T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. Although most commonly associated with

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as

deathrock Death rock (or deathrock) is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk gen ...

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered by ...

and other varieties of punk music.

History

Formed in 1978 in Long Beach, T.S.O.L. originated as a punk band. Originally under the name Vicious Circle, the band eventually changed their name to T.S.O.L by September 1980. The original lineup consisted of vocalist

Jack Grisham Jack Grisham (born July 22, 1961) is an American rock vocalist, musician, raconteur and political activist from Southern California. He is the vocalist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), which emerged from the late 1970s L ...

(who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Alex Morgon, Jack Ladoga, Jack Delauge and Jack Loyd, among pseudonyms), guitarist

Ron Emory Ron Emory (born May 20, 1962, Lynwood, California, United States) is an American rock musician and guitarist for the punk rock band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty). An original member of the band, founded in Southern California in 1979, Emo ...

, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes. According to legend, the band acquired their instruments by casing a local music shop, waiting until closing, and then performing a smash-and-grab robbery. T.S.O.L.'s debut five-song EP, ''

T.S.O.L. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty) is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California. Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk, T.S.O.L.'s music has varied on each release, including such styles as deathrock, a ...

'', was released in spring 1981 by

Posh Boy Records Posh Boy Records is a Hollywood, California-based record label owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime high school substitute teacher and former copy boy at the ''Los Angeles Times'' who took an interes ...

, featuring the reconvened original lineup. This first release was harshly political, featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love", "World War III" and "Abolish Government". Their first full-length album, '' Dance with Me'', was released later in 1981 on

Frontier Records Frontier Records is an independent record label, started in 1980 in Sun Valley, Los Angeles by Lisa Fancher, a former employee of Bomp! Records and writer of the liner notes for the first album by The Runaways. History Frontier Records first ...

, and showcased a more

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

/deathrock sound. They then signed to independent label

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, t ...

, releasing the ''

Weathered Statues ''Weathered Statues'' is an EP by the American hardcore punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), released in 1982 through Alternative Tentacles. In comparison to the band's previous material, its experimental nature and melodic leanings conf ...

'' EP early in 1982, and the melodic ''

Beneath the Shadows ''Beneath the Shadows'' is the second studio album by the American hardcore punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), released in 1983 through Alternative Tentacles. With the addition of keyboardist Greg Kuehn to the lineup, the band moved awa ...

'' album later that year; the latter featured a new member, keyboardist

Greg Kuehn Gregory Russell Kuehn is an American composer, songwriter, musician and producer. Career As a performing musician Kuehn's career began in Orange County's early punk scene, when he left his classical piano studies at California State University ...

. Amid personal turmoil, Grisham, Barnes and Kuehn all left the band in 1983. After his exit, Grisham formed Cathedral of Tears, who released a 1984 EP on

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/dis ...

, followed by Tender Fury, who issued three albums: ''Tender Fury'' (1988), ''Garden of Evil'' (1989) and ''If Anger Were Soul, I'd Be James Brown'' (1991). Following the release of the Cathedral of Tears EP, T.S.O.L.'s replacement drummer, Mitch Dean, referred to Cathedral of Tears as a "synthesizer band" whose music he did not particularly like, adding, "not to make fun of it or anything," but that " risham'sdoing what he wants. No hard feelings, Jack-babe." T.S.O.L., however, chose to reconfigure.

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

bassist

Jay Bentley Jay Dee Bentley (born June 6, 1964) is the bassist and co-founding member of the punk rock group Bad Religion. He has played with the band through its whole existence with a small break between 1983 and 1985. Along with vocalist Greg Graffin, Bent ...

briefly joined in 1983 before Roche returned. Joe Wood and Mitch Dean joined on vocals and drums, after Ron Emory, who was at the time playing in Wood's band The Loners, asked him to start a new band with himself and Roche. This new lineup released four albums on Enigma: ''

Change Today? ''Change Today?'' is the third studio album by the American rock band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), released in 1984 through Enigma Records. It was the band's first album with singer/guitarist Joe Wood and drummer Mitch Dean, replacing found ...

