Moss Icon

Last updated
Moss Icon
MossIconreunitedforChaosInTejas.jpg
Origin Annapolis, Maryland, United States
Genres
Years active1986–1991, 2001, 2007–present
Labels Vermiform, Vermin Scum, Ebullition, Temporary Residence Limited
MembersJonathan Vance
Tonie Joy
Alex Badertscher
Zak Fusciello
Past membersMonica DiGialleonardo
Mark Laurence

Moss Icon is an American post-hardcore band formed in late 1986 in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. Its original lineup comprised vocalist Jonathan Vance, guitarist Tonie Joy, bassist Monica DiGialleonardo, and drummer Mark Laurence. Alex Badertscher joined as second guitarist in 1990. Moss Icon is considered to be an early influence on the hardcore punk splinter genre known as post-hardcore, as well as on the eventual development of emo, although the band members themselves have repeatedly denied knowingly contributing to the latter genre in any way. [1]

Contents

History and background

Formation to breakup

The band's identifying characteristics, and those that distinguished them from their contemporaries, included noticeable and abrupt transitions from loud to quiet, and Vance's esoteric, stream of conscious lyrical content. Earlier recordings of the band are reminiscent of early Joy Division, while later songs embodied a less blunt approach with more exploratory arrangements and riffage. [2] Vance's lyrics touched upon vaguely, among other issues, the plight of indigenous peoples of the Americas, and opposed the U.S. government's involvement in Nicaragua and Guatemala.

The band played frequently with fellow Annapolis band The Hated. Moss Icon recorded their debut 7", "Hate in Me", in January 1988, and entered the studio several months later to record their second 7", "Mahpiua Luta". Their Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly LP was recorded by Les Lentz (who engineered all of their studio recordings) throughout 1988 but was not released until mid-1994, three years after the band's break-up, by Vermiform Records. Moss Icon's third 7", entitled "Memorial", was recorded in January 1991 along with a split LP with Silver Bearing. In 1994 Ebullition Records released the It Disappears LP, compiling songs from "Memorial" with live versions of several songs.

In 1990 a splinter project of Moss Icon was formed called Breathing Walker, containing all four members of Moss Icon plus Alex Badertscher on bass, Zak Fusciello on percussion, and Tim Horner on violin. Breathing Walker released a cassette that was re-released on vinyl and CD in 2001 by the Vermin Scum label, along with live tracks.

Post-breakup and 2001 reformation

After the dissolution of Moss Icon, guitarist Tonie Joy was a member of the bands Universal Order of Armageddon, Born Against, and The Convocation Of.... (later christened The Convocation). Other band members were less involved in music, excepting Laurence's drums in Lava, DiGialleonardo's Blue Condors, and Vance's solo debut LP.

Moss Icon reunited to play two shows with Zak Fusciello on drums, one at the 2001 More Than Music Fest in Columbus, Ohio [3] and the other at the renovated Charles Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

Recent activity

In July 2008, Moss Icon was named one of the "23 Bands Who Shaped Punk" by Alternative Press magazine in issue No. 240. Vance's first officially released book Tulip Has a Room was published by Easysubcult. [4]

Since 2007 Joy, Vance, Zak Fusciello, and Alex Badertscher have been occasionally working on new material in Baltimore, MD for a possible new recording. [1] A discography was released in May 2012 on Temporary Residence Limited which featured two discs, photos and lyrics. The band also played a couple live shows (NYC and Washington DC) in December 2014.

The iconic image for their full length Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly LP, a figurine of a Tepe Yahya warrior, modeled in clay FIGURINE OF A WARRIOR-Tepe Yahyii.png
The iconic image for their full length Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly LP, a figurine of a Tepe Yahya warrior, modeled in clay

Album Art

Although neither Tonie Joy nor Jonathan Vance recall the specifics of how they discovered the iconic image for their full length Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly LP, its origin can be traced to a 1971 Scientific American article, which includes an illustration depicting a figure of a warrior modeled in clay is from the final period of occupation at Tepe Yahyii, when a Sassanian military outpost stood on the top of the mound from sometime in the third century B.C. to about A.D. 400. Thereafter only nomads visited the dead city." Tepe Yahya, midway between Mesopotania and India, was a busy center of trade 5,500 years ago. An outpost of Mesopotanlian urban culture, it played a key role in the spread of civilization from west to east. [5]

Discography

Compilation appearances

Related Research Articles

Emo is a music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and post-hardcore from the mid-1980s Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands Rites of Spring and Embrace, among others, pioneered the genre. In the early-to-mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop-punk bands, including Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Cap'n Jazz, and Jimmy Eat World. By the mid-1990s, Braid, the Promise Ring, and the Get Up Kids emerged from Midwest emo, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow. Screamo achieved mainstream success in the 2000s with bands like Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Story of the Year, Thursday, the Used, and Underoath.

Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. Though Born Against received little media exposure while still together, they have since been described as "legendary" by the Chicago Reader and the LA Weekly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orchid (hardcore punk band)</span> American hardcore punk band

Orchid is an American screamo and hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts. Originally active from 1997 until 2002, they released several EPs and splits as well as three studio albums. The band consists of lead vocalist Jayson Green, drummer Jeffrey Salane, guitarist Will Killingsworth, guitarist Brad Wallace and bassist Geoff Garlock.

