Sainthood Reps is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, formed in 2009. Their debut album, ''

Monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are ...

'', was released on

Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Underoat ...

in the summer of 2011 and was produced by

Mike Sapone Mike Sapone is an American record producer, composer, audio engineer, and mixer, whose credits include producing records for bands such as Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Boston Manor, The Front Bottoms, Mayday Parade, Grouplove, Sorority Noise, ...

. The band released their second album, ''Headswell'', in October 2013 through

No Sleep Records No Sleep Records is an American independent record label in Huntington Beach, California. They were founded by Chris Hansen in 2006 and have released records by artists including Balance and Composure, La Dispute (band), La Dispute, and The Wonde ...

History

Origins (2009-2010)

The band was co-founded by lead vocalist/guitarist Francesco Montesanto and Brand New touring guitarist Derrick Sherman, who had grown up together in Long Island, developing similar musical tastes and periodically playing music together when not touring with other bands they were in. The beginnings of Sainthood Reps came when Montesanto sent Sherman a collection of demos he had written, ultimately leading to a musical collaboration. They first released music under the Sainthood Reps name via a Myspace page in August 2009. Drummer Bradley Cordaro and bassist Jani Zubkovs joined, and the band officially formed in September 2009. They first started touring in December of the same year with All the Day Holiday, followed by a January 2010 tour with

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

. Also, in January, the band released a

split EP A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "var ...

with

O'Brother O'Brother is an American rock band from Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulto ...

Signing and ''Monoculture'' (2010–2011)

Originally intending to record a

double EP An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

in March 2010, the band was distracted from that venture by a number of offers from

record labels A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

. One of these was from

, who had heard their split EP and ultimately signed them in February 2011. Prior to their signing, Sainthood Reps spent May 2010 touring with

The Felix Culpa The Felix Culpa was a four-piece band from Rockford, Illinois on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Best described as a Progressive Indie band with post-hardcore elements, they had released two full-length albums ("Commitment" and "Sever Your Roots ...

and played a September show with fellow Long Island bands

The Sleeping The Sleeping was an American post-hardcore band from Long Island, New York, United States, formed in 2003. The band was founded by Cameron Keym, Sal Mignano, and Joe Zizzo from the remains of Skycamefalling. After auditioning twenty-two potentia ...

and

Glassjaw Glassjaw is an American post-hardcore band from Hempstead, New York. The band is fronted by vocalist Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck, and was a major part of the Long Island music scene in the early 2000s. The band has been influential i ...

. ''

'' was released by Tooth & Nail on August 9, 2011, to largely positive reviews. In the latter half of 2011, the band opened for The Felix Culpa at the latter's farewell show.

''Headswell'' (2011–present)

Sherman confirmed to Indie Vision Music in an October 2011 video interview that he and Montesanto had written "five songs that we know are on record two", as well as an EP that they were "debating about putting out" which would showcase the band's original post-rock instrumental style. In the spring of 2012, Sainthood Reps joined

La Dispute :''This is for the Marivaux play, for the band, see La Dispute (band).'' ''La Dispute'' is a prose comedy written by Pierre de Marivaux, shown for the first time on 19 October 1744 by the Théâtre-Italien in the Hôtel de Bourgogne. The story i ...

's Wildlife Tour and released a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Monoculture", the title track from their debut album. The band released their second full length, ''Headswell,'' on October 22, 2013 via

. After several years of inactivity, the band returned to the stage in 2018, opening for

Pianos Become the Teeth Pianos Become the Teeth are an American band from Baltimore, Maryland, formed in 2006. Their early musical style has been inspired by post-rock and early screamo acts, and they are a part of a post-hardcore music movement also represented by Tou ...

and joining

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

's Wild Fest alongside

Latterman Latterman is an American semi-active four-piece punk rock band from Huntington, New York, United States. A melodic punk rock band with vocals shared by Phil Douglas and Mattie Jo Canino, their songs often contain political and/or socially con ...

, Latex Generation, and

Mikey Erg Mikey Erg (real name Mike Yannich) is a punk rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, from New Jersey. He has played in numerous bands, most famously The Ergs!, but also Star Fucking Hipsters, The Dopamines, The Unlovables, Dirtbike Annie, Paras ...

. In March 2019, the band released a new single, "Burning Sheep", via ''

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...

'', marking their first new music in six years. In November, Sainthood Reps and Incendiary supported Bayside at a tour date in Long Island. In March 2020, Derrick Sherman announced a new solo project entitled Grist Mill, with a debut EP that saw him reteaming with producer

. October 2021 saw the band perform at Amityville Music Hall to commemorate "ten years of the critically panned record ''Monoculture''".

Musical style and influences

Andrew Leahey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

describes the band's music as "a moody mix of

post-grunge Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, and

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 ...

", while Brian, a staff writer at ''Punknews.org'', said of the band's split EP, "Like

, the band mixes

brood and

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 ...

atmosphere, but with a little more obvious melody and verse-chorus structure." Montesanto himself has described Sainthood Reps' music as simply "loud" and "early '90s alternative". Influences cited by the band include

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogw ...

, The Cohen Brothers,

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with s ...

, Built to Spill,

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

Sunny Day Real Estate Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo/indie rock band from Seattle, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar), Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran (gui ...

Explosions in the Sky Explosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band from Texas. The quartet originally played under the name Breaker Morant, then changed to the current name in 1999. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elabor ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

, My Bloody Valentine, and Yuck.

Members

Current

* Francesco Montesanto —

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 ...

guitar 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 ...

* Derrick Sherman — guitar,

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 ...

* Jani Zubkovs—

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Bradley Cordaro —

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 ...

Former

Ryan Sadis —

Discography

;EPs * ''O'Brother/Sainthood Reps'' Split EP (2010) * ''Sainthood Reps/Weatherbox'' Split EP (2013) ;Albums * ''

'' (2011) * ''Headswell'' (2013) ;Singles * "Monoculture" * "DINGUS" * "Hunter" ;Music Videos * "Monoculture" (2012)

References

External links

Sainthood Reps' official website

{{Authority control Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups from Long Island Musical groups established in 2009 American post-hardcore musical groups American post-grunge musical groups Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) No Sleep Records artists Tooth & Nail Records artists