The Franchise was a Washington, D.C.-based rock band. Their music was described as "

geek rock Geek rock (also known as nerd rock or dork rock) is a musical subgenre derived from pop rock and alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre Nintendocore and related to other branches ...

", delving into the harrowing world of pet monitoring devices, comic books, and Middle Eastern food. Influences include what used to be called “college rock,” alternative rock, and New Wave—things along the lines of

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a d ...

, U2,

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

, early

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

. Patrick Nolan played drums in the jazz band ''Kurds and Whey'' from 1991–1993, and then released a solo album, ''Gone Astray'' in 2003. David played guitar in the rock band ''The Sunmasons'' from 1989–1992, and released one cassette, ''It's OK, I'm with the BAND'' in 1991. He then went on to sing in the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group ''Makela'' along with Jerry Marzouk. Noah and Jackson were both singers in the Spizzwinks(?). Patrick and David started playing together in 2003, and in 2004 invited Jerry to join them as a keyboard player. They then asked their friend Anna London to join them as she learned to play bass.

Demolition

Shortly after forming, they recorded ''Demolition'' at Hit & Run Studios in Gaithersburg, Maryland. ''Demolition'' had three original songs, ''Aliyah L'Regel'', ''Post-Apocalyptic Love Song'', and ''Cyrano'', and a cover of

song ''Message in a Bottle''. Cover art for ''Demolition'' was created by Patrick. Shortly after releasing ''Demolition'', Noah Kaye joined the band after attending one of the early performances.

The Sound and the Furry

In early 2005, they recorded most of the tracks for ''The Sound and the Furry'', live at Avalon Recording studios in Bethesda, Maryland. Two of the songs, ''Lojack'' and ''King of Falafel'', were recorded at the Brass Monkey Saloon in Baltimore, Maryland, and ''Late Summer' was recorded at Umbrella Studios in Arlington, Virginia. The cover art was an homage to the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

album ''

Let it Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

'', featuring the band's pets. Almost immediately after Figmental Records released ''The Sound and the Furry'', Jerry left the band, and Noah took on primary vocal duties.

To the Rescue!

In 2006, they decided to record another album with a more 'produced' sound, and returned to Hit & Run Studios to do so. DC comic artist Jake Warrenfelz was commissioned to design the cover, which envisioned the band defending the

US Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

from attack by a giant squid. Before the recording was finished, Anna left the band, and the other members took turns filling in for her on the CD. Jackson Maier replaced her shortly before the CD was released, but after the recording was finished.

Lingua Franchise

In 2008, they completed another album and hosted their launch party at The Grog and Tankard in Washington, DC on June 7, 2008.

External links

Review of ''To The Rescue'' by Aaron Duran of ''Geek in the City''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franchise Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2008 Rock music groups from Washington, D.C. Geek rock groups