The Blood Brothers are an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band which formed in Seattle's Eastside suburbs in 1997. The group released five full-length albums before their 2007 break-up, but reunited for a series of shows surrounding and including

FYF Fest FYF Fest (short for "Fuck Yeah Fest Fest") was an annual three-day music festival held at the Los Angeles Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Sean Carlson in 2004 and later solely produced by Goldenvoice, a subsidiar ...

in 2014. They reunited once again in 2024 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their album ''

Crimes In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

''.

History

Origin

Singers Jordan Blilie and

Johnny Whitney Johnny Whitney (born June 28, 1981) is a singer, author and multi-instrumentalist from Seattle. He is known for being one of two vocalists in the post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers and in the post-punk band Jaguar Love. Career Whitney met ...

and drummer Mark Gajadhar formed the band from a previous musical endeavor, a band called Vade that they were involved with when they were 15 years old. Joining with bassist

Morgan Henderson The Blood Brothers are an American post-hardcore band which formed in Seattle's Eastside suburbs in 1997. The group released five full-length albums before their 2007 break-up, but reunited for a series of shows surrounding and including FYF F ...

and guitarist Devin Welch the following year, the Blood Brothers were born in August 1997. The band recorded their first 7-inch record for $200 in a basement the following year. After replacing Welch with guitarist

Cody Votolato Cody Votolato (born 20 May 1982) is a musician from Redmond, Washington, best known for being the guitarist in the post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers. He grew up in the eastside suburbs of Seattle. Cody attended Redmond High School with hi ...

(who is a year younger than the rest of the band), the current lineup was complete. The band left on their first tour immediately after Votolato graduated from high school.Interview with Jordan Blilie.
BettaWreckonize.com. Circa 2003. In July 2002, the band toured the United States with Vermont-based math rock band

The Cancer Conspiracy ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

and Florida-based indie rock band The Rocking Horse Winner. The band's third album, '' ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn'', was released in 2003 and produced by

Ross Robinson Ross Robinson (born February 13, 1967) is an American record producer who discovered acts such as Korn, Glassjaw, The Blood Brothers, Slipknot, and Limp Bizkit. Robinson has also worked with Tech N9ne, The Cure, Sepultura, and many others. ...

. The Blood Brothers' fifth and final album, '' Young Machetes'', was released on October 10, 2006, with

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

member

Guy Picciotto Guy Picciotto ( ; born September 17, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer from Washington, D.C. He is best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Fugazi and as lead vocalist of Rites of Spring. Career Rites ...

co-producing it.

Hiatus and breakup

Music website Punknews.org reported that the band was going on hiatus, though they had initially reported the situation as a breakup. The news story linked to a forum post by

Three One G 31G Records, or Three One G, is a San Diego, California-based independent record label, started by musician Justin Pearson in 1994 and focusing on punk and experimental music. The label has released a number of albums and compilations in what has ...

owner Justin Pearson, who was replying to a post about the breakup of

Some Girls ''Some Girls'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held from October 1977 to February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris ...

. He only stated "the blood bros broke up." BloodBrothers-30Jan07-22h46

The band officially broke up in June 2007, but kept the information from the public until November 2007. Rumors of the disbandment can be traced as far back as July. The Blood Brothers were expected to make an announcement about their future in early 2008, but instead officially announced the breakup on November 8, 2007: In a December 2008 interview with Seattle newspaper '' The Stranger'', Blilie gave the following reason for the band's breakup: It was announced on October 19, 2009, that

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. A large portion of the record label, known as Hellcat Records, is owned by Tim Armstrong, frontman of the punk rock band Rancid. Several ...

would be re-issuing the band's last four full-length albums with added b-sides, live tracks and remixes.

Reunions

On May 16, 2014, The Blood Brothers announced a reunion to play

on August 24. Their first show in 7 years took place on August 22, 2014 at the Showbox in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. The band added further dates in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

and Santa Ana. Jordan Blilie said that the band would not be releasing new music. On May 15, 2024, The Blood Brothers announced another reunion and United States tour alongside a 20th anniversary reissue of ''Crimes''. Blilie said, "It was on stage, though, where that energy reached its most joyful, reckless, collective state. It’s an experience that never really goes away, and one we wanted to share again. So, we’ll be playing a handful of shows this fall." The band's first show in a decade took place on October 13, 2024 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, as a last-minute replacement for Bright Eyes to headline the Best Friends Forever festival.

Musical style

The Blood Brothers is commonly seen as a

band and incorporate elements from a number of genres including

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

screamo Screamo (also referred to as skramz) is a subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics".Jason Heller, "Feast of Reason". ''Denver Westword'', June 20, 2002 Access date: June 15, 2 ...

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 ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

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 ...

