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  • TSOL

    Location: Long Beach, California
    Active: 1978-current

    In the early 80s California punk scene, alongside the Hollywood and Los Angeles proper bands, the outlying areas like Orange County and Long Beach developed similar, yet at the same time brilliantly different scenes. In Orange County, T.S.O.L. (an acronym for True Sounds Of Liberty) formed in the city of Huntington Beach during 1978. Many of the OC bands (Adolescents, Agent Orange, D.I., Middle Class) were faster, harder and had something of a weirder streak – perhaps a penchant for narrative that was lacking from many of the more traditional LA bands. None more weird than TSOL, their singer Jack Grisham was a west coast nod to Dave Vanian of The Damned, with his gothic dress code, and their songs conjuring up such subjects as horror movie chic, film noir and… necrophilia.

    Their self-titled 1981 EP presented a political focus, but with the release of their LP later that year, ‘Dance With Me’, their horror punk/deathrock influences were in the forefront – gothic typography with a graveyard scene on the cover, and more than half of the track listing dedicated to death, darkness and and a ghoulish, high-camp creep factor including the infamous “Code Blue”, giving necrophiliacs the world over a catchy anthem. This was followed by the 1982 ‘Weathered Statues’ EP, which continued their more goth-punk direction. Later that year saw the ‘Beneath The Shadows’ LP, with the addition of a permanent keyboard player, taking their sound in a more artistic direction with synthesizer driven punk rock, without altogether losing their darker themes. It was this lineup that appeared in the 1983 Penelopee Spheeris punk drama ‘Suburbia’, playing “Wash Away” from the ‘Beneath The Shadows’ album, and ‘Darker My Love’ (recorded at the same time as the album, but was not released until 2014).

    Prior to their first album, Grisham and Barnes disbanded the first incarnation of TSOL to form Vicious Circle, only to reunite in 1979. By 1983 Jack Grisham, Todd Barnes again left, as well as keyboard player Greg Kuehn, but instead of this being the end of the band, Joe Wood (Der Stab) stepped in on vocals and ‘Change Today’ was released in 1984 on Enigma Records – maintaining the dark romantic punk direction. At this point, Roche and Emory were the only original members remaining. However they too would eventually depart the band, leaving none of the original lineup. This incarnation of TSOL took a drastic detour into the then-popular hard rock / metal direction. 

    Meanwhile, Grisham moved on to form a succession of projects – Cathedral of Tears, Tender Fury and joined by Emory with Joykiller. Interestingly enough, one of the other projects Grisham formed with Barnes, Roche and Emory was a duplicate TSOL (also under the name LOST), which existed concurrently with the previous TSOL that had shed all relation to it’s original lineup. Needless to say, legal battles ensued, and eventually by 1999, Jack Grisham obtained the rights to the name, resulting in a reformation of the original lineup, and despite the untimely death of Todd Barnes in 1999, the excellent ‘Disappear’ album in 2001. As of 2020, TSOL remains active with Grisham, Emory and Roche still in the lineup.

    Related: Vicious Circle, Der Stab, Cathedral of Tears, Tender Fury, Joykiller, LOST

    Links:

    Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/255060-TSOL
    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.S.O.L.
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsol_official/
    Bandcamp: https://tsol.bandcamp.com/

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  • Christian Death 

    Location: USA – Los Angeles, CA

    Active: 1979-1985

    Christian Death formed in 1979 in the Los Angeles area. Along with 45 Grave and related projects, they were instrumental in forming what would become known as ‘deathrock’, a genre most often associated with bands of the southern California scene, but more broadly applies to bands the world over. Rozz Williams formed the original lineup with George Belanger and James McGearty. Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents (also Social Distortion, D.I., many other LA punk bands, an accomplished solo artist, and a later era 45 Grave) joined on guitar, and their debut recording appeared in 1981 on the essential ‘Hell Comes To Your House’ compilation, and released their first LP in 1982, ‘Only Theatre of Pain’ on Frontier Records. Keith Walsh (Der Stab) played keyboards in this era of Christian Death.

    By their second album, ‘Catastrophe Ballet’ in 1984, the lineup had changed significantly, with Rozz Williams the only remaining original member, and Valor Kand (guitar), Gitane Demone (backing vocals) and David Glass (drums), all of whom were previously the band Pompeii 99. This lineup lasted til 1985’s ‘Ashes’. During a European tour, Rozz Williams left the band, however Kand continued using Christian Death against Williams’ wishes, resulting in a severe division amongst fans. Despite Valor’s talent as a musician, which continued to shine over the next few albums, most fans familiar with the distinction between Rozz Williams era and Valor era Christian Death refer to the later as Valor era or Valor’s Christian Death. Valor’s nonconsensual appropriation of the name continues to be bone of contention.  

    Rozz Williams continued with other musical projects including noise / performance art collaborations like Premature Ejaculation, several solo projects and a collaborative album with Gitane Demone. The most relevant progressions from his Christian Death work were Shadow Project, and Daucus Karota which emerged from it. Shadow Project was a collaboration with Eva O of the Super Heroines, as well as Johann Schumann and Barry Galvin of Mephisto Walz, who had also played with and departed post-Rozz Christian Death) David Glass also returned to work with Shadow Project.

    Williams also performed and released further Christian Death material, despite the existence of Valor’s continued use of the name. Legal disputes failed any significant conclusions. In 1990, the original Christian Death reformed with Rozz Williams, Rikk Agnew and Eva O for a rare live performance at the Mason Jar in Phoenix, Arizona supported by Bootbeast. The performance was recorded for an audio and video release entitled Sleepless Nights, one of a very few efforts made by Rozz Williams to perform original Christian Death material during the band’s late era. The Path of Shadows, Rage of Angels, and Skeleton Kiss EP were all released by Christian Death under Rozz’s direction during this time.

    Rozz Williams died in his home in Los Angeles of suicide on April 1, 1998.

    Related: Shadow Project, Der Stab, Adolescents, Social Distortion, D.I., Pompeii 99, Super Heroines, Mephisto Walz, Daucus Karota

    Links


    Official: http://www.rozznet.com/

    Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/94647-Christian-Death

    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Death

    Bandcamp: https://frontierrecords-christiandeath.bandcamp.com/


    This profile is in development. Contributions?

  • The Gun Club

    Location: Los Angeles
    Active: 1979-1996

    Fusing elements of punk, blues, voodoo, horror comics and a western atmosphere, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo Powers co-founded The Gun Club in Los Angeles in 1979 as Creeping Ritual until adopting the new name by early 1980. Their membership fluctuated on a regular basis around Pierce’s wild behavior, with Kid Congo joining The Cramps later that year. Their early lineups saw Terry Graham, Rob Ritter (45 Grave), both formerly of The Bags and Ward Dotson (Der Stab). Patricia Morrison, also a former Bag, would join in 1982.   

    After touring as support with Siouxsie and the Banshees and another headline tour with support band Sisters of Mercy, The Gun Club split up in 1985, leading Morrisson and Desi Desperate to form the band Fur Bible, while Pierce went on a solo career. They would reform in 1986 with Kid Congo Powers (then with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) back on guitar. Lineup changes continued to occur during their next few albums. Jeffrey Lee Pierce died March 31, 1996 of a brain hemorrhage, leaving behind a legacy that his peers and new generations of musicians continue to revere.

    Related: 45 Grave, The Cramps, Tex & The Horseheads, The Bags, Patricia Morrison

    Links:

    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gun_Club
    Discogs.com: https://www.discogs.com/artist/270779-The-Gun-Club

    This profile is in development. Contributions?