Suburban Rhythm was a

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

band from

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. Formed in 1990, they played numerous shows in small-venue clubs with many now famous O.C. bands opening their performances, including Sublime,

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

, and

Reel Big Fish Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California. The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold-certified album '' Turn the Radio Off''. So ...

. Suburban Rhythm met with various roster changes and broke up in 1994. Three years later in 1997 their only full-length album, '' Suburban Rhythm'' was released.

History

In August 1989, vocalist Dennis Owens, guitarist Jake Kline, keyboardist/vocalist Rodi Delgadillo, bassist Deryke Cardenaz, and drummer Christine Tasche formed a band called The Silent Invasion, which played one show shortly before Tasche left the band. The remaining members decided to change the band's name to Suburban Rhythm; Ed Kampwirth replaced Cardenaz on bass while

Carlos de la Garza Captain Carlos de la Garza (1807–1882), also known as "Don Carlos," was a fourth generation Tejano rancher and entrepreneur in Goliad, Victoria and Refugio counties of Texas. His participation in the Mexican Army leading to the Battle of Col ...

, drummer for Cerritos ska band The Trenchtown Invaders, filled the band's drum slot.

Height of career

With Kampwirth and De la Garza forming a solid rhythm section, the band played numerous shows including Prince's club "Glam Slam", in Los Angeles, also playing

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and Orange County areas. In October 1992, the band released their first (and only) demo, ''Hose''. In April 1993, Kline quit the band to work on his own musical project, Eggbeater. The band decided to find a new guitarist but vowed to break up if any more core members (including Kampwirth and De La Garza) decided to quit, fearing replacing any more members might "water things down to the point of embarrassment". After several try-outs, including

founder Aaron Barrett, the band chose Nuckle Brothers guitarist Scott Moran.

Breakup

In late 1993 Suburban Rhythm started to record their first album. Friction among band members grew worse and in the middle of the sessions Kampwirth and Moran announced they were quitting. The band kept the promise they made after Kline left and played their last show on April 2, 1994 in Costa Mesa, CA. The band released the "Almost There" ep at the time of their breakup, containing 4 songs from the scrapped album.

Compilation

In 1997, a posthumous 16-song compilation CD was released by Long Beach record label

Solid Recordings Solid is a state of matter where molecules are closely packed and can not slide past each other. Solids resist compression, expansion, or external forces that would alter its shape, with the degree to which they are resisted dependent upon the ...

. The album contains three tracks from the ''Hose'' demo cassette, all four tracks from the ''Almost There'' 7" vinyl, nine previously unreleased tracks from the scrapped first album, five live tracks recorded at the

Big Black Room Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a Discovery C ...

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

in 1993, as well as a hidden garage-recorded track entitled "Uniform of Destruction". The CD also features liner notes written by

guitarist

Tom Dumont Thomas Martin Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American musician and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's ''Song ...

Musical style

While primarily labeled a

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, some of their recordings displayed styles from

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

(e.g. "18 Inch Ruler"), to

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, prog, and even

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

(e.g. "Blue Hawaii").

Influence and legacy

Shortly after Suburban Rhythm's break-up, a large number of the band's contemporaries would go on to find success, and this would, in part, lead to a nationwide ska revival in the mid and late 1990s. Additionally, a large number of younger Orange County ska bands had cited Suburban Rhythm as an influence, most notably, O.C. ska band

has paid homage to Suburban Rhythm on many occasions. Their second full-length CD, ''

Turn the Radio Off ''Turn the Radio Off'' is the second album by ska punk band Reel Big Fish. It was released in the U.S. in 1996 on Mojo Records. The single " Sell Out" both received extensive radio airplay and had mainstream success during 1997. "Sell Out" al ...

'', includes a tribute song to Suburban Rhythm entitled "S.R". They also covered Suburban Rhythm's "Uniform of Destruction" for the

Ska Parade Ska Parade, also known as SP Radio One, is a southern California radio show whose goal is to promote up-and-coming ska artists, as well as other types of new bands. The show was created by Tazy Phyllipz and Albino Brown. The show was a part of t ...