'' (1984), ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'' (1986) ''

Hit and Run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

'' (1987) and ''

Strange Love ''Strange Love'' is an American reality television series featuring Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav that aired on VH1. Sparked by their on-screen romance in the third season of VH1's ''The Surreal Life'', it is a spin-off that focused solely o ...

'' (1990). All four albums featured a more polished production style, with ''Hit and Run'' reaching No. 184 on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts, and the band touring globally to support the releases. The band's first live album, ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'', was issued by Enigma in 1988. The band became friends with

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, and T.S.O.L. T-shirts were seen in the video for that band's "

Sweet Child o' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...

", most notably on drummer

Steven Adler Steven Adler (born Michael Coletti; January 22, 1965) is an American musician. He was the drummer and co-songwriter of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s. Adler was fired from Guns N' Roses ...

. Emory left the band in 1988, during the recording of

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

for ''Strange Love'', leaving Roche as the sole remaining original member--though Emory was given a writing credit on the track "Blow by Blow". T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to ''Hit and Run''. They eventually hired former Dino's Revenge guitarist and actor

Marshall Rohner Marshall Lambert Rohner (December 20, 1963 in Iowa – October 18, 2005 in Yucca Valley, California) was a guitarist whose credits include: T.S.O.L., The Cruzados, Jimmy and The Mustangs, Kenny Brown and Dino's Revenge. Rohner appeared in sever ...

. They released a blues-metal album, ''

'', in 1990. Roche was fired shortly before the album's release and signed over rights to the name and trademark to Wood and Dean leaving the band with no original members. A compilation album titled ''Hell and Back Together 1984–1990'' was issued in 1992 with an emphasis on their metal era. This late-'80s lineup was popular enough to garner bookings in Brazil and Argentina, where the Grisham-led band held no legal rights to prevent Wood from gigging as T.S.O.L. In 1996, Wood and Dean were joined by guitarists Mike Martt and Drac Conley, and bassist Dave Mello (from

Uniform Choice Uniform Choice (formerly known as Moral Sin) was an American hardcore punk band from Orange County, California. History Uniform Choice was started by guitarist Myke Bates, bassist Hanson Meyer and drummer Eric Hanna during the Spring of 198 ...

), with Dean subsequently replaced by Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan. Also in 1996, Wood formed ongoing blues band Joe Wood & the Lonely Ones (also including O'Sullivan). Wood recorded as Orange Wedge in 1993 (with Dean Chamberlain of

the Motels The Motels are an American new wave band from Berkeley, California, that is best known for the singles "Only the Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer", each of which peaked at No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, in 1982 and 1983, respectively. In ...

and Christopher "Wag" Wagner of

Mary's Danish Mary's Danish was an alternative rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in the late 1980s which released four albums, with the last in 1992. Mary's Danish blended a musical mixture of rock, funk, country and soul elements. Origins ...

) and Cisco Poison in 1995 (issuing the ''It's a Long Way to Heaven...'' album); he later fronted Joe Wood and the Killing Floor (also including O'Sullivan, longtime T.S.O.L. roadie Eric VonArab on Lead Guitar and professional skateboarder Ray "Bones" Rodriguez on Bass). Meanwhile, the original members began playing shows under the name T.S.O.L, featuring the band's early material. They often played the same cities, on the same nights, as the other T.S.O.L. They also did some gigs during this time as "LOST" (T.S.O.L. backwards). Grisham and Emory formed

the Joykiller The Joykiller was an American punk rock supergroup from Huntington Beach, California, United States. The Joykiller were formed in 1995 by Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L., Billy Persons (The Weirdos/Gun Club) and Ronnie King. After the formation of the ...

in 1995, releasing three albums prior to disbanding in 1998. In 1999, the original members fought with Wood for rights to the name and won. They joined the

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

, playing for the first time in years under the name T.S.O.L. Barnes died of a brain aneurysm on December 6, 1999, at the age of 34. The remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien (formerly of All Day, later of American Jihad) and released the "Anticop" single (2001) and the albums '' Disappear'' (2001) and '' Divided We Stand'' (2003), all on

Nitro Records Nitro Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1994 and operated by The Offspring's Dexter Holland and Greg K. Nitro is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notabl ...

