Spark Is a Diamond was an American hardcore punk band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in summer of 2006. It combined punk and hardcore with heavy dance beats and alternating female/male vocals. The group originally consisted of three members: vocalist Alison Bellavance, guitarist/vocalist Matt Boylan, and drummer Matt Hall. Hall left the band in 2007 and was soon replaced by Joseph Crawford. The band features former members from bands such

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

and Morning For The Masses. They were influenced by The Blood Brothers, Boy Crazy, and

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

. They started by signing into

Emerald Moon Records Emerald Moon Records (abbreviated as EMR) is an American Independent record label, founded by Matt Boylan in Baltimore, Maryland in August 2004, they worked with many bands up until shutting down on October 3, 2012. The label primarily focuses o ...

and releasing their debut EP ''Keep Your Eyes Off The Prize'' (2006). The band signed into Pluto Records and released the debut studio album '' Try This On For Size'' (2008). The album was named “Best Punk Album of 2008” by About.com. On September 17, 2009, vocalist Alison Bellavance posted a blog entry on MySpace stating that the band had broken up due to "personal issues."

History

2006: Early years and ''Keep Your Eyes Off the Prize''

Spark Is a Diamond was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Summer of 2006. The group consists of lead vocalist Alison Bellavance, guitarist/vocalist Matt Boylan, and drummer Matt Hall. The band was formed by former members from different bands, Alison Bellavance and Matt Boylan were from

while Matt Hall was from Morning For The Masses. When the group was formed, they were originally named The Hush Hush until they had to change their name to not be confused with another band with the same name and didn't want to infringe the name. The band ultimately decided to rename themselves Spark Is a Diamond on July 16. The group signed into indie record label

on June 22 and started production on their debut EP, the project was being worked with Paul Leavitt ( All Time Low, Thin Dark Line) and Matt Bayles ( The Blood Brothers,

These Arms Are Snakes These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Ho ...

). On November 14, 2006, the group released the debut EP ''Keep Your Eyes Off The Prize''. The band dropped a music video for the track “Check Your Lease, You're In F**k City" directed by Adam Kobylarz the following year.

2007-2009: ''Try This On for Size'' and disbandment

After the release of the EP, Hall unexpectedly left the band and was soon replaced by Joseph Crawford of

Hometown Anthem Hometown Anthem was an American alternative rock band originally formed in Essex County, New Jersey, sometime in September 2002. The group consisted of 6 members: lead vocalist Joseph Crawford, lead guitarist Dominick Gaglio, Keyboardist David R ...

sometime in 2007. Later that year, the group released a short remix EP ''You Can’t Stop (Deathwish Remixes)'' from ''Keep Yours Eyes Off The Prize'' with Dave Watt of Girlfight making the cover art. The band caught the eyes of Pluto Records who signed them on January 31, 2008 and the band started working on their debut album with Paul Leavitt once again, Matt Bayles, Dann Miler of

The Jonbenét The Jonbenét was an American noise rock band formed in Houston, Texas in summer 2003. The group was named after the murdered child JonBenét Ramsey, who was widely publicized during the mid to late nineties. The band played their first show a ...

, and Michael Fossenkemper. On March 25, 2008, the band showcased some of their songs on MySpace and announced that Chad Middleton from VCR will feature in the effort on Blabbermouth. Leading up to the release, the band held a CD release party before the release on May 3, 2008, only in physical form with My America, Girlfight, HeyHey, and Innerpartysystem. The band officially released their debut studio album '' Try This On For Size'' on May 6, 2008. The record was met with mixed to positive reviews from All Music, About.com,

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

, Lambgoat and more. The band announced a music video shoot on May 10 in 10 S. Main ST. Quakertown PA, where fans can attend and appear on the band's music video. The music video was released on May 31, 2008, it was for the track “President of The Wrong Crowd” and it was directed by Adam Kobylarz. The track "Check Your Lease, You're In F**k City" appeared in Hardcore, Punk, Etc. 2008 on RevHQ. The group appeared in issue #46 of Decibel Magazine where they review the band's album. On January 5, 2009, ''Try This On For Size'' was named “Best Punk Album of 2008” by About.com, defeating established acts such as

The Briggs The Briggs are a punk rock band based out of Los Angeles, California. The Band Formed in 1999 under the name "I Decline" by brothers Joey and Jason LaRocca and bassist Matthew Stolarz (a.k.a. Duck). In 2001, with the addition of drummer Chris Ar ...

, Bob Mould,

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 ...

, Street Dogs and more. On September 18, 2009, lead vocalist Alison Bellavance announced on a Myspace blog that the band is no more due to "personal issues."{{Cite web , date=September 18, 2009 , title=Spark Is A Diamond Officially Breaks Up , url=https://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=48402 , access-date=September 18, 2009 , website=Metal Underground

Musical styles and influences

Spark Is a Diamond was painted as a hardcore punk, new wave,

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 ...

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

, screamo, and

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 ...

rock band. They were influenced by The Blood Brothers, Boy Crazy,

Death From Above 1979 Death from Above 1979 (also known as Death from Above) is a Canadian rock duo consisting of bassist Jesse F. Keeler and drummer and vocalist Sebastien Grainger from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band released their debut album, '' You're ...

Everytime I Die "Everytime" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fourth studio album, ''In the Zone'' (2003). It was released as the third single from ''In the Zone'' on May 10, 2004, by Jive Records. After her relationship with Justin Timberl ...

, The Faint,

Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms ...

, Pretty Girls Make Graves,

, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Band members

* Alison Bellavance – vocals (2006-2009) * Matt Boylan – vocals and guitars (2006-2009) * Joseph Crawford – drums (2007-2009) * Matt Hall – drums (2006-2007)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Try This On for Size'' (2008)

Extended plays

* '' Keep Your Eyes Off the Prize'' (2006) * ''You Can't Stop (Deathwish Remixes)'' (2008)

References

External links

Myspace

Alt Myspace
2006 establishments in Pennsylvania 2009 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Hardcore punk groups from Pennsylvania