''Destruction by Definition'' is the debut album by the

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

punk rock band

The Suicide Machines The Suicide Machines are an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan. During the course of their career, the band has released seven full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records, Side One Dummy Records and Fat Wre ...

, released in 1996 by Hollywood Records. It was the band's first full-length album and established their presence in the mid-1990s punk rock mainstream revival alongside the third wave ska movement. The album's musical style blends elements of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, which contributed to the band's style being described as

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hard ...

or "skacore."

Music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s were filmed for the singles "No Face" and "S.O.S.," with "No Face" reaching #31 on '' Billboards Modern Rock charts while "New Girl" was featured on the

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'', released as ''Tony Hawk's Skateboarding'' in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation o ...

soundtrack, alongside “No Face” and “S.O.S.” being featured in the soundtrack for the PlayStation fighting game Vs. “Break The Glass” was also featured in the soundtrack to the film

An American Werewolf in Paris ''An American Werewolf in Paris'' (the "An" does not appear in the title scene) is a 1997 dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Anthony Waller, screenplay by Tim Burns, Tom Stern, and Waller, and starring Tom Everett Scott and Julie ...

. To promote the album several promotional clips were created featuring footage from a show at St. Andrew’s Hall in February of 1996 mixed with skateboarding footage. The songs featured were “New Girl”, “S.O.S.”, and “Break The Glass”. The album’s title was decided by Navarro, and it basically refers to the fact that if you place a label on something you destroy it since the band didn’t like being labeled as a ska band.

Track listing

All songs written by

except where noted.

Performers

* Jason Navarro - vocals *

Dan Lukacinsky Dan Lukacinsky is a singer and musician who provided vocals and guitar for the Suicide Machines. He now plays guitar and sings in Kick Like Kato. He's also been working as a producer for other bands and has been selling guitars for a living. He gre ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, backing vocals * Royce Nunley - bass, backing vocals * Derek Grant - drums, hammond organ, clavinet,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, backing vocals *Vinnie Nobile -

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Larry Klimas -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

Album information

*Record label: Hollywood Records *Produced by

Julian Raymond Julian Raymond is an American songwriter and music producer. He has worked with various music artists, including Insane Clown Posse, Glen Campbell, Cheap Trick, Jennifer Nettles, Fastball, Albert Lee, Fleetwood Mac, Kottonmouth Kings, among othe ...

, Phil Kaffel, and The Suicide Machines *All songs written by The Suicide Machines except "I Don't Wanna Hear It" by

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...

*Recorded November–December 1995 by Phil Kaffel with assistance by Alex Reed and Krish Sharma *Mixed January 1996 at Conway Studios by

Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, ...

with assistance by Shawn O'Dwyer *Art direction by Todd Gallopo *Design by Todd Gallopo and The Suicide Machines *Lyrics drawn by Jef Petruczkowycz *Back cover art by Steve Toth *Photos by Bob Alford

References

{{Authority control The Suicide Machines albums Hollywood Records albums 1996 debut albums Albums produced by Julian Raymond