Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. The band's current members are Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano, and Atom Willard (drums).
The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively.
Defiance, Ohio is a folk punk band from Columbus, Ohio, named after the town of Defiance, Ohio, in far northwest Ohio, near Toledo. The band features a violin, cello, and double bass. They have released four full-length LPs, as well as a handful of split recordings. Their music has typically been released through smaller independent labels. They are known for their association with Plan-It-X Records, as well as anti-capitalist themes.
The Falcon is an American, Chicago-based punk rock supergroup. The band features The Lawrence Arms members Brendan Kelly and Neil Hennessy on drums, Alkaline Trio's Dan Andriano and The Loved Ones’ Dave Hause.
Smoking Popes is an American pop punk band from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. They are composed of brothers Matt Caterer (bass), Josh Caterer and Eli Caterer and Mike Felumlee (drums).
The Honor System was an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999 by Dan Hanaway and Rob DePaola, after the breakup of their previous band The Broadways. The band briefly featured future Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath as a bassist. They broke up in 2004, leaving behind two studio albums and three EPs.
Mike Felumlee, a native of Crystal Lake, Illinois, is chiefly known as the current drummer for the rock band The Smoking Popes. He is known to a lesser extent for his stint of several years as drummer in the band Alkaline Trio and for his solo music.
Ghost Stories is a punk rock album by the Chicago, Illinois band The Lawrence Arms, released in 2000 by Asian Man Records. It was the band's second full-length album. With this release the band moved away from the political nature of some of their previous songs in favor of more introspective lyrics. Also, while singer/bassist Brendan Kelly had handled the majority of lead vocals on their previous album A Guided Tour of Chicago, on this album he and singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan split vocal duties almost equally. This singing style would continue throughout their next several albums, and eventually the two would begin to share lead vocals in an almost duet style on Oh Calcutta! It also features the only Lawrence Arms song written and sung by drummer Neil Hennessy, "106 South". The album was recorded at Scientific Studios in December 1999 by Mike Giampa. All of the drums were triggered, and the bass was recorded through a SansAmp. Accompanied by a heavily distorted guitar, this resulted in a very raw sounding album. It's loved by hardcore fans for its dark tones and lyrical themes. Brendan Kelly has stated that this is his second least favorite Lawrence Arms album, but called the cover his favorite. The album was released on vinyl for the first time in 2009 on Asian Man Records, with all new artwork.
Tuesday was a punk and emo band formed by three ex-members of Chicago ska punk band Slapstick after the latter's breakup in 1996. The band's initial line-up consisted of Dan Andriano (bass/vocals), Matt Stamps (guitar), and Rob Kellenberger (drums/vocals). They released a demo on 1133 in 1996, before releasing an EP, titled Early Summer, on Asian Man Records in 1997. Later that same year, they released their first and only album, Freewheelin. While recording this album in California, the members of Tuesday also served as the backing band for Mike Park for the first album by The Chinkees, The Chinkees Are Coming. Also during this time, Rob and Matt were in college, and Dan found himself with extra free time. He started playing with other bands on the side including an instrumental band called Dulcet Tone, and eventually Alkaline Trio, after their original bass player Rob Doran departed. In early 1998, Tyler Wiseman from Dulcet Tone joined as a second guitarist for Tuesday to help expand the band's sound and tour in support of Freewheelin. They toured the U.S. in spring and the summer of 1998. They continued to write songs throughout this period intended for a follow-up album. With other members of the band devoting more time to family and college, and Dan enjoying success with the Alkaline Trio, Tuesday faded away as an active band sometime in 1999.
Slapstick is an American punk-ska fusion band from Elgin, Illinois that was primarily active from 1993 to 1996. Started by a group of friends, they took inspiration from Operation Ivy and the guttural punk vocals of Crimpshrine. Though the band had made the decision to break up a couple of weeks beforehand, their original final show was October 5, 1996 at the Metro with Less Than Jake and Skankin' Pickle. Since disbanding, Slapstick has periodically reunited to perform shows for various reasons, including benefits and anniversaries. The band is known for being the root of the "Slapstick Family Tree", a group of musical projects which spawned from members of Slapstick, including Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, The Broadways, Tuesday, Duvall, Colossal, The Honor System and The Falcon.