's compilation album, ''Runnin' Naked thru the Cornfield''. (Suburban Rhythm's "Coming out of the Woodwork" is featured on the same album.) Reel Big Fish's front man, Aaron Barrett, paid further homage to Suburban Rhythm by covering one of their unreleased songs, Go to Hell, with his side band

The Forces of Evil The Forces of Evil was an Orange County–based ska punk band, formed in January 2001 with the intention of creating a ska supergroup, being the side project of fellow ska punk band Reel Big Fish. The band released their only album, '' Friend o ...

, which was released on the album Friend or Foe?. Suburban Rhythm were cited by the

L.A. Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

as one of the 10 best bands from Long Beach, Ca. Various members of Suburban Rhythm have gone on to play in numerous bands, and are still active in the

, Orange County and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

musical communities. Owens, de la Garza, and Delgadillo, would go on to form the power-pop group

Action League Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

which performed from 1995-1999. Dennis Owens played bass with BlowUpBlow and later played bass with

Free Moral Agents Free Moral Agents were a collective of musicians brought together by Isaiah "Ikey" Owens (keyboardist from The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríg ...

. Owens also DJs in various clubs in Long Beach and Orange County, notably at the long-running Good Foot that Owens and Delgadillio founded in 1998. Rodi Delgadillo currently lives in Long Beach, California. He Dj's and is currently working on a new musical project named "Cosmos". Carlos de la Garza would go on to play drums with

Gogogo Airheart GoGoGo Airheart was a post-punk band from San Diego, California, that was active from 1996 to 2006. Career The band started out by local independent label, Vinyl Communications, and released their self-titled debut in 1997. By that time drummer ...

Sugarcult Sugarcult was an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1998. The band consisted of Tim Pagnotta (vocals, rhythm guitar), Airin Older (bass), Marko DeSantis (lead guitar), and Kenny Livingston (drums). History Formation ...

The Valley Arena ''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'' ...

Lyra , from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star ...

, and

Ray Barbee Ray Barbee (born October 5, 1971) is an American skateboarder and musician from San Jose, California. Skateboarding Barbee was one of the first skateboarders to bring freestyle/flatland tricks to street, technical ollie combinations and numer ...

, and currently runs

Music Friends Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of musi ...

recording studio, and is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Winning recording engineer and producer. Ed Kampwirth continued playing bass, keys, and writing for numerous acts. Most notable within the Ska/Reggae/Punk genre: Toured with

-1999 (temporary bass sub for Matt Wong). Co-writing credit for "Mistaken" by

Save Ferris Save Ferris is an American ska punk band formed circa 1995 in Orange County, California, United States. Their name is a reference to the 1986 film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''. In 1995, the band began to perform underground venues in Southern C ...

-1999 (Modified album). Toured and wrote songs with

Neville Staple Neville Eugenton Staple (born 11 April 1955), sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born British singer, known for his work with the 2-tone ska band the Specials, the pop group Fun Boy Three, as well as with his own group, th ...

(ex.

The Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

) - 2000-2004. Played keys with the Alleged Gunmen - 2002-2004 (album- Return to Zero -2004). Currently touring/writing with the

Long Beach Dub Allstars The Long Beach Dub Allstars are an American dub/ ska/reggae rock band formed in 1997 and disbanded in 2002, but reformed 10 years later. History Initial career (1997–2001) Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh met in childhood (in 1979) and later star ...

(2016–present). Jake Kline shortly fronted a band called Eggbeater, but is no longer involved in playing music. Scott Moran would later play guitar with

The Aquabats The Aquabats are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer Christian Jacobs, the MC Bat Commander and bassist Chad Larson, Crash McLarson have ...

, skate-legend

's instrumental ensemble, and currently plays guitar in

Sky Parade The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronom ...

. Moran is also currently involved in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

Members

*Dennis Owens (

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 ...

) *Rodi DelGadillo (

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

) *Deryke Cardenaz (

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 ...

) (1990–1992) *Ed Kampwirth (

) (1992–1994) *Jake Kline (

guitar 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 ...

) (1990–1993) *Scott Moran (

) (1993–1994) *Christine Tasche (

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 ...

) (1990, with The Silent Invasion) *John Gamba (

) (1990–1991) *

(

) (1991–1994)

Discography

References

{{Reflist American ska punk musical groups Third-wave ska groups Punk rock groups from California