Parade of the Horror-bles: Music is My Life!!!

I love Punk Rock music... this is fact. In loving said music, I have been exposed to countless, countless different punk rock groups. There's the proto-punkers (MC5, Stooges, Velvet Underground...), garage rockers (Standells, Electric Prunes, 13th Floor Elevators...), the fore-bearers (The Who, The Kinks, etc.), the fire-starters (New York Dolls, Dictators, Dead Boys), the LEGENDS (Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash), the post-punkers (Joy Division, Raincoats, Gang of Four), the Hardcore mo-fos (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag...), the college rock punkers (Replacements, Husker Du, Sonic Youth), the Grunge Rock Gods (Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam...), the 90s revivalists (Green Day, Rancid, The Offspring), and the New Sound for the modern age (The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes...)!! There's many, MANY more genres to examine, but those were the main ones I was exposed to. And from being exposed to them, they exposed me to other great bands like X, The Germs, The Runaways, Buzzcocks, Misfits, Agent Orange, Bad Religion, Plasmatics, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr., The Faith, Void, Scream, Government Issue, Flipper, Big Black, Mission of Burma... there are still countless others...

One of my favorite bands, however, is T.S.O.L., which stands for True Sounds of Liberty. Hailing from Long Beach, California, T.S.O.L. formed in 1979, during the so-called "decline" of the Punk Movement. However, the Hardcore movement was developing on the East and West coasts, and T.S.O.L. were very much a part of it. Beginning with such L.A. bands like The Germs, The Weirdos, Middle Class, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Fear, T.S.O.L. first started in the Hardcore scene. In 1981, the group released their first self-titled EP, and released their "Weathered Statues" EP a year later. The EPs contained such classics as "Superficial Love," "World War III," "Man and Machine," "Weathered Statues," and the landmark Politicopunk smasher "Abolish Government/Silent Majority"...

In 1981, the band released their undisputed masterpiece.... "Dance With Me."

A masterwork melding of Hardcore rock and gothic ambiance, the songs are now classics. Dark, powerful, energetic songs like "Sounds of Laughter," "Code Blue," "Love Story," "80 Times," "I'm Tired of Life," "Silent Scream," and the moody, death and doomy title track are all essentials to any punk fans ears.

Their best song...

In 1982, the band marginalized fans, but developed an interesting synth sound for their next record, "Beneath the Shadows." Known as their full name True Sounds of Liberty, this album was quite a departure from their earlier sound. While one of their signature songs "Code Blue" from their previous album was about necrophilia, not to mention that their "Love Song" was almost an anti-love song, most of the songs on "Beneath the Shadows" were about love...

From powerful break-up songs (the beautiful title track and "Wash Away), to more uptempo songs about love ("Send My Thoughts," "She'll Be Saying"...), to songs about isolation ("Walk Alone," "Other Side"...), to the wonderful piano-based opening tune "Soft Focus," these songs had power, passion, despair, longing, and beauty. I loved this album. The Hardcore-lovers not so much, but screw the haters. This is good stuff...

The band went through many changes after this album's release. Amidst turmoil within the group, lead singer, (the incomparable) Jack Grisham and drummer Todd Barnes left the band, splitting the group. They emerged in 1984 with new drummer Mitch Dean and new singer Joe Wood, alongside original members, guitarist Ron Emory and bassist Mike Roche. That year they released Change Today?, which was a difference in sound and style courtesy of the bluesy lead singer.

This is where the conflict arises. I am very much a fan of both versions of T.S.O.L., but my ultimate allegiance lies with the original line-up known as True Sounds of Liberty. The Joe Wood years (most of the eighties) were interesting, in which the band was basically referred to as TSOL with no periods. This reformed band released two great albums, the aforementioned "Change Today?" and their classic, 1986's "Revenge."

Here is a rare video for their classic, bluesy, dark anthem "Colors (Take Me Away)"

The "Revenge" album also gained some notoriety for having their song "Nothin' For You" featured in the immortal 1985 zombie classic "Return of the Living Dead."

This album retained a hard rock punk edge, yet was also gloomy, bluesy, and melodic. Songs like "Colors," "No Time," "Madhouse," and "Memories" actually "speak" to me. It's a great album to reflect to... It's a definite favorite of mine, but I still prefer the Jack Grisham era...

The band went on to release 1987's "Hit and Run," which was a hair metal album that shied away from everything the band was. I don't care if you became friends with Guns 'N Roses, TSOL!! You can still retain your awesome goth-punk edge!!

Another album was released in 1990 called "Strange Love," which received minimal attention. At this point, no original band member was involved, and Joe Wood was able to use the TSOL name. Many compilations and one memorable live album later, the original line-up decided to get back together...

Sadly, they had to do it without original drummer Todd Barnes, who died of a brain aneurysm at age 34.

They reunited, started touring on the Warped Tour circuit and released albums "Disappear" in 2001 and "Divided We Stand" in 2003. These albums signified a powerful, defiant return to form, especially "Disappear." All of the songs on "Disappear" are fast-paced, in-your-face punkers, and the album is a classic in its own right.

Songs like "Wasted," "Renounce," "Sodomy," "Crybaby," "Automatic," the title track, and the stand-out "Pyro" are indeed as relevant as their classic releases back in the early 80s...

The band continues to grow strong, Jack Grisham is still one of my idols, and they even decided to give away their music for free as a download in the form of their 2009 release, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Downloads."

I continue to listen to their music, and still retain my favor over Jack fucking Grisham. T.S.O.L., much like The Clash, Minor Threat, and Bad Brains, is a band that really "matters." I will love them 'till I die... maybe even after....

I leave you with this classic scene from "Suburbia"...