Circle Takes the Square is an American

screamo Screamo (also referred to as skramz) is an aggressive subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics".Jason Heller, "Feast of Reason". ''Denver Westword'', June 20, 2002Access date: ...

band from

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. It is composed of founding members Drew Speziale and Kathleen Stubelek, as well as Caleb Collins. Their debut release was a 6-track self-titled EP released in 2001, followed by a 7" split with

Pg. 99 Pg. 99 (also spelled pageninetynine) was a screamo band from Sterling, Virginia, a town on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. They are considered one of the pioneers of screamo. The band formed as a six-piece in late 1997 and broke up as an eig ...

in 2002. In 2004, they released their debut studio album '' As the Roots Undo'' on

Robotic Empire Robotic Empire is an American independent record label based out of Richmond, Virginia, specializing in hardcore punk, heavy metal, and alternative rock. Some of the most popular bands signed to the label over the years have been pg.99, City of C ...

, which released the CD, and HyperRealist Records, which released the gatefold LP. The album gained them considerable acclaim and the band toured extensively to promote it during the year. This included a six-week east coast tour that took the band into Canada for the first time, supported by Arkata and Raise Them And Eat Them. The band's sophomore album, '' Decompositions: Volume Number One'', was released after an 8-year silence on December 21, 2012, as a digital download; physical editions of the album were released in April 2013.

Musical style

Ben Sailer of

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

wrote that '' As the Roots Undo'', which Drew Speziale "describes as 'just a punk rock record from 2004', has long garnered praise from both the press and fans alike for its forward-thinking blend of 90s

, fractured

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

, and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

". According to Metal Injection, Circle Takes the Square have "made a legendary name for themselves ... with their blend of progressive

experimentation An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

, and

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

... characterized by a natural fusion of the off-the-wall structures of grindcore and the sweeping guitar dynamics of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

". They have described themselves as "...a punk rock band with reverence for the Mystery." Writing for

NPR music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

, Lars Gotrich credited Circle Takes the Square alongside

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and

Majority Rule Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary deci ...

as pioneers of

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

tional

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

Members

;Current * Drew Speziale – guitars, strings, piano, keyboard, vocals (1999–present) * Kathleen Coppola Stubelek – bass, vocals (1999–present) * Caleb Collins – drums, percussion, samples, programming, synthesizers (2007–present) * Anthony Stubelek - live production (2004–present) ;Former * Robbie Rose – vocals (1999–2000) * Collin Kelly – guitar (1999–2002) * Jay Wynne – drums, percussion (1999–2005) * Bobby Scandiffio – guitar (2004–2006; died 2011) * Josh Ortega – drums, percussion (2005–2007) * David Rabitor – guitars, backing vocals (2007–2013) ;Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums *'' As the Roots Undo'' (2004,

/HyperRealist) *'' Decompositions: Volume Number One'' (2012, Gatepost Recordings) ;EPs *''Circle Takes the Square'' (2001, self-released/HyperRealist) *''Document #13: Pyramids in Cloth'' (split w/

, August 2002, Perpetual Motion Machine) *''Decompositions: Volume Number One, Chapter I: Rites of Initiation'' (2011, Gatepost Recordings) ; Compilations * "In the Nervous Light of Sunday" (Alternate version) 10" vinyl only(2004, Monocore Records) * "Crowquill" — ''Building Records Presents 60 Songs'' (November 2003, Building) * "Non-Objective Portrait of Karma" — ''

Sampler No. 2'' (2004, Robotic Empire) * "The Conspiracy of Seeds" — ''

65daysofstatic 65daysofstatic (often abbreviated as 65dos, 65days, or simply 65) are a post-rock band from Sheffield, England. Formed in 2001, the band is composed of instrumentalists Paul Wolinski, Joe Shrewsbury, Rob Jones and Simon Wright. The band's mus ...

The Destruction of Small Ideas ''The Destruction of Small Ideas'' is the third studio album by 65daysofstatic. It was released on April 30, 2007, in the United Kingdom, May 1, 2007 in the United States on Monotreme, and April 23, 2007, in Japan on Zankyo. "Don't Go Down to S ...

'' (April 2007, Monotreme)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Circle Takes The Square American screamo musical groups American emo musical groups American post-hardcore musical groups American grindcore musical groups American experimental rock groups American post-rock groups American post-metal musical groups Punk rock groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Hardcore punk groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Heavy metal musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Alternative rock groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups from Savannah, Georgia 2000 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups established in 1999