Vainstream

The band have maintained the same lineup ever since they started; talismanic frontman Alex Gaskarth sings and plays rhythm guitar and keyboards, Jack Barakat takes care of lead guitar and backing vocals, Zack Merrick does the same on the bass, and Rian Dawson is behind the drum kit. Over the course of their decade-plus career to date, they’ve pretty much become poster boys for pop punk as a genre; it’s a style of music that permeates every aspect of their back catalogue, right from their early days playing Blink-182 covers in school, through to their rise to prominence through the Vans Warped Tour, which is to pop punk and emo bands what Download Festival is to metal.

When promoting their debut full-length “The Party Scene” back in 2005, they were happy to play on the undercard to bands like Plain White T’s and Forever the Sickest Kids, but their follow-up “So Wrong, It’s Right” - released in September of 2007 - saw them genuinely break through, and become one of the best-loved pop punk bands on the circuit. Album number three “Nothing Personal”, was another huge step up, landing at number four on the Billboard charts, and their fourth record, June 2011’s “Dirty Work”, saw them begin to flirt with alternative rock influences - not that it lost them many fans. 2012’s “Don’t Panic” continued that approach, and why not? It’s served them impressively well so far.

The band should stand as living proof to punk rock purists that commercial success is not, and has never been, the same thing as selling out. Yes, the band’s sound is far more accessible today than the visceral hardcore of their early years.

However, if they were to take a cursory listen to the lyrics of any random song of theirs, they would be shocked to find that they are still as intelligent, profound and straight up angry as they ever were and this even stretches to the bands biggest hits.

Take songs like “Help Is on the Way", “Savior”, "Make It Stop (September's Children)" and “Prayer Of The Refugee” for example. These are polarising songs about difficult, yet very topical subjects that don’t shy away from taking a defined stance.

However the combined Youtube hits for those videos are, astonishingly enough, around 86 Million. This is a band that manages to plug the It Gets Better project, PETA and Amnesty International while filling arenas in their home country and large theaters and concert halls around the world.

To have a fully-fledged rock band with a message as vital as theirs playing on such a large scale the world over is a blessing that we haven’t had since the days of The Clash. With a tour schedule like theirs, it’s only a matter of time before they play wherever you are, and there are few bands out their more likely to change your life than the one and only Rise Against.

The immediately recognizable masked gang formed in 2005 when members J-Dog and Deuce were so impressed with the reaction to a song they had put on Myspace that they recruited friends Shady, Johnny 3 Tears, Charlie Scene, Funny Man and Da Kurlzz to form the group.

Uncommonly the band quickly finished their debut album ‘Swan Songs’ in just one year but it took a subsequent two years to find someone willing to put the album out as they intended. Eventually A&M Records agreed to release the album uncensored and were pleasantly surprised when the album shot to 22 in the charts shifting over 21000 copies in its first week.

They followed up the album by touring with Skrillex and by releasing a CD/DVD called Desperate Measures. All not was well though as around this time one of the group’s founding members Deuce left the band. Whilst the circumstances of his departure remain unsure, they filled his role by bringing in former American Idol contestant Daniel Murillo who has carried on strong since.

Reformed they began to work on album number two which became ‘American Tragedy’, an album that continued to improve on the group’s existing successes after it sold over three times as many copies as ‘Swan Songs’ in its first week and peaked at number 4 in the album charts.

Constant touring and more successful albums have cemented Hollywood Undead’s position as the premiere Rap Rock group of the modern day. Whilst their masks continue to change, the group remain committed to their unique sound and will no doubt remain popular for years to come.

The band is comprised of frontman Andy Biersack, guitarists Jake Pitts and Jinxx, bass player Ashley Purdy and drummer Christian “CC” Coma, but they were born out of Biersack’s imagination; he came up with the idea for the band and put them together, with everything from their name to their glam metal-influenced image being planned meticulously by the singer, who’s a few years younger than the rest of his bandmates. The group’s image is probably their defining characteristic - their dress code involves black leather pretty much exclusively and facial makeup is obligatory - but it’s something that they’ve begun to tone down as they entered the most recent stage of their career, one that saw them release their most successful record to date, “Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones”.

That album, a concept record, saw the band lurch away from metal and towards the hard rock style that their hit single “Fallen Angels” had hinted at back in 2011. By naming their most recent record after themselves - “Black Veil Brides” dropped in October of 2011 - they’ve solidified the notion that this iteration of the band’s sound is the one that they ultimately want to define them, and their live shows have shifted accordingly; rather than being the unhinged punk rock affairs of old, they’re instead far more focused on musicianship and connection with the audience than ever before.

