Christie Front Drive was an

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

band from

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

active between 1993 and 1997. The lineup consisted of Eric Richter (vocals and guitar), Jason Begin (guitar), Kerry McDonald (bass) and Ron Marschall (drums). Bands such as Superchunk, Jawbreaker,

Jawbox Jawbox is an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1989. The band currently consists of J. Robbins (vocals/guitar), Kim Coletta (bass), Zach Barocas (drums), and Brooks Harlan (guitars/vocals). The original lineup consis ...

Buffalo Tom Buffalo Tom is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz who also sings the majority of lead vocals, bassist and singer Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginn ...

, and Drive Like Jehu were cited as influences.

History

The band released a self-titled EP and a 7-inch on Freewill Records in 1994. The two Freewill Records albums and several 7-inch were later combined and released as a self-titled full-length album (commonly referred to as ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''). In 1995, Christie Front Drive released split records with

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...

, Sineater, and Boys Life. They also contributed to several compilation albums including ''(Don't Forget To) Breathe'' from Crank! Records. The band broke up in 1997 and their only official full length, a self-titled album (commonly referred to as ''

Stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

'') was released posthumously by Caulfield Records. Despite their short tenure, Christie Front Drive became a major influence on emo music in the 1990s. Eric Richter resurfaced in the bands Antarctica, The 101, and Golden City, and both Marschall and Begin went on to form The Blue Ontario. Marschall was also credited as an engineer on

The Apples in Stereo The Apples in Stereo are an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant 6 Recording Company, Elephant 6 Collective. The band is largely the project of lead vocalist/guitarist/producer Robert Schneider, who writes the majority of the ba ...

's album, '' The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone'' and plays in Phoenix-based Tierra del Fuego. Jason Begin is currently performing under the nam
This Body
as well as the Portland-based ban
Pireate Radio Deluxe
and the random appearance wit
Modernstate
Bassist Kerry McDonald would go on to form The Mighty Rime, who released
self-titled record
on Caulfield Records in 2002. Christie Front Drive reunited on September 1, 2007, at the Marquis Theater in Denver as part of DenverFest III. All four original members participated. Magic Bullet Records, home of Eric Richter's current band Golden City, announced plans to re-release the entire Christie Front Drive discography. The label began with releasing a remastered version of their final self-titled album (also known as Stereo) on June 15, 2010, along with a DVD of the band's final show in 1996. In April 2019, Dark Operative records, formerly Magic Bullet Records, re-released the band's self-titled 7-inch and self-titled 12-inch on vinyl. In March 2014, it was announced that Christie Front Drive would reunite for a show on May 17, 2014, as part of Pouzza Fest.

Style and legacy

Jason Ankeny of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' referred to Christie Front Drive as "a vital 1990s link between hardcore and modern

." According to Ryan De Freitas ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'', "Christie Front Drive had the drawn-out, melancholic guitar passage down to a fine art." The band's influence has been observed in the music of

, as well as many others.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Compilation albums

Non-album tracks

External links

Official Website

Myspace

Magic Bullet RecordsDark Operative

References

{{Authority control American emo musical groups Indie rock musical groups from Colorado Musical groups from Denver Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Caulfield Records artists 1993 establishments in Colorado