Baxter was an American, Chicago-based post-hardcore band. The band consisted of Tim McIlrath, Neil Hennessy, Anthony Fiore, later replaced by Timothy Remis, and a bassist only referred to as J. Wood.
Get Fired is the debut album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released in 1993 by Johann's Face Records. It was recorded in 1993 at Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana with recording engineer Mass Giorgini. The raw production and punk rock sound of the album are in contrast to the higher production values and more pop-leaning sound of the band's later works.
2 is the third EP by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released independently in 1993. It was recorded in 1992 at Solid Sound Studio in Hoffman Estates, Illinois with recording engineer Phil Bonnet, the same location and engineer used for their previous EP Break Up.
Sundowner is an American mostly acoustic project of Chris McCaughan of The Lawrence Arms, also featuring Jenny Choi, Neil Hennessy, and Eli Caterer.
The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park. The group debuted with 1998's The Chinkees Are Coming!, and followed with 1999's Peace Through Music and 2002's Searching for a Brighter Future before a greatest hits album was released in 2003. According to the liner notes for the band's debut album The Chinkees Are Coming!, the music was recorded by members of the band Tuesday with vocals provided by Mike Park. Subsequent albums were recorded all or in part by members Park, Miya Osaki, Greg Alesandro, Jason Thinh, and Steve Choi, as well as "guest" musicians, including Slapstick and Tuesday drummer Rob Kellenberger and Link 80's Steve Borth, often with members trading and playing different instruments than listed. All of the members were involved with the ska/punk scene. Jason Thinh was from the band Short Round, Miya was a member of the Santa Cruz punk trio The Muggs, Greg Alesandro a member of San Jose band Statue Man, and Steve Choi later becoming a keyboardist and guitarist for Rx Bandits in 1999.
Smoking Popes, a Chicago-based pop punk band, has released six studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, six EPs, five singles, one video album, and four music videos.
Destination Failure is the third album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released August 26, 1997 by Capitol Records. It was their second, and final, album for Capitol and their last before their nearly seven-year hiatus; their covers album The Party's Over was rejected by Capitol and the Smoking Popes disbanded in December 1998, reuniting in November 2005 to record At Metro. Destination Failure was not as successful as the band's previous album Born to Quit; it failed to chart despite the release a single and music video for "I Know You Love Me". The album was recorded at the Chicago Recording Company and at Conway Studios in Hollywood with producer Jerry Finn and recording engineer Phil Bonnet. Bonnet had worked with the band since early in their career, engineering and producing their EPs Break Up and 2 as well as Born to Quit.
Born to Quit is the second album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, originally released in 1994 by Johann's Face Records and re-released in 1995 through Capitol Records. It became their only release to chart, reaching #37 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart, partly on the strength of the single "Need You Around" which reached #35 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Buttsweat and Tears is an EP by the Chicago punk rock band The Lawrence Arms, released October 27, 2009 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the first recorded output from the band in three years, following their 2006 album Oh! Calcutta! In the interim, singer/bassist Brendan Kelly and drummer Neil Hennessy performed in The Falcon, Hennessy also performed in the Smoking Popes, and singer/guitarist Chris McCaughan performed in Sundowner.
This Is Only a Test is the sixth studio album by the Chicago-based pop punk band the Smoking Popes, released March 15, 2011 through Asian Man Records. It was produced by Matt Allison and is their first album with drummer Neil Hennessy, who joined the band in 2008. It is a concept album, with all of the songs written from the perspective of a single teenage boy dealing with the growing pains of adolescence. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Josh Caterer described it as "kind of a concept album about a teenage life. All of the songs are written from the point of view of a high school student, and they explore aspects of teenage life. This would be [about] a contemporary teenager. It's not specifically autobiographical of my high school experience. Obviously, those things are incorporated into what I write, but I tried to create a character who is the protagonist in these songs."
