Phinius Gage are an English underground

skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skateboarding, skater subculture and punk rock Music genre, subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, sk ...

melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. The style often includes guitar harmonies, riffs using octave chords, as well as broken chords. Additionally, lyrics tend towar ...

band who started up in 2001. In 2015 they played a reunion tour and announced in 2024 they had reformed. The band's first new music in nearly 2 decades came out in 2025. The band have promised a new full-length in the future.

History

The band is named after

Phineas Gage Phineas P. Gage (18231860) was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, ...

, an 1840s railway foreman, who had a large iron rod driven through his head and thereby lost part of his brain. They played over 500 shows in their existence, touring with many bands including

Streetlight Manifesto Streetlight Manifesto is an American ska punk band from New Brunswick Township, New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 2002. They released their debut album, ''Everything Goes Numb'', through Victory Records on August 26, 2003. The ban ...

Spunge Spunge (often typeset as punge'') is a ska punk band from Tewkesbury, England. Through many years of touring, Spunge have toured with or played alongside a number of UK bands; and several American bands such as Green Day, Dropkick Murphys ...

, Whitmore, Flood Of Red,

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

, RedLightsFlash,

Ten Foot Pole Ten Foot Pole (formerly Scared Straight) is an American punk rock band. History Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 under the name Scared Straight. Scared Straight was a punk band from Simi Valley, California. The band was formed in 1983 by a ...

Farse Farse may refer to: * Farsa (plural ), a genre of opera * Farse (band), a five-piece ska-punk band from Birmingham in the West Midlands of England See also * Farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that ...

, and 4Ft Fingers. They released debut mini LP ''More Haste More Speed'' in 2003 on Deck Cheese Records – and their first full length, ''The Feeling Somethings Wrong'' on the same label in 2005. Signing to Fond of Life Records in Germany, the band released a compilation of old and new tracks in 2006 entitled ''Brighton Rock'', which included the band's only single, ''Brighton Rock'', the video for which received airplay on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

and

Scuzz Scuzz was a British 24-hour rock and metal music television channel owned and operated by Sony Pictures Television. It was launched on 17 April 2003 and went on to be the highest-rated rock TV station on the Sky satellite platform, available in ...

. The band then released their final album in 2007, ''Seek Out Your Foes'', which is generally considered the band's best work. It made

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 ...

's 'Best Albums Of 2007' list. However, the band split suddenly soon after. Members have gone on to form many other bands, including Lay It On The Line. Mike Scott has also had a solo career.

Musical style and influence

Phinius Gage plays fast,

music in the style of Pennywise,

Strung Out Strung Out is an American melodic hardcore band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1991. Their sound also includes elements of heavy metal. They have released nine studio albums on Fat Wreck Chords as well as one live album, two B-sides ...

, Consumed,

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...

, and other bands of the

SoCal Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

description from record labels including

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is an independent record label based in San Francisco focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) and his wife at the time, Erin Burkett in 1990. ...

and

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

Members

* Gary Yay –

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(2024–present) * Mike Scott – (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, (2003–present) * Matt Steele –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2002–present) * Ade Holder –

(2002–present)

Previous members 2002–2006

* Damo St George – vocals * Carl "Karlos" Brown - guitar * Martyn Haigh – bass * Andy Bligh – guitar * Ben Ince – guitar * Paul Fields – guitar * Jamie Kirkpatrick – bass * Edward Higgs – bass * Chas Mataz – guitar * Kalem Buckham – drums * Keith Whitby – bass

Discography

Compilations

* ''Amped Up And Ready To Go'' (

In At The Deep End Records In at the Deep End Records (IATDE), founded 2000, is an independent record label based on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. The label specialises in hardcore punk and heavy metal music genres. History The label was founded in 2000 driven ...

, UK) * ''Value Slices'' (Deck Cheese, UK) * ''Cheese Supreme'' (free promo CD with Big Cheese Magazine, UK) * ''Punktastic Unscene'' (Punktastic Recordings, UK) * ''Punktastic Unscene 3'' (Punktastic Recordings, UK) * ''Ashcan Records 1'' (Ashcan Records, Luxembourg) * ''Change The Station II'' (White Russian Records, Netherlands) * ''In Defense of Rock 2'' (Fond of Life/Winged Skull, Germany) * ''Quintisentially British'' (UK) * ''Brighton Rocks'' (UK)

References

External links

Phinius Gage Official MySpace page

Review of Phinius Gage album "The Feeling Something's Wrong" from national website Punktastic

Phinius Gage tracks played on BBC Radio 1's Lock Up Punk Show

Phinius Gage Bandcamp page

Lay It On The Line Bandcamp page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phinius Gage Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom British hardcore punk groups English punk rock groups Melodic hardcore groups Skate punk groups