, the latter of which featured Kuehn back on keyboards as well as Billy Blaze replacing O'Brien. In November 2006, the band announced they were breaking up, with final performances having taken place earlier in the month. In September 2007, Cider City Records released the seemingly posthumous live album '' Live from Long Beach'', recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two announced "farewell" performances. Their hiatus was short-lived, however, as they returned to perform local shows in late 2007. They also headlined the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit in February 2008, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I. In December 2008, the band entered the studio to record '' Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads'', which was made available as a free download through sponsor

Hurley International Hurley is an American company that sells clothes and accessories marketed towards surfing and swimming. Established in 1979 as a distributor for Billabong clothing in the United States, Hurley was sold to Nike, Inc. in 2002 for an undisclosed pri ...

's website on January 8, 2009. It was also released on vinyl by

DC-Jam Records DC-Jam Records is a Midwest American record label founded in 2006 by Darron Hemann that focuses primarily on punk rock, ska, and experimental musicDarron Hemann/ref> The label features well-known classic punk rock artists such as T.S.O.L., JFA, ...

on November 1, 2009. Grisham launched another project, Jack Grisham and the Manic Low, in 2011; a debut album, ''Songs for an Up Day'', was released in June 2012. He also formed Jack Grisham's LOST Soul in 2012, a gigging ensemble featuring Kuehn and Biuso, with the intent of performing T.S.O.L. and the Joykiller material. On April 20, 2013, T.S.O.L. released a 7" EP, ''You Don't Have to Die'' (TKO Records), for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, composed of the title track (an unreleased 1980 demo) and two 1981 live tracks. That same year, the band toured Europe and South America; they also completed a US tour with Flag. On January 27, 2017, the band released ''The Trigger Complex'' album on Rise Records. In August 2017, Antonio Val Hernandez joined the band as drummer, replacing Hanna.

Film and television appearances

In 1981, director Paul Young made ''Urban Struggle: The Battle of The Cuckoo's Nest'', a film which featured live performances by T.S.O.L. as well as several Orange County punk and hardcore bands. Dave Markey's 1982 film ''The Slog Movie'' also featured live T.S.O.L. performances, as did the 1989 movie ''

The Runnin' Kind ''The Runnin' Kind'' is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Max Tash and written by Max Tash and Pleasant Gehman. The film stars David Packer, Steven Eckholdt, Larry Cox, Tom Shell, Brie Howard and Richard Manheim. The film was released on Se ...

''. Their music was also featured in the 1984 movie ''

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

'', the popular 1985 horror movie ''

The Return of the Living Dead ''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon in his directorial debut, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a warehou ...

'' and 1986 film ''

Dangerously Close ''Dangerously Close'' is a 1986 action thriller film directed by Albert Pyun. The film was noted at its time of release for being part of a wave of teen vigilante films in the 1980s exploring the right-wing jingoism that was gaining popularity in ...

''. They were also mentioned in the 2007 documentary '' Punk's Not Dead''.

Members

Current members

– vocals (1978–1983, 1991, 1999–present) *

– guitar (1978–1988, 1991, 1999–present) *Mike Roche – bass (1978–1990, 1991, 1999–present) *

– piano, synthesizers (1982–1983, 2005–present) *Antonio Val Hernandez – drums (2017–present)

Former members

*Todd Barnes – drums (1978–1983, 1991, 1999; died 1999)
Joe Wood
– vocals, guitar (1983–1999) *Mitch Dean – drums (1983–1998) *

– guitar (1988–1996; died 2005) *Mike Martt – guitar (1996–1999) *Drac Conley – guitar (1996–2008 *

Dave Mello David Mello is an American musician known primarily for his work as drummer for the hardcore ska punk band Operation Ivy. Prior to Operation Ivy, Mello played in various bands local to the Berkeley and Albany areas such as Rabbi Conspiracy an ...

