T.S.O.L.

T.S.O.L. are an American punk rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1979. The name is short for True Sounds of Liberty, though the group is usually known by its initials. They develop out of earlier bands Johnny Coathanger & the Abortions and Vicious Circle.

Early line-up and first releases

The original line-up consists of vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes. Grisham also uses the names Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, Jim Woo and James DeLauge in different credits. The band’s first release is a self-titled EP with politically direct songs including “Superficial Love”, “World War III” and “Abolish Government”.

Their first full-length album, Dance With Me, moves away from the earlier all-out political emphasis and introduces darker subject matter, including necrophilia and horror-film imagery. The song “Silent Scream” is built entirely from horror movie clichés, and the album becomes their best-known release. This period also establishes their association with horror punk, alongside their place in the West Coast hardcore punk scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Alternative Tentacles and stylistic changes

After Dance With Me, T.S.O.L. sign to Alternative Tentacles and release the Weathered Statues 7" EP and the album Beneath the Shadows. Keyboard player Greg Kuehn appears on Beneath the Shadows for the first time, adding a new element to the group’s sound. Around this time their music becomes more experimental and varied, with art punk and psychedelic elements alongside their horror themes.

Line-up changes and the Enigma years

In 1983, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes leave and are replaced by singer Joe Wood and drummer Mitch Dean. This line-up releases Change Today? on Enigma Records in 1984. The group then changes direction again for Revenge, adopting a punk metal sound, and later follows it with Hit and Run in a similar style. Before Hit and Run appears, Ron Emory leaves, making Mike Roche the only remaining original member.

Later, guitarist and actor Marshall Rohner joins the band. T.S.O.L. issue the blues-metal album Strange Love in 1990. Mike Roche leaves shortly before that album is released, so no original members remain in the group at that point. A compilation, Hell & Back Together: 1984-1990, appears in 1992 and focuses on the metal era.

Original members, reunions and later activity

Meanwhile, original members begin playing shows with early material under the name T.S.O.L., while the Joe Wood line-up also continues to use the name. The original members later release a live album of their early songs under the name Grisham, Roche, Emory and Barnes. In 1999, they win rights to the T.S.O.L. name and play the Vans Warped Tour under that banner again. Todd Barnes dies on 6 December 1999 of a brain aneurysm.

The remaining members recruit drummer Jay O'Brien and release the Anticop single, then the albums Disappear and Divided We Stand on Nitro Records; Greg Kuehn returns on keyboards for Divided We Stand. The original T.S.O.L. line-up records two further full-length albums. In 2007, Cider City Records issues the live album Live From Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 during two farewell performances. The band later returns for a small number of local shows.

Other releases and associations

In 2008, T.S.O.L. headline the “F**k the Whales, Save a Chckn” benefit for guitarist Craig “Chckn” Jewett of D.I., helping with cancer treatment costs. In partnership with Hurley, they record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads, which is made available as a free download through Hurley’s website in 2009. The band is an independent act under the Nitro Records banner, the label started by Offspring vocalist Dexter Holland, who cites T.S.O.L. as an influence.

The group’s music also appears in the films Suburbia (1984), Return of the Living Dead (1985) and Dangerously Close (1986). They are connected with Guns N’ Roses, and T.S.O.L. T-shirts appear in the “Sweet Child o’ Mine” video.

Members

T.S.O.L. currently include Jack Grisham, Ron Emory, Mike Roche, Antonio Val Hernandez and Greg Kuehn.

Former members listed include Todd Barnes, Murphy Karges, Dave Mello, Joe Wood, Mitch Dean, Marshall Rohner, Jay O’Brien, Travis Johnson, Billy Blaze, Frank Agnew, Scotty Phillips and Tiny Bubbz. Murphy Karges is also identified as Matthew Murphy Karges.