Double Dagger is a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

trio from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

composed of only drums, vocals, and a loud

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

which fills the space a guitar would normally take. Vocalist Nolen Strals and bassist Bruce Willen also comprised the

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

team Post Typography, which has done work for some very high-profile clients, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Hence, Double Dagger made a habit of referring to their style of post-hardcore as "graphicdesigncore" early in their career. In October 2011, Double Dagger officially broke up after a small final tour, but has since reunited occasionally for one-off shows.

History

Nolen Strals and Bruce Willen initially met while they were students at the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

in Baltimore. There, Strals and Willen started a group called League of Death, which was initially conceived as a heavy metal outfit, but later became a

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

band. League of Death broke up in 2002 after a final show with

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemente ...

, giving rise to Double Dagger, as a self-described "graphicdesigncore" band, with several songs referencing design and typographic elements on their first releases (the band itself was named after the typographic symbol ‡, used for footnotes). Brian Dubin, who had previously played bass in Baltimore rock band Stars of the Dogon and guitar in Baltimore's beloved Charm City Suicides during their final year, joined the new band as a drummer and played on the bands' first few recordings, including their self-titled debut album. He left in 2005 and was replaced by Denny Bowen, then of

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, formerly of the band Economist, with whom Double Dagger had released a split single in 2003. During their 9-year run, Double Dagger played with a number of high-profile acts, including

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

, Lightning Bolt, The Ex,

The Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They ...

, The Jesus Lizard, and

Matt & Kim Matt and Kim (sometimes stylized MATT and KIM) are an American Indie rock#Indie electronic, indie electronic duo from Brooklyn, New York City. The group formed in 2004 and consist of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). The ...

. They have released several EPs, 7" singles, and three full length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s. The band earned considerable critical praise as well, as evinced by positive reviews in publications such as

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

Punk Planet ''Punk Planet'' was a 16,000 print run punk zine, based in Chicago, Illinois, that focused most of its energy on looking at punk subculture rather than punk as simply another genre of music to which teenagers listen. In addition to covering m ...

Baltimore City Paper ''Baltimore City Paper'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, founded in 1977 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch. The most recent owner was the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which purchased the pape ...

and

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

. Citing time restraints and "chaotic personal lifes," Double Dagger announced they would break up following a brief tour of the eastern United States, and a final show in their hometown of Baltimore. Bowen later appeared in

Roomrunner Roomrunner was a noise rock group from Baltimore, Maryland, fronted by Denny Bowen, formerly of Double Dagger, Yukon, and The Dan Deacon Ensemble. The group also included prominent Baltimore recording engineer Dan Frome on bass. Past members ...

and performed live with

Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major elemen ...

and

Future Islands Future Islands is an American synth-pop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (pe ...

, Willen appears in

Peals The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre (PEALS) was established in 1999 as a partnership between the University of Durham, Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public r ...

alongside of William Cashion of

, and Strals appears in Pure Junk and Second Best Westerns. In 2021, 10 years since their breakup, Double Dagger reunited for two shows in Baltimore. One at

The Ottobar The Ottobar is a music venue in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. In 2018 the Ottobar was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. The ''Washington Post'' ...

on October 15 and one at Current Gallery on October 16. Concurrently, they also released ''Sophisticated Urban Living (Contemporary Conveniences Edition),'' an expanded version of their 2008 7" with unreleased alternate recordings.

Band Members

Current members

* Nolen Strals: vocals * Bruce Willen: bass * Denny Bowen: drums

Past, Guest, or Temporary Members

*Brian Dubin: drums (2002-2004) *

Samuel T. Herring Samuel Thompson Herring (born April 13, 1984), also known as Hemlock Ernst, is an American singer, rapper and actor based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known as the frontman of the synth-pop band Future Islands, with whom he has recorded sev ...

(of

) appears on "The Lie/The Truth" from ''More'' (2009) and occasionally appears live with the band. *Lee Ashlin (The Fuses), Sean McGuiness (

Pissed Jeans Pissed Jeans is an American hardcore punk band from Allentown, Pennsylvania. The band claims to play "loud, heavy, noisy, punk rock" and is influenced by 1980s hardcore punk and post-hardcore bands. The band has released six albums and seven sin ...

), and Ben Valis (Stars of the Dogon) have all performed with Double Dagger at various live shows

Discography

Albums

*''

Double Dagger A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

'' (Hit-Dat Records 2003) *'' Ragged Rubble'' (Stationary Heart Recordings 2007) *''

MORE More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...

'' (Thrill Jockey Records 2009)

Singles and EPs

*''Alt+0135'' (Self Released 2002) *''Art School Girlfriend/Obey the One Trick Pony (Hit-Dat Records 2003, split with Economist) *''Luxury'' (Self Released 2006,

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

only) *''Luxury'' (Self Released 2007, CDR of four tracks from ''Ragged Rubble'' recordings) *''Bored Meeting'' 7" (Toxic Pop 2008) *''Sophisticated Urban Living'' 7" (Terra Firma Limited 2008) *''Masks'' (Thrill Jockey Records 2010) *''333'' (Thrill Jockey Records 2013) *''Sophisticated Urban Living (Contemporary Conveniences Edition)'' (Thrill Jockey Records 2021)

Documentaries

References

External links

Double Dagger's MySpaceDouble Dagger's WebsiteDouble Dagger on BandCampDouble Dagger on Thrill Jockey Records
{{Authority control 2002 establishments in Maryland American post-punk music groups Rock music groups from Maryland Musical groups established in 2002 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical groups from Baltimore