, and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. The band is particularly notable for having the unique dueling vocals of Johnny Whitney and Jordan Blilie. The style of guitar playing showcased by Votolato has greatly changed over time, most notably between the heavy, discordant sound of '' ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn'' and the minimalist lead lines of ''

'', where the energy of the drums and vocals tends to make up for the lack of thick distortion. Whitney's voice is generally accepted to have evolved from the slurred, venomous drawl on ''This Adultery Is Ripe'' to the high-pitched squeals ("like a child being tortured ") heard on ''Crimes'', while Blilie's voice has grown more distinctive while maintaining the same low, robust ferocity. The band has cited

Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995 and later from 2014 to 2016. It was formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis, ex-members of the band Pitchfor ...

, Botch,

Swing Kids The Swing Youth () were a youth counterculture of jazz and Swing (genre), swing lovers in Nazi Germany, Germany formed in Hamburg in 1939. Primarily active in Hamburg and Berlin, they were composed of 14- to 21-year-old Germans, mostly middl ...

, Rye Coalition, and

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

, among others, as influences.

's angular guitarwork, in addition to drawing from Drive Like Jehu, Swing Kids, and Rye Coalition, was also influenced by

Antioch Arrow Antioch Arrow was an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, that formed in 1992. Most of their discography was released through the San Diego independent label Gravity Records. The label was responsible for raising San Diego's prof ...

Other projects

Several members of the band have been or are currently involved in other projects: * Johnny Whitney and Mark Gajadhar released an album "Chandeliers in the Savannah" in 2005 under the name Neon Blonde after the release of "Crimes", 2004. An EP was also released earlier in 2005. * Along with members of

The Locust The Locust was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, known for their mix of grindcore aggression and new wave experimentation. The band has been noted for their use of insect costumes when performing live. History Prio ...

and

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 compleme ...

, Jordan Blilie and Cody Votolato formed

Head Wound City Head Wound City is an American hardcore punk Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Jordan Blilie and Cody Votolato both of The Blood Brothers (band), The Blood Brothers, Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Justin Pearson (musician), J ...

shortly after the release of ''Crimes'' and released a self-titled EP. The band regrouped and released an album 'A New Wave of Violence' on May 13, 2016. * In 2007, Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato joined with Jay Clark (formerly of

Pretty Girls Make Graves Pretty Girls Make Graves is a post-hardcore band formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths' song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's ''The Dharma Bums''). Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played ...

) to start Jaguar Love. The band's first release was a limited edition self-titled EP, which was released June 3 that year. On December 29, 2007, they announced they were to begin recording their first full-length record. The record, Take Me To The Sea, was released August 19, 2008. Their second album, Hologram Jams, was released March 2, 2010. * Johnny Whitney, along with Devin Welch and Hannah Blilie, played in

The Vogue Soiled Doves was an American post-hardcore band from Seattle active in 2000 and 2001, releasing one album called ''Soiled Life'' two years after disbanding. The band formed as dance-punk band The Vogues in the late 1990s, changing their name to S ...

(1999–2000), which evolved into Soiled Doves (2000–2001) after the departure of their keyboardist. The Vogue released an album in 2000, ''As Brass As Satin''. Soiled Doves released in album in 2003, ''Soiled Life''. * Johnny Whitney, along with his wife Amy Carlsen, started a clothing company calle
Crystal City Clothing
To date, they have produced shirts for

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004 by high school friends Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (musician), Spencer Smith (drums), who recruited classmates Brendon Urie (vocals and ...

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name Th ...

, and

Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977, in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American indie and folk singer-songwriter. He was also a member of the rock group Waxwing. in 2025, he started a new band called Suzzallo with bandmate Rudy Gajadhar on d ...

. They also produced a majority of the merchandise designs for The Blood Brothers for several years. * Jordan Blilie, Mark Gajadhar and Morgan Henderson formed the band Past Lives in late 2007, with original Blood Brothers guitarist Devin Welch. Their debut EP, '' Strange Symmetry'', was made available for digital download in August 2008. They have also recorded a 5-song suite for Issue 7 of ''The Journal of Popular Noise'', due June 2008. On February 23, 2010, the band released their debut full-length for Suicide Squeeze Records, '' Tapestry of Webs.'' * Morgan Henderson has a solo electronic project by the name of O, Hunter. He has done remixes of some songs for some bands, such as Minus The Bear. He spent much of 2010 writing and recording

Helplessness Blues ''Helplessness Blues'' is the second studio album by American band Fleet Foxes, released on May 3, 2011, by Sub Pop and Bella Union. The album received universal acclaim from critics, going on to be nominated for Best Folk Album at the 54th Annu ...

by the

Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes are an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band currently consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals, guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals), Casey Wescott (keyboards, mandolin, backin ...