– bass (1996–1999) *Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan – drums (1998–2005) *Jay O'Brien – drums (1999–2003) *Billy Blaze – drums (2003) * Anthony "Tiny" Biuso – drums (2003–2014) *Matt Rainwater – drums (2014–2016) *

Chip Hanna Chip Hanna (born 1965 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was the drummer of U.S. Bombs and One Man Army. He now plays drums for the U.S. Bombs occasionally. Chip also sang lead vocals and played snare drum for Busted Hearts out of Phoenix, Arizona. H ...

– drums (2016–2017)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:5 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1978 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1978 Colors = id:v value:red legend:Vocals id:g value:green legend:Guitar id:syn value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:d value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_album id:bar value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bar LineData = layer:back color:alb at:06/01/1981 at:06/01/1983 at:06/30/1984 at:06/30/1986 at:07/11/1987 at:06/30/1990 at:06/26/2001 at:09/09/2003 at:01/08/2009 at:01/27/2017 BarData= bar:JG text:"Jack_Grisham" bar:JW text:"Joe_Wood" bar:RE text:"Ron_Emory" bar:MR text:"Marsshall_Rohner" bar:MM text:"Mike_Martt" bar:DC text:"Drac_Conley" bar:GK text:"Greg_Kuehn" bar:MR2 text:"Mike_Roche" bar:MK text:"Murphy_Karges" bar:DM text:"Dave_Mello" bar:TB text:"Todd_Barnes" bar:MD text:"Mitch_Dean" bar:SS text:"Steve_O'Sullivan" bar:JB text:"Jay_O'Brien" bar:BB text:"Billy_Blaze" bar:AB text:"Anthony_Biuso" bar:MR3 text:"Matt_Rainwater" bar:CH text:"Chip_Hanna" bar:AH text:"Antonio_Hernandez" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(12,–4) bar:JG from:start till:12/31/1983 color:v bar:JG from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:v bar:JG from:01/01/1999 till:end color:v bar:JG from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2002 color:syn width:3 bar:JW from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/1998 color:g width:3 bar:JW from:01/01/1984 till:12/31/1998 color:v bar:RE from:start till:06/30/1988 color:g bar:RE from:start till:06/30/1988 color:v width:3 bar:RE from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:g bar:RE from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:v width:3 bar:RE from:01/01/1999 till:end color:g bar:RE from:01/01/1999 till:end color:v width:3 bar:MR from:10/01/1988 till:06/30/1996 color:g bar:MM from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g bar:DC from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:g bar:MR2 from:start till:06/30/1990 color:b bar:MR2 from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:b bar:MR2 from:01/01/1999 till:end color:b bar:MK from:07/01/1990 till:03/31/1996 color:b bar:DM from:07/01/1996 till:12/31/1998 color:b bar:TB from:start till:12/31/1983 color:d bar:TB from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/1991 color:d bar:TB from:01/01/1999 till:12/06/1999 color:d bar:MD from:01/01/1984 till:06/30/1998 color:d bar:SS from:07/01/1998 till:12/31/1998 color:d bar:JB from:12/07/1999 till:03/30/2003 color:d bar:BB from:04/01/2003 till:09/30/2003 color:d bar:AB from:10/01/2003 till:06/30/2014 color:d bar:MR3 from:10/01/2014 till:06/30/2016 color:d bar:CH from:07/01/2016 till:07/31/2017 color:d bar:AH from:08/01/2017 till:end color:d bar:GK from:01/01/1982 till:12/01/1983 color:syn bar:GK from:01/01/2005 till:end color:syn

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Dance with Me'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

'' (1984) * ''

'' (1986) * ''

'' (1987) * ''

'' (1990) * '' Disappear'' (2001) * '' Divided We Stand'' (2003) * '' Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads'' (2009) * '' The Trigger Complex'' (2017)

References

External links

*
Deathrock.com T.S.O.L. section
Joe Wood '83 to '96
1984 Interview with Artist Jim Blanchard and BLATCH Fanzine Staff
BLATCH; Issue 10; Norman, OK {{DEFAULTSORT:TSOL Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups established in 1978 American death rock groups American gothic rock groups Punk rock groups from California Glam metal musical groups from California Horror punk groups Musical groups from Los Angeles Alternative Tentacles artists 1978 establishments in California Restless Records artists Enigma Records artists