T.S.O.L.


T.S.O.L. is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, art punk, horror punk and other varieties of punk music.

History

Formed in 1978 in Long Beach, T.S.O.L. originated as a punk band, developing from earlier bands SS Cult and Johnny Koathanger and the Abortions. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes.
According to legend, the band acquired their instruments by casing a local music shop, waiting until closing, and then performing a smash-and-grab robbery.
Later in 1978, Grisham and Barnes formed Vicious Circle, and T.S.O.L. took a brief hiatus.
T.S.O.L.'s debut five-song EP, T.S.O.L., was released in spring 1981 by Posh Boy Records, featuring the reconvened original lineup. This first release was harshly political, featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love," "World War III" and "Abolish Government."
Their first full-length album, Dance with Me, was released later in 1981 on Frontier Records, and showcased a more gothic/deathrock sound. They then signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, releasing the Weathered Statues EP early in 1982, and the melodic Beneath the Shadows album later that year; the latter featured a new member, keyboardist Greg Kuehn.
Amid personal turmoil, Grisham, Barnes and Kuehn all left the band in 1983.
After his exit, Grisham formed Cathedral of Tears, who released a 1984 EP on Enigma Records, followed by Tender Fury, who issued three albums: Tender Fury, Garden of Evil and If Anger Were Soul, Id Be James Brown.
T.S.O.L., however, chose to reconfigure. Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley briefly joined in 1983 before Roche returned. Joe Wood and Mitch Dean joined on vocals and drums, respectively. This new lineup released three albums on Enigma: Change Today?, Revenge and Hit and Run. All three albums featured a more polished production style, with Hit and Run reaching No. 184 on the Billboard 200 charts, and the band toured globally to support the releases. The band's first live album, Live, was issued by Enigma in 1988.
The band became friends with Guns N' Roses, and T.S.O.L. T-shirts were seen in the video for that band's "Sweet Child o' Mine", most notably on drummer Steven Adler.
Emory left the band in 1988, during the recording of demos for Strange Love, leaving Roche as the sole remaining original member. though Emory was given a writing credit on the track "Blow by Blow". T.S.O.L. 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 guitarist and actor Marshall Rohner. They released a blues-metal album, Strange Love, in 1990. Roche quit shortly before the album release, leaving the band with no original members. A compilation album titled Hell and Back Together 1984–1990 was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. Murphy Karges replaced Roche on bass; he was then replaced by touring bassist Josh Also.
This late-'80s lineup was popular enough to garner bookings in Brazil and Argentina, where the Grisham-led band held no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as T.S.O.L. In 1996, Wood and Dean were joined by guitarists Mike Martt and Drac Conley, and bassist Dave Mello, with Dean subsequently replaced by Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan. Also in 1996, Wood formed ongoing blues band Joe Wood & the Lonely Ones. Wood recorded as Orange Wedge in 1993 and Cisco Poison in 1995 ; he later fronted Joe Wood and the Killing Floor.
Meanwhile, the original members began playing shows under the name T.S.O.L, featuring the band's early material. They often played the same cities, on the same nights, as the other T.S.O.L. Since Wood and Dean now owned the rights to the name T.S.O.L., they threatened to sue the original members, who released the Live '91 live album of their early material, under the name "Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes" but stopped playing together soon after its release. They also did some gigs during this time as "LOST".
Grisham and Emory formed the Joykiller in 1995, releasing three albums prior to disbanding in 1998.
In 1999, the original members fought with Wood for rights to the name and won. They joined the Vans Warped Tour, playing for the first time in years under the name T.S.O.L.
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, all on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Kuehn back on keyboards as well as Billy Blaze replacing O'Brien. Anthony "Tiny" Biuso joined the band on drums in December 2003 and remained until 2014, serving as the longest standing drummer in the band's three-decade history. He first recorded with the band on 2005's Who's Screwin' Who?, a revamping and rerecording of 18 of T.S.O.L.'s greatest hits.
In November 2006, the band announced they were breaking up, with final performances having taken place earlier in the month. In September 2007, Cider City Records released the seemingly posthumous live album Live from Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two announced "farewell" performances. Their hiatus was short-lived, however, as they returned to perform local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in February 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I.
In December 2008, the band entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads, which was made available as a free download through sponsor Hurley International's website on January 8, 2009. It was also released on vinyl by DC-Jam Records on November 1, 2009.
Grisham launched another project, Jack Grisham and the Manic Low, in 2011; a debut album, Songs for an Up Day, was released in June 2012. He also formed Jack Grisham's LOST Soul in 2012, a gigging ensemble featuring Kuehn and Biuso, with the intent of performing T.S.O.L. and the Joykiller material.
On April 20, 2013, T.S.O.L. released a 7" EP, You Don't Have to Die, for Record Store Day, composed of the title track and two 1981 live tracks. That same year, the band toured Europe and South America; they also completed a US tour with Flag.
In 2014, Biuso left the band. He was replaced first by touring member Sean Antillon, then officially by Matt Rainwater., and in 2016 by Chip Hanna.
On January 27, 2017, the band released The Trigger Complex album on Rise Records. In August 2017, Antonio Val Hernandez joined the band as drummer, replacing Hanna.
in support of Dead Kennedys|thumb

