Phinius Gage were an English underground

skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a mo ...

melodic hardcore Melodic hardcore is a broadly defined subgenre of hardcore punk with a strong emphasis on melody in its guitar work. It generally incorporates fast rhythms, melodic and often distorted guitar riffs, and vocal styles tending towards shouting and ...

band who started up in 2001 and were active until 2008. They reformed in 2015 and played a reunion tour.

History

The band is named after

Phineas Gage Phineas P. Gage (18231860) was an American railroad construction foreman known for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and ...

, an 1840s railway foreman, who had a large iron rod driven through his head and thereby lost part of his brain. They played over 500 shows in their existence, touring with many bands including

Streetlight Manifesto Streetlight Manifesto is an American ska punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, formed in 2002. They released their first album, ''Everything Goes Numb'', which was distributed by Victory Records, on August 26, 2003. The band he ...

, Spunge, Whitmore, Flood Of Red,

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

, RedLightsFlash,

Ten Foot Pole Ten Foot Pole (formerly Scared Straight) is an American punk rock band. History Ten Foot Pole was founded in 1983 under the name Scared Straight. Scared Straight was a punk band from Simi Valley, California. The band was formed in 1983 by a ...

Farse Farse may refer to: * Farsa Farsa (Italian, literally: ''farce'', plural: ''farse'') is a genre of opera, associated with Venice in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is also sometimes called ''farsetta''. Farse were normally one-act o ...

, and 4Ft Fingers. They released debut mini LP ''More Haste More Speed'' in 2003 on Deck Cheese Records – and their first full length, ''The Feeling Somethings Wrong'' on the same label in 2005. Signing to Fond of Life Records in Germany, the band released a compilation of old and new tracks in 2006 entitled ''Brighton Rock'', which included the band's only single, ''Brighton Rock'', the video for which received airplay on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

and

Scuzz Scuzz was a British 24-hour rock and metal music television channel owned and operated by Sony Pictures Television. It was launched on 17 April 2003 and went on to be the highest-rated rock TV station on the Sky satellite platform, available in ...

. The band then released their final album in 2007, ''Seek Out Your Foes'', which is generally considered the band's best work. It made

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off ...

's 'Best Albums Of 2007' list. However, the band split suddenly soon after. Members have gone on to form many other bands, including Lay It On The Line. Mike Scott has also had a solo career. The Band have recently announced a reunion tour across some major cities in the UK. At this stage it is not known if this will lead to a new album and more touring.

Musical style and influence

Phinius Gage plays fast,

music in the style of Pennywise,

Strung Out Strung Out is an American punk rock band from Simi Valley, California, formed in 1989. They are known mainly for their musical style, which fuses aspects of melodic punk rock, progressive rock and heavy metal to form their primary sound. They ...

, Consumed,

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...

, and other bands of the

SoCal Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ag ...

description from record labels including

Fat Wreck Chords Fat Wreck Chords (pronounced "Fat Records") is a San Francisco, California-based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by NOFX lead singer Michael Burkett (better known as Fat Mike) in 1990. The label has released mater ...

and

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

Members

* Carl "Karlos" Brown –

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(2005–present) * Mike Scott – ( bass,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, (2003–present) * Matt Steele –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2002–present) * Ade Holder –

(2002–present)

Previous members 2002–2006

* Damo St George – vocals * Martyn Haigh – bass * Andy Bligh – guitar * Ben Ince – guitar * Paul Fields – guitar * Gary Yay – bass * Jamie Kirkpatrick – bass * Edward Higgs – bass * Chas Mataz – guitar * Kalem Buckham – drums * Keith Whitby – bass

Discography

Compilations

* ''Amped Up And Ready To Go'' (

In At The Deep End Records In at the Deep End Records (IATDE), founded 2000, is an independent record label based on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. The label specialises in hardcore punk and heavy metal music genres. History The label was founded in 2000 by peo ...

, UK) * ''Value Slices'' (Deck Cheese, UK) * ''Cheese Supreme'' (free promo CD with Big Cheese Magazine, UK) * ''Punktastic Unscene'' (Punktastic Recordings, UK) * ''Punktastic Unscene 3'' (Punktastic Recordings, UK) * ''Ashcan Records 1'' (Ashcan Records, Luxembourg) * ''Change The Station II'' (White Russian Records, Netherlands) * ''In Defense of Rock 2'' (Fond of Life/Winged Skull, Germany) * ''Quintisentially British'' (UK) * ''Brighton Rocks'' (UK)

References

External links

Phinius Gage Official MySpace page

Review of Phinius Gage album "The Feeling Something's Wrong" from national website Punktastic

Phinius Gage tracks played on BBC Radio 1's Lock Up Punk Show

Phinius Gage Bandcamp page

Lay It On The Line Bandcamp page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phinius Gage Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom British hardcore punk groups English punk rock groups Melodic hardcore groups Skate punk groups