Originally named The Emergency, We Came As Romans formed of high school seniors Sean N. Zelda, Dave Stephens, Jonny Nabors, Mark Myatt and Joshua Moore and played a number of shows in the Detroit, Michigan, U.S. area. Soon after Jonny Nabors and Sean Zelda were replaced by Sean Daley and Larry Clark and the name changed to We Came As Romans.

The band’s first full length album “To Plant A Seed” was released in November 2009 produced alongside Joey Sturgis, the album made a big debut on the Billboard charts reaching No.6 on the Top Heatseekers chart and No. 25 on Top Independent chart. After the release of the album the band left on the ‘Leave It to the Suits’ tour with Of Mice & Men and Broadway, and featured on the ‘Punk Goes Pop Volume Three’ where they covered Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” and placed We Came As Romans on the national tour circuit.

We Came As Roman’s tour scheduling is a thing to behold and the majority of 2010 and 2011 was spent touring around the majority of the U.S. and Canada as well as a couple months in New Zealand and Australia. The band has a proclivity for elaborately titled tour names including: ‘Scream It Like You Mean It Tour’ and ‘We Are Not Meaningless Tour.’

Released in September 2011 We Came As Romans’ third studio album “Understanding What We've Grown to Be” took a darker turn for the band whilst maintaining the bands overall positivity and brotherhood. The album was greeted with excellent reviews and commercially performed better than its predecessor, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Top 200. Following the release, the band continued their pattern of relentless tour scheduling travelling to UK/Europe, Australia, the Philippines, Japan, Russia, as well as North and South America, alongside the likes of The Used, Megadeth, NOFX, Suicide Silence and The Devil Wears Prada.

The band’s most recent and most popular album “Tracing Back Roots” has solidified the band's position in the pop/punk genre and has seen lead singer Dave Stephens leave the screaming voice behind entering a new era of wider accessibility to their music.

All of the original members of Architects were intently involved with the Brighton music scene due them all growing up in the surrounding areas. They cross several genres with their technical music, the primary influences have been noted as ranging through artists from hardcore punk and heavy metal music with Meshuggah, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Gojira and Thrice all noted as influencers. Sam Carter who was a drummer and studied drums at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music before joining Architects, had performed in multiple local bands, one of which had the opportunity of supporting Enter Shikari. Architects was born in 2004 when Drummer Dan Searle and his twin brother Guitarist Tom Searle began the project under the name Counting Days, until the addition of Matt Johnson, guitarist Tim Hillier-Brook and Tim Lucas on bass guitar continued as Architects.

After the release of their debut album Nightmares in May of 2006, the band were offered the opportunity to tour with several prolific artists including Beecher and Bring Me The Horizon, yet due to the age of the members at the time they had to book several weeks off college in order to continue their touring schedule. After their first album, Architects sound was forced to change dramatically due to the departure of lead vocalist Matt Johnson He was replaced by local musician Sam Carter who had been described by Searle as an 'easy choice'. After their next album 'Ruin' which took them on large headline tours in both the UK and the US they revealed they had been signed to Century Media Records for a three album deal. The first release was 'Hollow Crown' which made the first dent on the UK charts, placing it at #117 and was promoted with the band completing a 19 date headline tour of the United Kingdom before supporting Parkway Drive in Australia.

Their next album 'The Here and Now' was released in 2010 and saw the band's sound following a more commercial direction, with sales figures reflecting this as they charted at #57 in the UK, a substantial gain compared to its predecessor. Critics enjoyed the album, but fans were not impressed with the departure from the heavier, more technical sound they had first been attracted to. They slowly began to remedy this with their next releases, returning to the music they were first inspired to make, the outcomes were greatly rewarded as the 2014 release 'Lost Forever//Lost Together' saw them crack the top 20 of the UK and Australian album charts whilst making their first dent on the US billboard.

Social Distortion’s far spanning presence within the music industry might come as a surprise to many. The group formed in the late 70s but did not release their first album until the 80s of which was one of only two albums released within the decade. Despite the band’s infrequent releases during their start, these early recordings have become staples within the punk cannon.

The group was founded by frontman Mike Ness at the end of 1978. The band expanded into a line up including the brothers Rikk and Frank Agnew on guitars and Casey Royer on drums; however, once bassist Dennis Danell joined the band the remaining members left to form the Adolescents. Danell eventually graduated to guitars and continued on as the band’s only consistent founding member alongside Ness.