Film and television appearances

In 1981, director Paul Young made Urban Struggle: The Battle of The Cuckoo's Nest, a film which featured live performances by T.S.O.L. as well as several Orange County punk and hardcore bands. Dave Markey's 1982 film The Slog Movie also featured live T.S.O.L. performances, as did the 1989 movie The Runnin' Kind. Their music was also featured in the 1984 movie Suburbia, the popular 1985 horror movie The Return of the Living Dead and 1986 film Dangerously Close. They were also mentioned in the 2007 documentary Punk's Not Dead.
T.S.O.L. songs "Just Like Me" and "Flowers by the Door" were featured in the 1985 CBS Schoolbreak Special: Hear Me Cry, a program about teen suicide.

Members

Current members
Former members
Touring musicians
  • Jay Bentley – bass
  • Scotty Phillips – guitar
  • Josh Also – bass
  • Zill C. DeVill – bass
  • Sean Antillon – drums
Timeline'''

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:0 right:0
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3
ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1978
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1978
Colors =
id:v value:red legend:Vocals
id:g value:green legend:Guitar
id:b value:blue legend:Bass
id:syn value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:d value:orange legend:Drums
id:alb value:black legend:Studio_album
id:bar value:gray
LineData =
layer:back
color:alb
at:06/01/1981
at:06/01/1983
at:06/30/1984
at:06/30/1986
at:07/11/1987
at:06/30/1990
at:06/26/2001
at:09/09/2003
at:01/08/2009
at:01/27/2017
BackgroundColors = bars:bar
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:
bar:Jack Grisham from:start till:12/31/1983 color:v
bar:Jack Grisham from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:v
bar:Jack Grisham from:01/01/1999 till:end color:v
bar:Joe Wood from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/1998 color:g width:3
bar:Joe Wood from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/1998 color:v
bar:Ron Emory from:start till:06/30/1988 color:g
bar:Ron Emory from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:g
bar:Ron Emory from:01/01/1999 till:end color:g
bar:Marshall Rohner from:10/01/1988 till:06/30/1996 color:g
bar:Mike Martt from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g
bar:Drac Conley from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g
bar:Mike Roche from:start till:06/30/1990 color:b
bar:Murphy Karges from:07/01/1990 till:03/31/1996 color:b
bar:Dave Mello from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:b
bar:Mike Roche from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:b
bar:Mike Roche from:01/01/1999 till:end color:b
bar:Todd Barnes from:start till:12/31/1983 color:d
bar:Mitch Dean from:01/01/1984 till:06/30/1998 color:d
bar:Todd Barnes from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:d
bar:Steve O'Sullivan from:07/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 color:d
bar:Todd Barnes from:01/01/1999 till:12/06/1999 color:d
bar:Jay O'Brien from:12/07/1999 till:03/30/2003 color:d
bar:Billy Blaze from:04/01/2003 till:09/30/2003 color:d
bar:Anthony Biuso from:10/01/2003 till:06/30/2014 color:d
bar:Matt Rainwater from:10/01/2014 till:06/30/2016 color:d
bar:Chip Hanna from:07/01/2016 till:07/31/2017 color:d
bar:Antonio Hernandez from:08/01/2017 till:end color:d
bar:Greg Kuehn from:01/01/1982 till:12/01/1983 color:syn
bar:Greg Kuehn from:01/01/2005 till:end color:syn

Discography

;Studio albums