TSOL
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| TSOL | |
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| Origin | Long Beach, California, United States |
| Years active | 1979 - 2006 |
| Genres | Hardcore punk Deathrock Art punk |
| Labels | Posh Boy Records Frontier Records Alternative Tentacles Enigma Records Rhino Records Restless Records Nitro Records |
| Members | Jack Grisham Ron Emory Mike Roche Tiny Bubbz Greg Kuehn |
| Past members | Todd Barnes (deceased) Joe Wood Mitch Dean Marshall Rohner (deceased) Jay O'Brien Travis Johnson Billy Blaze |
TSOL was a hardcore punk and is a heavy metal band. Formed during 1979 in Long Beach, California. TSOL is short for True Sounds of Liberty, but they are only rarely referred to by their full name. The USA version recently broke up.[1]. TSOL under the leadership of Joe Wood continues to perform in Brazil occasionally.
Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, TSOL's music varies on each release. They have also released music in the styles of deathrock, art punk, heavy metal and others.
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[edit] History
Formed in 1979, hailing from Huntington Beach, California. TSOL originated as a hardcore punk band, developing from earlier bands Johnny Coathanger and the Abortions and Vicious Circle.
Featuring the lineup of vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes, the band released a very political eponymous EP featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love", "World War III" and "Abolish Government".
[edit] Evolved sound
After that, they released "Dance With Me", their first full-length record. It featured songs about necrophilia and about being a secret agent with a guilty conscience. The period between the TSOL extended play and "Dance With Me" saw the rise of deathrock (led by the then-new Christian Death and 45 Grave), which inspired TSOL to follow a more "deathrock" flavored punk styles.
TSOL was linked in the minds of many OC hardcore fans to the Cuckoo's Nest, a nightclub in Costa Mesa that shared a parking lot with an "urban cowboy" club during that feather-hat cowboy pop culture craze. They later signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, for which they released the "Weathered Statues" 7" extended play and the "Beneath the Shadows" album which featured, for the first time, Greg Kuehn who added a new dimension to the band, playing keyboard. Around this period their style had switched further, experimenting with art punk leanings. Fans of the time backlashed tremendously against this change, and when on tour, the band was harshly heckled for their change in music. Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes were so disgusted with the reaction that they eventually left the band. Today "Beneath the Shadows" is acclaimed by fans and critics as an achievement in art punk and new wave experimentation, and while "Dance With Me" remains the favourite of most people, it is "Beneath the Shadows" that makes TSOL more than another hardcore band inspired by the Misfits.
TSOL featured in Penelope Spheeris' Suburbia movie but, during the same period members changes occurred, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes left the band to be replaced by singer Joe Wood (who was Grisham's brother-in-law) and drummer Mitch Dean. This new line-up released an album named "Change Today?" in 1984 on Enigma Records. This album featured the band maneuvering back forth between L.A. punk rock and what some could term as "New Wave". Notable tracks that have stood the test of time from this release are "Flowers By The Door", "Red Shadows", and "Nice Guys".
[edit] Heavy Metal Era
The group changed their sound slightly for their next release "Revenge", gaining a solid metal sound along with the punk leanings. The band became friends with Guns N' Roses and TSOL t-shirts can be seen in the massively successful "Sweet Child O' Mine" video. They followed up with a brilliant release, titled; "Hit and Run", their first true metal album. Before it was released, original guitarist Ron Emory quit the band. Leaving Mike Roche as the sole original member.
TSOL were joined briefly by another guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to "Hit and Run"; they eventually hired another guitar player, Marshall Rohner. They released the metal masterpiece "Strange Love" in 1990. Mike Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving no original member in the band. A compilation album was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their blues metal era.
While it is inevitable that the fans of the original lineup will always disparage the more commercial era, most general rock fans look upon this era as the time when TSOL became a legitimate and unique force. While their work during this time may fall under the blues metal category for the most part, the music is much more challenging and inventive than nearly everything else in the genre. While Wood's TSOL has not recorded since 1990, many hope for more recordings to eventually be made.
[edit] Two TSOL bands
Meanwhile, the original members had started playing shows featuring the bands's early material. Since Wood owned the rights to the name TSOL, he threatened to sue the original members, who released a live album of their early material under the name Grisham, Roche, Emory, Barnes but stopped playing together soon after because of drug problems. Sadly, the legitimate Wood-led TSOL also stopped performing in the USA around 1996. However, and this isn't well known, Wood continues to own the TSOL name in Brazil where the band continues to perform as of 2007 from time to time (Wood remains in California).
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 Wood sold finally, except for Brazil) before joining the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name TSOL. Barnes had died in the time away from the band, but the remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien and released the "Anticop" single and the "Disappear" and "Divided We Stand" albums on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Greg Kuehn back on keyboards. The Original TSOL recorded two more full length albums which were little more than nostalgic punk collections. Recently, this TSOL has played their final two shows at The Vault, on 350 Pine Street in Long Beach. How this will affect the Wood-led TSOL remains to be seen; hopefully he will wrest control again and resurrect TSOL in the USA. Many, however, feel the "breakup" of Original TSOL was merely a publicity ploy.
[edit] Influence
Their music is featured in the 1984 movie "Suburbia", the 1985 version of popular horror movie "Return of the Living Dead" and "Dangerously Close" in 1986. They are an independent band under the Nitro Records banner, which ironically was started by Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland, whom TSOL influenced. Their influence is also felt in the works of bands like Alkaline Trio and AFI. Jack Grisham also participated in a few side projects including The Joykiller and Tender Fury. He recently ran for the Governor of California's position.
[edit] Members
- Joe Wood - vocals, guitar (Brazil TSOL)
[edit] Former members
- Jack Grisham - vocals
- Ron Emory - guitar
- Mike Roche - bass
- Tiny Bubbz - Drums
- Greg Kuehn - piano, synthesizers
- Todd Barnes - drums
- Joe Wood - vocals, guitar
- Mitch Dean - drums
- Marshall Rohner - guitars
- Jay O'Brien - drums
- Travis Johnson - drums
- Billy Blaze - drums
[edit] Trivia
- Todd Barnes died from a brain aneurysm on December 6, 1999. After spending many days in the hospital, from a drug overdose, his family found it best to pull the plug.
- Marshall Rohner was also an actor and played in two movies, "Road House" and "Voyage of the Rock Aliens" before dying from complications from AIDS.
- Dance With Me, which in CD format was known to go for upwards of fifty dollars on Amazon.com, was recently re-issued, and is now more available to the public.
- The song "Wash Away" was covered by punk band Alkaline Trio for the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland video game.
- Steven Adler, Guns N' Roses drummer, wear a TSOL shirt in the music video for Sweet Child O' Mine
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- "Dance With Me" - (1981)
- "Weathered Statues" - (1982)
- "Beneath The Shadows" - (1982)
- "Change Today?" - (1984)
- "Revenge" - (1986)
- "Hit and Run" - (1987)
- "Strange Love" - (1990)
- "Live 91" - (1991)
- "Disappear" - (2001)
- "Divided We Stand" - (2003)
- "Who's Screwin' Who?" - (2005)
[edit] EP
- "1980 DEMO" - (1980) (http://www.truesoundsofliberty.com/discography.htm)
- "TSOL- Peyton listens to TSOL" - (1981)
[edit] Single
[edit] Compilation
- Thoughts of Yesterday 1981-1982 - (1988)
[edit] Filmography
- Live In Hawaii (DVD) - (2004)
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Deathrock.com TSOL section
- Comedian Neil Hamburger interviews Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L.