The group released their first single “Mainliner/Playpen” in 1981 through the O.C. affiliate label Posh Boy. Their single “1945” also was issued that year on the Rodney Bingenheimer compilation album “Rodney on the ROQ”. A year later the group went on an international tour supporting Youth Brigade, hitting stops around the US and Canada.

Social Distortion self-released their debut album “Mommy’s Little Monster” through 13th Floor Records in 1983. After this release the band started gaining worldwide recognition and were featured in documentaries and on popular TV channels such as MTV.

Though the band was pushing their career in an interesting direction in the early 80s and had proven themselves essential figures in the hardcore/skate punk music circuit, they disbanded in 1985 as a result of Ness‘ incapacitating drug addiction.

After Ness was released from his drug rehabilitation program he jumpstarted Social Distortion’s career, this time taking a whole new approach. The group’s new sound sported country outlaw influences touching on Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and Hank Williams. The band also took cues from neighboring southwestern cow punk bands like the Meat Puppets and X. Even some of the Rolling Stones’ crossover stage to American Honky Tonk can be heard in the music of Social Distortion.

Social Distortion showcased their newly found style with 1988’s “Prison Bound”. The album was regarded as a mature step for the band and laid the template for their future releases. Their self-titled 3rd album featured a cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and entered the Billboard 200 rising to No. 128.

The group’s follow up album “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” was a huge commercial and critical success, becoming the band’s best selling album in their career. The album included their single “Bad Luck”, which peaked at No. 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Social Distortion took yet another hiatus, but returned in 1996 with their album “White Light White Heat, White Trash” (a clear pun of the Velvet Underground’s seminal noise-rock album). The album exhibited a much harder sounding tone than it’s predecessors’ and winded up at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. It featured the single “I Was Wrong” as well as a cover of the Rolling Stone’s “Under My Thumb”. The album was preceded by a compilation album of the group’s early recordings “Mainliner: Wreckage from the Past” and was followed by the live album “Live at the Roxy”.

Social Distortion’s next studio album “Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll” did not come out until 6 years after the release of “White Light, White Heat, White Trash”. The album received very positive reviews earning the No. 456 spot in Rock Hard magazine’s book of “The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of all Time”. Additionally it landed at No. 31 on the Billboard 200. The band’s greatest hits album followed in 2007 and their 7th studio album “Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes” came out in 2011.

Guitarist and singer Matt Skiba, bassist and singer Rob Doran and drummer Glenn Porter came together in the Illinois suburb of McHenry to form the original incarnation of Alkaline Trio in December 1996. They got as far as recording and releasing their debut E.P “Sundials” in 1997 before Doran departed to focus on a career in visual arts. However, the E.P was a hit in the Chicago underground scene, and soon after Doran left, Dan Andriano joined to fill the void. With Andriano on board, the band were able to sign with Asian Man Records, as he was already signed to the label with his band Tuesday.

They released a second E.P in 1998 entitled “For Your Lungs Only” and in the same year came “Godamnit”, their debut album which is considered by many to be their absolute peak. Their second effort, “Maybe I’ll Catch Fire” came in 2000 and was enough of a big deal to secure them a record deal with Vagrant Records, making them label mates with The Get Up Kids, Dashboard Confessional and Saves The Day. On that label they released 2001’s “From Here To Infirmary” which, along with the band’s first genuine hit single “Stupid Kid”, was a major success for the band due to the way it unwittingly rode the waves of the burgeoning mainstream acceptance of Emo rock.

This was despite the fact that Trio had always had an absolutely jet-black sense of humour to their lyrics; this should have put them completely at odds with the blindingly sincere likes of Jimmy Eat World and Saves The Day. Instead, however, it saw their subsequent album, 2003’s “Good Mourning” sell 40’000 copies in its first week, chart at number 20 on the Billboard album charts, and give the band their second hit single in the form of “We Had Enough”. By the mid-2000’s the band had become one of the most acclaimed rock acts of the time, selling out clubs and concert halls the country over and playing to an absolutely devoted following.

Very little has changed ever since then, they’ve settled into the role of punk rock elder statesmen with aplomb, and have released stellar album after stellar album in the years after that. They should be an inspiration for punk bands the world over, and are still in the peak of their powers as I type. Highly recommended.

