T.S.O.L.

T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Huntington Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, art punk, horror punk, other varieties of punk music, and hard rock.

History

1978–1983: Formation and first releases

Formed in 1978 in Huntington Beach, CA, T.S.O.L. originated as a punk band. While the band first used the name Vicious Circle, they eventually changed their name to T.S.O.L by September 1980. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgon, Jack Ladoga, Jack Delauge and Jack Loyd, among pseudonyms), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes. According to legend, the band acquired their instruments by casing a local music shop, waiting until closing, and then performing a smash-and-grab robbery.

T.S.O.L.'s debut five-song EP, '' T.S.O.L.'', was released in spring 1981 by Posh Boy Records, featuring the reconvened original lineup. This first release was harshly political, featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love", "World War III" and "Abolish Government".

Their first full-length album, '' Dance with Me'', was released later in 1981 on Frontier Records, and showcased a more gothic/deathrock sound. They then signed to independent label Alternative Tentacles, releasing the '' Weathered Statues'' EP early in 1982, and the melodic '' Beneath the Shadows'' album later that year; the latter featured a new member, keyboardist Greg Kuehn.

Amid personal turmoil, Grisham, Barnes and Kuehn all left the band in 1983. Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley briefly joined the lineup.

After his exit, Grisham formed Cathedral of Tears, who released a 1984 EP on Enigma Records. Following the release of the Cathedral of Tears EP, T.S.O.L.'s replacement drummer, Mitch Dean, referred to Cathedral of Tears as a "synthesizer band" whose music he did not particularly like, adding, "not to make fun of it or anything," but that " risham'sdoing what he wants. No hard feelings, Jack-babe."

1984–1990: Reconfiguration and Enigma Records

T.S.O.L. chose to reconfigure. Joe Wood and Mitch Dean joined on vocals and drums, after Ron Emory, who was at the time playing in Wood's band The Loners, asked him to start a new band with himself and Roche. This new lineup released four albums on Enigma: '' Change Today?'' (1984), ''Revenge'' (1986) ''Hit and Run'' (1987) and '' Strange Love'' (1990). All four albums featured a more polished production style, with ''Hit and Run'' reaching No. 184 on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts, and the band touring globally to support the releases. The band's first live album, ''Live'', was issued by Enigma in 1988.

The band became friends with Guns N' Roses, and T.S.O.L. T-shirts were seen in the video for that band's "Sweet Child o' Mine", most notably on drummer Steven Adler.

Emory left the band in 1988, during the recording of demos for ''Strange Love'', leaving Roche as the sole remaining original member—though Emory was given a writing credit on the track "Blow by Blow". T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to ''Hit and Run''. They eventually hired former Dino's Revenge guitarist and actor Marshall Rohner. They released a blues-metal album, ''Strange Love'', in 1990. Roche was fired shortly before the album's release and signed over rights to the name and trademark to Wood and Dean leaving the band with no original members.

1991–2007: Schism, Nitro Records, and "farewell"

In 1991, the original members reformed under Grisham and began playing shows under the name T.S.O.L. However, Wood and Dean were the legal owners of the name T.S.O.L, and the Grisham-led band was forced to use a different moniker for performances.

In 1996, Wood and Dean were joined by guitarists Mike Martt and Drac Conley, and bassist Dave Mello (from Uniform Choice), with Dean subsequently replaced by Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan. In 1999, the original members fought with Wood for rights to the name and won. The Grisham-led T.S.O.L joined the Vans Warped Tour, officially playing under their original name for the first time since they reformed.

Barnes died of a brain aneurysm on December 6, 1999, at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien (formerly of All Day, later of American Jihad) and released the "Anticop" single (2001) and the albums '' Disappear'' (2001) and '' Divided We Stand'' (2003), all on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Kuehn back on keyboards as well as Billy Blaze replacing O'Brien.

In November 2006, the band announced they were breaking up, with final performances having taken place earlier in the month. In September 2007, Cider City Records released the seemingly posthumous live album '' Live from Long Beach'', recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two announced "farewell" performances. Their hiatus was short-lived, however, as they returned to perform local shows in late 2007.

2008–present: Later releases

In February 2008, T.S.O.L headlined the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I. In December 2008, the band entered the studio to record '' Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads'', which was made available as a free download through sponsor Hurley International's website on January 8, 2009. It was also released on vinyl by DC-Jam Records in November 2009.

Grisham formed Jack Grisham's LOST Soul in 2012, a gigging ensemble featuring Kuehn and Biuso, with the intent of performing T.S.O.L. and The Joykiller material.

On April 20, 2013, T.S.O.L. released a 7-inch EP, ''You Don't Have to Die'' (TKO Records), for Record Store Day, composed of the title track (an unreleased 1980 demo) and two 1981 live tracks. That same year, the band toured Europe and South America; they also completed a US tour with Flag.

On January 27, 2017, the band released ''The Trigger Complex'' album on Rise Records. In August 2017, Antonio Val Hernandez joined the band as drummer, replacing Hanna.

In 2024 a new studio album, ''A-Side Graffiti'' was released on February 27.

Film and television appearances

In 1981, director Paul Young made ''Urban Struggle: The Battle of The Cuckoo's Nest'', a film which featured live performances by T.S.O.L. as well as several Orange County punk and hardcore bands. Dave Markey's 1982 film ''The Slog Movie'' also featured live T.S.O.L. performances, as did Penelope Spheeris' 1984 ''Suburbia'' with their performances of "Wash Away" & "Darker My Love". They also appeared in the 1989 movie '' The Runnin' Kind''. Their music was also featured in the popular 1985 horror movie ''The Return of the Living Dead'' and 1986 film '' Dangerously Close''. They were also mentioned in the 2007 documentary '' Punk's Not Dead''.

