''Dads'' was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway ( ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan River, Raritan Valley. As of the 2020 United ...

, composed of guitarist/vocalist Scott Scharinger and drummer/vocalist John Bradley. The band relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2014. In 2020, Vulture named their song "Shit Twins" as one of the 100 greatest emo songs of all time.

History

Formation and American Radass

Dads formed in the summer of 2010 as a trio consisting of guitarist/vocalist Scott Scharinger, drummer/vocalist John Bradley, and bassist Michael Nazzaro, all from various parts of the Central New Jersey area. The band quickly gained the attention of the

emo revival The emo revival, or fourth wave emo, was an underground emo movement which began in the late 2000s and flourished until the mid-to-late 2010s. The movement began towards the end of the 2000s Emo-pop, third-wave emo, with Pennsylvania-based groups ...

scene. Dads soon decided to part ways with Nazzaro as they found it easier to connect as a two-piece and released ''The Essential John Denver EP'' the same year. In 2011, the band recorded and released the EPs ''Brush Your Teeth ;)'' and ''Brush Your Teeth, Again ;)'' respectively, with the latter being a repress that also included three new songs as well as a re-recorded song. After developing an audience in the emo revival scene through extensive touring, the band released their debut LP, '' American Radass (This Is Important)'', in 2012. The release brought the band minor commercial success along with critical acclaim. Through further touring, the band built a national audience and released an EP in 2013 entitled ''Pretty Good'' via 6131 Records, which led to the band charting on various Billboard charts for the first time. The following year, the band released a

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

exclusive EP entitled ''Woman'', which included covers of the songs "Good Woman" by

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Born in ...

and "I Never" by

Rilo Kiley Rilo Kiley ( ) is an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consists of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Jason Boesel. The group released their debut album '' Take-Offs and Landing ...

I'll Be the Tornado and breakup

Sometime in early 2014, Bradley and Scharinger decided to move the band to Ann Arbor, Michigan. In October 2014, Dads released their sophomore effort, '' I'll Be the Tornado'' which reached 17th on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

album chart and received considerable critical praise. Around this time they added Ryan Azada to the band's lineup as a permanent bassist. However, months after the album's release, Dads dropped off multiple tours in summer 2015 as a result of a speculated breakup, which was confirmed by Scott Scharinger in a post on the band's Facebook page in the fall of 2016. When asked about the breakup of Dads, Bradley stated that the band's breakup was a matter of their personal friendships. He said that the project became increasingly stressful as the band continued to grow and started opening for larger acts, and was concerned that the band would not look professional while still trying to "have fun" playing music. The vocalist commented, "everything just kind of came to a head, and we all decided to just go away, like, 'let’s just part and do our own thing.'"

Post-breakup

John Bradley was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

in 2016. He is currently in remission, and has since released new music as early as 2017.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' American Radass (This Is Important)'' (2012) * '' I'll Be the Tornado'' (2014) ;Extended plays * ''The Essential John Denver EP'' (2010) * ''Brush Your Teeth ;)'' (2011) * ''Brush Your Teeth, Again ;)'' (2011) * ''Pretty Good'' (2013) * ''Woman'' (2014)

References

{{reflist Musical groups established in 2010 Musical groups from Middlesex County, New Jersey Alternative rock groups from New Jersey Emo revival groups 2010 establishments in New Jersey Emo musical groups from New Jersey