, and currently is touring with them as of 2017. * Mark Gajadhar performs as DJ Gajamagic. Under this name he has formed the group

Champagne Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

with rapper Pearl Dragon and Thomas Gray. DJ Gajamagic is also one half of WEEKEND with the other half being Ryann Donnelly from

Schoolyard Heroes Schoolyard Heroes was an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, United States, consisting of four members: Ryann Donnelly (lead vocals), Jonah Bergman (bassist, back-up vocals), Steve Bonnell (guitar), and Brian Turner (drummer). Histor ...

. In 2014, Gajadhar joined

Hardly Art Hardly Art is an American independent record label based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in early 2007 by Sub Pop Records, Hardly Art is run by three full-time employees and is distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) and Sub Pop ...

band Grave Babies as drummer. * Cody Votolato is currently the guitarist in

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

band

Telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

and also the touring guitarist for

Cold Cave Cold Cave is the solo project for musician Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of dark wave, darkwave, noise music, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Jo ...

Members

;Lineup

* Jordan Blilie –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, guitars,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(1997–2007, 2014, 2024–present) *

– vocals, keyboards,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(1997–2007, 2014, 2024–present) * Mark Gajadhar –

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(1997–2007, 2014, 2024–present) * Morgan Henderson –

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 ...

, guitars, keyboards,

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 ...

(1997–2007, 2014, 2024–present) *

– guitars, percussion, backing vocals (1999–2007, 2014, 2024–present) ;Former members * Devin Welch – guitars (1997–1999)

Discography

Albums

* ''

This Adultery Is Ripe ''This Adultery Is Ripe'' is the debut studio album by the American post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers, released in August 2000. Produced by Matt Bayles, this album was recorded over a weekend on a limited budget, and has been described as ...

'' (2000) * '' March on Electric Children'' (2002) * '' ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn'' (2003) * ''

'' (2004) No. 157 US * '' Young Machetes'' (2006) No. 92 US

EPs

*''The Blood Brothers'' (1997) *''Home Alive '98'' split 7-inch with Stiletto (1998) *''Dynamic Sound!'' split 7-inch with Milemarker (1999) *'' Rumors Laid Waste'' (2003) *'' Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck'' (2005)

Singles

* " Ambulance vs. Ambulance" (2003) * "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck" (2004) * "Laser Life" (2006) * "Set Fire to the Face on Fire" (2007)

Music videos

* Ambulance vs. Ambulance (2003) * Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon (2003) * Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck (2004) * Laser Life (2006) * Set Fire to the Face on Fire (2007)

DVDs

* ''Jungle Rules Live'' (2003) * '' This Is Circumstantial Evidence'' (2003) * ''The Fest 3'' (2004)

Other appearances

* The Blood Brothers produced a cover of the song

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's tenth studio album ''Hot Space'' (1982). The song reached number one on the U ...

which appeared on the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

tribute album ''Dynamite With a Laser Beam''. * The band also covered

's "Anthrax" for a tribute album that never materialized. A remix can be found on the '' Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck'' EP. * The band performed "Trash Flavored Trash" on ABC's ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' on September 20, 2005. The band was supposed to perform "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck", but defied the show's request. * The band performed "Set Fire To The Face On Fire" and "Laser Life" on Season 2, Episode 6 of IFC's

The Henry Rollins Show ''The Henry Rollins Show'' is a talk show hosted by musician Henry Rollins that aired weekly on IFC. The show featured Rollins' monologues, interviews with celebrities and uncensored musical performances. The show was canceled after the wrap o ...

, May 18, 2007

Family connections

Several members of the band have familial connections to other notable

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

-based bands: * Cody Votolato's older brother

is a successful solo folk artist and was a member of

Waxwing The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, ...

with Cody. His oldest brother is Sonny Votolato, who plays guitar for numerous bands, including Slender Means, Bugs in Amber, and Blue Checkered Record Player. * Mark Gajadhar's older brother is Rudy Gajadhar, the drummer of

Gatsbys American Dream Gatsbys American Dream is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their founding in 2001, they have released four full-length albums and one EP. The band's self-titled fourth album, their second released with Fearless Reco ...

and formerly of

. Rudy was in Waxwing at the same time as Cody's brother Rocky. * Jordan Blilie's twin sister

Hannah Blilie Hannah Blilie is an American musician who is the drummer of the American band Gossip (band), Gossip and formerly Chanti Darling and Shoplifting (band), Shoplifting. She has also performed with Sarah Dougher, Chromatics (band), Chromatics, Stilett ...

is the drummer for

The Gossip Gossip (or the Gossip) is an American indie rock band from Searcy, Arkansas, formed in 1999. For most of their career, the band has consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, and drummer Hannah Blil ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blood Brothers, The American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Musical groups from Washington (state) V2 Records artists Wichita Recordings artists Three One G artists 1997 establishments in Washington (state)