The group have certainly had their fair share of controversy over a 33-year period. Suicidal Tendencies have been thought of as a group who promoted violence through their quick-tempoed and aggressive sounding music and also rumours that claimed that some of the band members had gang connections. In 1981, Flipside awarded them their Worst Band Award, but S.T. were ironically voted the 'Best New Band' the following year by the same fanzine.

In a nine year period before the start of the nineties, Suicidal Tendencies released five albums including their self-titled first release, which received the plaudits of icons from the metal/punk genre. Since their inception, they have been known for their fast and furious music and often rowdy concerts. During the 1980's, the group were banned from playing shows in Los Angeles after fans destroyed the venue they were performing in.

After their two year break from music, Suicidal Tendencies returned with a completely new band line up and new sound. S.T have always experimented with different genres normally ranging between structured punk to the more hardcore thrash metal sound. The group are comfortable at catering for either genre and have gained a massive fanbase as a result.

Suicidal Tendencies have been influenced by many bands over the years including Anthrax (who have given them credit numerous times), Black Sabbath, Motorhead and Limp Bizkit. Their latest album, "13", was released on their own record label "Suicidal".

Pennywise formed in 1988 and consisted of Jim Lindberg as the lead vocalist, along with Fletcher Dragge (guitarist), Byron McMackin (drummer) and Jason Thirsk (bassist). However, Mr Thirsk - described as “the emotional core of Pennywise” by Lindberg - suffered from an alcoholic relapse, and died on July 29th 1996 due to a self-inflicted gun wound, before Randy Bradbury consequently joined the band as the new bass player.

Pennywise have released 11 studio albums since 1991 along with one live album ‘Live @ the Key Club’ in 2000. Whilst the band were signed to Epitaph Records, their first album was named ‘Pennywise’, which promoted the idea of maintaining a positive mental health. Since then, Pennywise’s most successful albums have been ‘From the Ashes’, which charted at 54 on the US Billboard 200 and 4 on the Top Independent Albums list, and ‘Reason to Believe’, which gained rave reviews amongst critics and gained a rank of four out of five on Allmusic. It also featured the single ‘The Western World’ which was downloaded over 400,000 times on Myspace, and maintained a position in the Top 40 Modern Rock Tracks chart for 20 weeks.

The Californian band are renowned for demonstrating political and moral wrong-doings in their music, and have influenced many other well-known bands such as Phinius Gage, 4ft Fingers and Consumed with their hard-hitting rhythms and passionate lyrics. Pennywise have played alongside the likes of The Offspring and Sum 41, and performed at surfing and snowboarding concerts like Winter X, whilst their music has featured in video games such as Burnout 3:Takedown.

Having stamped their authority on the punk-rock scene with such a raw and distinctive sound since the late 1980s, Pennywise continue to inspire a keen following and demand a particular respect from fans and fellow-musicians alike.

Formed of cousins Jordan Dreyer on vocals and Brad Vander Lugt on drums, La Dispute invited guitarists Kevin Whittemore and Derek Sterenberg, and bassist Adam Kool to complete the line-up. The band’s earliest performances came around the local area, largely in people’s front rooms and at the Division Avenue Arts Collective (local arts centre) in Downtown Grand Rapids. La Dispute released their debut EP “Vancouver” in 2006 marking the departure of Chad Sternberg who was replaced by his older brother Derek. The material was the only release La Dispute would make through Friction Records and the group didn’t consider themselves a serious band until the arrival of Adam Vass and departure of Derek Sternberg and Adam Kool.

In early 2008 La Dispute signed with Southern California label No Sleep Records which soon after the band release an exclusive vinyl record “Untitled 7”” formed of two original tracks. Ahead of their debut album release, the band released an anticipatory EP titled “Here, Hear” which had a proclivity to the avant-garde.

Towards the tail end of 2008 La Dispute released their debut album “Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair”. The album earned positive reviews from critics and fans alike, was supported by three shows in their home state of Michigan, U.S. and shortly after released the second part of their experimental EP project “Here, Hear II”. The year after in December 2009, the band released the third part in the EP series “Here, Hear III” and a Christmas EP with the name “Winter Tour Holiday CD-R featuring the cover “Twas The Night Before Christmas” and the original song “First Snow in Silent Grand Rapids”.