Members

Current members

*Mike Roche – bass (1978–1990, 1991, 1999–present)
* Ron Emory – guitar, vocals (1978–1988, 1991, 1999–present)
* Jack Grisham – vocals, piano (1978–1983, 1991, 1999–present)
*Greg Kuehn – piano, synthesizers (1982–1983, 2005–present)
*Antonio Val Hernandez – drums (2017–present)

Former members

*Todd Barnes – drums (1978–1983, 1991, 1999; died 1999)
* Joe Wood – vocals, guitar (1983–1999)
*Mitch Dean – drums (1983–1998)
* Marshall Rohner – guitar (1988–1996; died 2005)
* Mike Martt – guitar (1996–1999; died 2023)
*Drac Conley – guitar (1996–1998)
*Dave Mello – bass (1990–1999)
*Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan – drums (1998–1999)
*Jay O'Brien – drums (1999–2003)
*Billy Blaze – drums (2003)
* Anthony "Tiny" Biuso – drums (2003–2014)
*Matt Rainwater – drums (2014–2016)
* Chip Hanna – drums (2016–2017)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:5 right:15
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1978 till:05/01/2025
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3
ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1978
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1978

Colors =
id:v value:red legend:Vocals
id:g value:green legend:Guitar
id:syn value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:b value:blue legend:Bass
id:d value:orange legend:Drums
id:alb value:black legend:Studio_album
id:bar value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bar

LineData =
layer:back
color:alb
at:06/01/1981
at:02/01/1983
at:06/30/1984
at:06/30/1986
at:07/11/1987
at:06/30/1990
at:06/26/2001
at:09/09/2003
at:01/08/2009
at:01/27/2017
at:02/17/2024

BarData=
bar:JG text:"Jack_Grisham"
bar:JW text:"Joe_Wood"
bar:RE text:"Ron_Emory"
bar:MR text:"Marshall_Rohner"
bar:MM text:"Mike_Martt"
bar:DC text:"Drac_Conley"
bar:GK text:"Greg_Kuehn"
bar:MR2 text:"Mike_Roche"
bar:DM text:"Dave_Mello"
bar:TB text:"Todd_Barnes"
bar:MD text:"Mitch_Dean"
bar:SS text:"Steve_O'Sullivan"
bar:JB text:"Jay_O'Brien"
bar:BB text:"Billy_Blaze"
bar:AB text:"Anthony_Biuso"
bar:MR3 text:"Matt_Rainwater"
bar:CH text:"Chip_Hanna"
bar:AH text:"Antonio_Hernandez"

PlotData =
width:13 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(12,–4)
bar:JG from:start till:06/01/1983 color:v
bar:JG from:01/01/1999 till:end color:v
bar:JG from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:syn width:3
bar:JW from:10/01/1983 till:12/31/1998 color:g width:3
bar:JW from:10/01/1983 till:12/31/1998 color:v
bar:RE from:start till:06/01/1983 color:g
bar:RE from:10/01/1983 till:06/30/1988 color:g
bar:RE from:start till:06/01/1983 color:v width:3
bar:RE from:10/01/1983 till:06/30/1988 color:v width:3
bar:RE from:01/01/1999 till:end color:g
bar:RE from:01/01/1999 till:end color:v width:3
bar:MR from:10/01/1988 till:06/30/1996 color:g
bar:MM from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g
bar:DC from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g
bar:MR2 from:start till:06/01/1983 color:b
bar:MR2 from:10/01/1983 till:06/30/1990 color:b
bar:MR2 from:01/01/1999 till:end color:b
bar:DM from:07/01/1990 till:12/31/1998 color:b
bar:TB from:start till:06/01/1983 color:d
bar:TB from:01/01/1999 till:12/06/1999 color:d
bar:MD from:10/01/1983 till:06/30/1998 color:d
bar:SS from:07/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 color:d
bar:JB from:12/07/1999 till:03/30/2003 color:d
bar:BB from:04/01/2003 till:09/30/2003 color:d
bar:AB from:10/01/2003 till:06/30/2014 color:d
bar:MR3 from:10/01/2014 till:06/30/2016 color:d
bar:CH from:07/01/2016 till:07/31/2017 color:d
bar:AH from:08/01/2017 till:end color:d
bar:GK from:01/01/1982 till:06/01/1983 color:syn
bar:GK from:01/01/2005 till:end color:syn

Discography

;Studio albums
* '' Dance with Me'' (1981)
* '' Beneath the Shadows'' (1983)
* '' Change Today?'' (1984)
* ''Revenge'' (1986)
* ''Hit and Run'' (1987)
* '' Strange Love'' (1990)
* '' Disappear'' (2001)
* '' Divided We Stand'' (2003)
* '' Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads'' (2009)
* '' The Trigger Complex'' (2017)
* ''A-Side Graffiti'' (2024)

References

External links

*
Deathrock.com T.S.O.L. section
Joe Wood '83 to '96
1984 Interview with Artist Jim Blanchard and BLATCH Fanzine Staff
BLATCH; Issue 10; Norman, OK

{{DEFAULTSORT:TSOL
Hardcore punk groups from California
Musical groups established in 1978
American death rock groups
Punk rock groups from California
Horror punk groups
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Alternative Tentacles artists
1978 establishments in California
Restless Records artists
Enigma Records artists