reduced number of tracks. The album was compiled by Steve Pross and...

    (1985)
  • Thoughts of Yesterday 1981–1982 (1988)
  • The Best of Rodney on the ROQ (1989)
  • Weathered Statues
    Weathered Statues
    Weathered Statues is a compilation album by the punk band TSOL, released in 1997 by Nitro Records.The album consists of the five songs of the T.S.O.L...

    (1997)
  • The Thought Remains the Same
    The Thought Remains The Same
    The Thought Remains The Same is a 2000 compilation album consisting of songs by bands on Nitro Records. The album was originally titled Deep Thoughts. Its title is a parody of the Led Zeppelin song "The Song Remains the Same".-Track listing:...

    (2000)
  • Punkzilla
    Punkzilla
    -Track listing:# "Dream Of Waking" – AFI – 3:04# "Democracy?" – The Damned – 3:15# "Not The Same" – Bodyjar – 3:08# "Behind The Music" – The Vandals – 2:44# "Still" – Rufio – 3:06# "Jennifer Lost the War" – The Offspring – 2:37# "Wasted" – T.S.O.L. – 1:52...

    (2001)
  • Who's Screwin' Who? (2005)
  • F#*k You Tough Guy: The Collection (2008)
  • Zoundbies (2009)

Soundtracks

  • "Wash Away" / "Darker My Love" - [Suburbia - Original Soundtrack Recording - Restless - 1984]
  • "Nothing for You" - Return of the Living Dead (Restless - 1985)

Filmography

  • Suburbia
    Suburbia (film)
    Suburbia, also known as Rebel Streets and The Wild Side, is a 1984 film written and directed by Penelope Spheeris about suburban punks who run away from home. The kids take up a minimalist, punk lifestyle by squatting in abandoned suburban tract homes...

    (1984)
  • Live In OC (2001)
  • Live In Hawaii (2004)
  • The Early Years (2008)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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