In support of post-hardcore band Alexisonfire across the U.S., La Dispute embarked on a nationwide tour and released a split 7” extended play with Touché Amoré entitled “Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World”. In spring 2011 La Dispute released a split EP with acoustic singer, songwriter Andrew Koji Shiraki with the name “Never Come Undone” and embarked on a European tour alongside Touché Amoré and Norwegian band Death Is Not Glamorous, including shows at Hevy Festival in the UK and Leperfest in Belgium.

La Dispute’s second full-length album arrived in 2011 entitled “Wildlife” spawning the singles “The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit” and “Harder Harmonies”. Subsequentlyy the band embarked on a nationwide tour of the U.S. alongside Thrice, Moving Mountains and O’Brother, and worldwide tour including the majority Europe and Australia.

After more religiously-devoted touring including shows at the UK’s Download Festival along with Greenfield Festival and Hurricane Festival, the band announced they had left No Sleep Records and were forming their own label with the name Better Living. La Dispute’s third studio album “Rooms of the House” was released via Big Scary Monsters on March 18, 2014 to positive reviews and was supported by more relentless touring with over 70 shows play in 16 countries worldwide.

The four piece came together in 1995 when, using a 4-track tape recorder, singer-songwriter and guitarist Kristopher Roe, and guitarist Jasin Thomason, would write and record demos with a drum machine whilst searching for a full-time drummer.

The band’s big break came in 1996 when Roe and Thomason attended a show to see the band The Vandals, who owned their own label “Kung Fu Records. Thomason gave a tape to Joe Escalante, a bassist from the band. The Ataris were later signed to the record label and eventually found drummer Derrick Plourde. Fast-forward a couple of months to April 29th 1997, when The Ataris released their debut album “Anywhere but Here” which only took a week to record. The band relocated to Santa Barbara, California. The band had to undergo some line up changes in this transition period, but their popularity started to bloom.

In 2002 saw the Ataris new album “So Long, Astoria” start to take shape. Their contract with Kung Fu Records had expired but they had the attention of Columbia Records to decided to sign with them. This album catered to a much more mainstream audience and generated successful singles such as “In This Diary” and “The Saddest Song”. The album also featured their cover of Don Henley’s “the Boys of Summer” which became their “accidental” second single after a radio station, KROQ in Los Angeles started playing it. However, it is the band’s highest charting single to date, reaching No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album sold over 700,000 units in total and was certified Gold.

The band has remained a band to this day but it is very much the brainchild of Roe, with him being the driving force behind the band and the original member. In 2013, The Ataris began a North American tour with Kris Roe and the former members John Collura, Mike Davenport and Chris Knapp to celebrate the 10 years of their most successful album, “So Long, Astoria”.

The band came together in 2006, consisting of the four members Greg Barnett (guitar/vocals), Tom May (guitar/vocals), Eric Keen (bass) and Joe Godino (drums). The band impressed with their self-titled demo released in 2006, gaining the attention of record label Go-Kart Records, who brought the band onto their roster.

A year later, The Menzingers had released their debut album, titled "A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology," which made significant waves in the punk world, finding new fans, achieving a sound similar to the likes of the Lawrence Arms. The band moved to Red Scare Industries in 2009 to release their four-song EP, "Hold on Dodge," before then embarking upon a tour alongside Broadway Calls.

In 2010, they released their second full-length, "Chamberlain Waits," which went on to be named one of the best punk records of the year by sites like Punknews.org, Absolutepunk.net and Exclaim.ca. The success of the record also gained them a front-cover appearance on AMP Magazine. The album brought the respect of their peers, embarking on support slots for The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me!, NOFX and ANTI-FLAG across the US and Canada.

With hype building, Epitaph Records signed the act, going on to release their third album through the popular punk label, titled "On the Impossible Past, released in 2012. The album was voted album of the year on a number of online media outlets, including Absolutepunk.net. "Rented World" followed, being released in April 2014.

Formerly of the band the Eliminators, guitarist Vinnie Stigma (Vinnie Capuccio) formed Agnostic Front, originally under the moniker Zoo Crew, alongside outspoken and politically direct vocalist Roger Miret, bassist Adam Moochie, and drummer Ray Beez. The group released their first record, the “United Blood” EP in 1983, followed a year later by the decade-defining album “Victim of Pain”. The album was a voice of a generation lost in the burgeoning debt and crime of early ’80’s New York City. The release also marked the arrival of bassist Rob Kabula and drummer Jimmy Colletti, and saw Agnostic Front take the reins of the hardcore punk movement showcased at the likes of Lower East Side’s A7 and CBGB’s.