Breathing Walker was an American experimental rock band formed by Moss Icon members including Jonathan Vance and Mark Laurence (drums), along with Alex Badertscher (bass), Tim Horner (violin), and Zak Fusciello. The other members of Moss Icon, Tonie Joy (guitar) and Monica DiGialleonardo (bass) joined the band prior to their first live performance and recording session. After this short lived project, Alex Badertscher joined Moss Icon as a second guitarist. Breathing Walker only released one album, which was self-titled and released on the Vermin Scum record label.

Ampere is an American hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts known for their short but extremely loud and intense live shows. The band has put the importance of DIY punk ethics at the forefront of their lyrics and are known for the particular attention they bring to their vegan principles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nausea (band)</span> American hardcore punk band

Nausea was an American punk rock band from New York City, active from 1985 to 1992. They are cited as a notable band in the first wave of crust punk.

Vermin Scum is an Annapolis, Maryland-based record label founded by Kenny Hill of the bands Spastic Rats and the Hated. The name was given to fit the theme of the label's first release, the Spastic Rats' "Rodentia."

The following is a comprehensive discography of Napalm Death, an influential English grindcore/death metal band.

Men's Recovery Project was an American experimental noise rock band formed by Sam McPheeters and Neil Burke in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1993–2002. The group's post-modern absurdist musical attitude resulted in a diverse and consistently obtuse output, with varied material touching on electronic, avant garde, comedy and spoken word motifs that often alluded to their roots in hardcore punk.

Calico System was an American Post-hardcore band from St. Louis, Missouri. The group formed in 1998 and released several albums under the Eulogy Recordings label after successful LP releases and abundant touring. They announced their disbandment in 2007, stating each member decided to pursue their own career.

Universal Order of Armageddon was an American hardcore band, active from 1992 to 1994 and reformed in 2010.

I Hate Myself was an American emo band formed by Jon and Jim Marburger in Gainesville, Florida, in 1996. The band used elements of post-hardcore and indie in their songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darker My Love</span> American psychedelic rock band

Darker My Love was a psychedelic rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Guitarist/vocalist Tim Presley, a former member of the hardcore punk band The Nerve Agents, formed the band in 2004 with drummer and former Nerve Agents bandmate Andy Granelli, then also of The Distillers. They were joined shortly thereafter by bass guitarist Rob Barbato, who shared songwriting and vocals with Presley, and rhythm guitarist Jared "The Sandwich" Everett. Will Canzoneri joined the band on organ and clavinet in the latter half of 2006. The band released three LPs and one EP. Presley is also a visual artist responsible for much of the band's imagery.

The Great Unraveling was an American post-punk rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. The band was fronted by Tonie Joy of Moss Icon, Universal Order of Armageddon, and Born Against. They were active from 1995 to 1997.

Benümb was an American grindcore band from Millbrae, California.

Fuel was a short-lived Bay Area post-hardcore musical act that created both personal and political songs, something that was unique during the "first wave" of emo in the 1990s. Fuel had a sound akin to the mostly East Coast bands on Dischord Records, especially Fugazi, with twin guitars and dueling rough post-hardcore vocals. In fact, it is noted that Fuel was often jokingly referred to as "Fuelgazi." Fuel's style resembled the D.C. sound of many Dischord bands.

Deranged Records is a Canadian punk record label based in Roberts Creek, British Columbia. It was founded in 1999 by Gordon Dufresne. Notable bands who have had releases with the label are Fucked Up, Career Suicide and Brutal Knights. The label is known for releasing hardcore punk; however, more recently they have been releasing albums that are more pop punk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tonie Joy</span> Musical artist

Anthony R. "Tonie" Joy is an American musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. Joy is known for his work in various underground rock and post-hardcore bands. He ran the independent record label Vermin Scum from 1989 until 2001. He emerged in the late 1980s and has been a key figure in several notable bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reversal of Man</span> American hardcore punk band

Reversal of Man was a hardcore punk band from Tampa, Florida that formed in 1995. The band is associated with the late 1990s screamo movement and noted for bordering on powerviolence and grindcore. The group's lyrical content was often political, and the group initially formed as a reaction to the then-growing underground nazi punk scene in Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Cruz Gonzales</span> American drummer

Michelle Cruz Gonzales is a musician, author, and college English instructor. She is a founding member and drummer of the groundbreaking all-female hardcore punk band Spitboy. Gonzales is featured in the Green Day-produced documentary Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk (2017), directed by Corbett Redford.

References

  1. 1 2 "Moss Appeal: Tonie Joy's first band follows him around – and molded his personal investment in music making". Baltimore City Paper. May 12, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Moss Icon – Complete Discography". Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  3. ↑ White, Adam (April 25, 2001). "Reunion of Emo Pioneers". Punknews.org. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  4. ↑ "easysubculture – Tulip Has a Room" . Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C.; Lamberg-Karlovsky, Martha (June 1971). "An Early City in Iran". Scientific American. 224 (6). Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc.: 102–111. doi:10.2307/24922756.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.