With the rise in popularity in heavy metal, Agnostic Front, mired by the tumultuous relationship of Miret and Stigma, began to establish themselves as a cross over between hardcore punk and thrash metal. The band signed with Combat Records and issued “Cause for Alarm” in 1986, since hailed as one of a few early holy-grails of crossover thrash, alongside D.R.I. and Corrosion of Conformity.

In an attempt to please original fans, with an entirely new backup of musicians including guitarist Steve Martin, bassist Alan Peters and drummer Will Shepler, the band ridded itself of its previous metal-style drumming. “Liberty & Justice For…” arrived in 1987 to a hardcore punk genre that had fractioned off into various sub-genres, leading to gigs turning into sub-culture turf wars. Agnostic Front released the live album “Live at CBGB’s” in 1989, which featured many fan favourites in the band’s most effective and direct form.

After the release, Roger Miret was arrested and sentenced to just-under two years in prison on serious drug charges and Stigma, with guitarist Matt Henderson and temporary singer Alan Peters, embarked on their first European tour. The comeback album “One Voice”, based on Miret’s lyrics from inside prison, found no audience, and following a greatest hits album “To Be Continued” and a farewell concert in 1993, the band called it quits.

In 1997 however, with interest from respected punk label Epitaph Records, Agnostic Front, consisting of Stigma, Miret, Rob Kabula and Jimmy Colletti recorded and released “Something’s Gotta Give” in 1998. This was followed a year later by the album “Riot, Riot Upstart” with guest appearances from M.O.D.’s Billy Milano and Rancid’s Lars Frederiksen. Un-phased by the lack of a hardcore punk scene, the band continued to perform and record, producing the albums “Dead Yuppies” in 2001, “Working Class Heroes” in 2003, “Another Voice” in 2005, and “My Life My Way” in 2011.

The band began in 1990, with the members brought together by their shared love of punk, whose popularity had begun to decline after hair metal, synth pop and new wave began to top the charts. The band’s lineup has seen constant changes throughout their career, with Jorge Herrera being the only long lasting member. It was not until 1991 that the band managed to stabilise enough to record their first EP, “40 Ounce Casualty.”

After this release, The Casualties toured heavily, building a loyal following in their hometown of NYC, US. Further lineup changes occurred and it was another three years, in 1994, that the band were to release another record, their second EP, “Drinking Is Our Way of Life.” This EP never saw a formal release but it was incorporated into their retrospective “Early Years: 1990-1995” which came out in 1999.

In 1996, they travelled to London, UK to perform at the Sun Festival. From here they started to build fans in the UK, expanding their fan base. In 1997, their debut full-length, “For The Punx” was released, followed by an extensive tour in support, opening for the band, The Varukers.

The Casualties constantly toured throughout the next decade, travelling all across the US and Europe. In 2000 and 2001, they released the albums, “Who’s In Control?” and “Stay Out of Order,” before moving to Side One Dummy Records to release “Die Hards.” These albums helped build the band’s popularity, eventually building to achieving a main stage slot on the Vans Warped Tour. Moving to the Season of Mist record label, they released their ninth album, “Resistance” in 2012.

When it comes to punk rock, many bands consider their touring schedule as a badge of honour. The band that plays 250 dates in a year will always be more respected than the one that plays 249, and the one that plays 251... you get where I'm going with this. There are some bands, however, that have toured enough to set them for life in terms of punk rock kudos, and The Flatliners aren't just one of those bands, they're the band that inspired the bands who are like that. Coming together in 2002 with an average age of 14, the band hit the road almost immediately after they formed, making countless circuits of Canadian D.I.Y hardcore shows with only a single demo tape to their name. These shows and that demo, however, scored them a record deal with Stomp Records, who put out their debut album “Destroy To Create” in 2005.

The band had one final release on Stomp after it was reformed into Union Label Group, 2007's charmingly titled “Sleep Is For Bitches EP”, but soon afterwards they were snapped up by Fat Wreck Chords for the release of their second album, “The Great Awake”. However, the band wouldn't get out of the punk rock ghetto until 2010, with the release of their massively acclaimed third album “Cavalcade”, and ever since then, they've remained one of the most exciting and beloved punk acts in the world. However, the most exciting part of The Flatliners by a long shot, is the fact that 13 years into their career and the band are still playing with their original line up. Not to mention how they're all still in their mid-twenties with the best days of their career still ahead of them. There isn't a band alive that wouldn't kill to be in The Flatliners' position, and for that, they come highly recommended.