Articles of Faith
| Articles of Faith | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Chicago (United States) |
| Genre (s) | Hardcore |
| founding | 1981 |
| resolution | 1985 |
| Founding members | |
Vocals, guitar |
Vic Bondi |
guitar |
Joe Scuderi |
bass |
Dave Shield |
Drums |
Bill Richman |
| Last occupation | |
singing |
Vic Bondi |
guitar |
Joe Scuderi |
guitar |
Dorian Tajbakhsh (from 1983) |
bass |
Dave Shield |
Drums |
Bill Richman |
Articles of Faith were an early American hardcore band from Chicago that had a decisive influence on the city's hardcore scene.
history
1981 founded Vic Bondi (vocals, guitar), Joe Scuderi (guitar), Dave Shield (bass) and Bill "Virus X" Richman (drums) a band called Direct Drive whose repertoire of cover versions of pieces of Bruce Springsteen and The Clash consisted . A visit to a concert by the hardcore band Bad Brains in Washington's 9:30 Club was described by singer Bondi in retrospect as a "revelation" - he then convinced his fellow musicians to drastically increase their playing speed. In 1982 the members changed the band's name to Articles of Faith. The band was sponsored by Hüsker Dü , for example the band's two albums from this phase were produced by Bob Mold . Articles of Faith got involved in the emerging hardcore scene in their hometown - they rented space for concerts from other bands, organized and advertised them. Through contacts with bands outside of Chicago, they brought them to concerts in the city and were able to perform nationwide. Since they often played on "all-ages shows" in Chicago, afternoon concerts that could also be attended by people under the age of 21 and were not served alcohol, they were particularly popular among young people who later became the core of the local straight- Edge scene should form. They were less popular in the punk scene; In addition to the faster music, the typical hardcore working class look also clearly distinguished the band from the punks who populated the few localities where hardcore bands could play in Chicago. Throughout its existence Articles of Faith had a rivalry with The Effigies, also based in Chicago . Both bands claimed to be the most important band on the Chicago hardcore scene. The Effigies accused the Articles of Faith of chasing trends and being unoriginal (although elsewhere it was claimed that the band had copied the sound of DC Hardcore ), while the Articles of Faith ascribed maximum authenticity to themselves and claimed that only they would have represented the “spirit and ethos” of the scene. The two spokesmen for the dispute, Vic Bondi from the Articles of Faith and John Kezdy from the Effigies, were attested by the media to combine a large ego with a complete lack of humor.
In 1983 the guitarist Dorian "Taj" Tajbakhsh joined the group, so that Bondi could concentrate exclusively on the vocals. In 1984, drummer Richman, a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, left the band because, in his opinion, the political interest of the band members waned. A short time later, however, he rejoined the group. In 1985, singer Bondi took a position as a history teacher at the University of Massachusetts Boston , which led to the dissolution of Articles of Faith. The already completed album In This Life was released posthumously in 1986.
The band members remained musically active. Bondi founded the post-hardcore groups Jones Very and Alloy , with each of which he released several albums. Guitarist Tajbakhsh played in two less successful bands in Chicago and has been a solo artist since the late 1990s. Richman played in the experimental noise band Repulse Kava.
In 1991 the band came together for a European tour with the original line-up (including Tajbakhsh). The tour lasted until March 1992; the last concert in Alzey in Rhineland-Palatinate was recorded and released in 1994 by Your Choice Records as part of their series of live albums Your Choice Live Series . In 2006, the band was featured with a piece from their first EP on the soundtrack of the documentary American Hardcore , in which Bondi was also interviewed in detail. In 2007, the band was portrayed in the documentary You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977-1984 , and was also featured on the film's soundtrack.
In 2010, the band reformed to perform at Chicago's Riot Fest ; as a result, an EP with new material was recorded and released on Alternative Tentacles . No further activities resulted from this.
Style and reception
The New York music journalist and filmmaker Steven Blush describes Articles of Faith as the "social conscience of the (Chicago) hardcore scene". The US journalist George Hurchalla noted that Articles of Faith's melodic hardcore was characterized by Bondi's rough but variable voice and that the band had at times stood out from the crowd of hardcore bands in the region. The Chicago Reader analyzed that the band's music was fast and aggressive, but was tempered by the very influences of funk and reggae that years later made the core feature of post-hardcore bands like Fugazi . The Chicago Reader also saw an anticipation of the music of later emo bands. The newspaper assessed that Articles of Faith would have been "just as wild, crisp and distinctive to the decimal point" as Black Flag , Minor Threat or the Dead Kennedys , but that they would have been denied long-term national fame because of their Chicago origins. In lyrical terms, the band was also a direct competitor of the academic Bad Religion and had "a guide (presented) to translate political anger into personal, emotional nuances".
Allmusic described the band as a pioneer of the Chicago hardcore scene. The most outstanding feature was the band's clear political stance. In addition, the album In This Life was a pioneer of the emo genre. The online magazine Pitchfork attested the band “catchy choruses”, as they would later have used Slapshot or Youth of Today within the hardcore genre , while the lyrics were a collection of left-wing clichés. However, Pitchfork pointed out that the band, on their EP Wait , released in 1983, turned against the male-dominated group pressure prevalent in hardcore. In musical terms, the “talented musicians” would have taken the songwriting very seriously and would have broken out of the hardcore genre conventions; the result is "the sound of art emerging from the swamp of formal restrictions customary in the genre". The fanzine Maximumrocknroll described the album In This Life as “compulsory”. Trouser Press judged the band's debut album that the songs were “masterfully designed” and, contrary to genre conventions, “fully elaborated”; the band demonstrate a "superior talent" and explore the limits of the genre without crossing the line in the direction of pop or metal. The magazine, however, judged In This Life , published in 1986, that it sounded like Soul Asylum in parts .
Discography
- 1982: What We Want Is Free ( EP , Version Sound)
- 1983: Wait (EP, Affirmation Records)
- 1984: Give Thanks (Reflex Records)
- 1986: In This Life (Lone Wold Records)
- 1994: Your Choice Live Series (Live album, Your Choice Records )
- 2010: New Normal Catastrophe (EP, Alternative Tentacles )
Compilations
- 1991: Core ( Bitzcore )
- 2002: Complete Vol. 1 1981-1983 (Alternative Tentacles)
- 2002: Complete Vol. 2 1983-1985 (Alternative Tentacles)
Web links
- Articles of Faith at Allmusic (English)
- Articles of Faith at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ CaughtintheCrossfire.com: Vic Bondi Interview. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c ChicagoReader.com: For the Faithful. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ a b George Hurchalla: Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1989 . 2nd Edition. PM Press, Oakland 2016, ISBN 978-1-62963-113-4 , pp. 156 .
- ↑ a b Pitchfork.com: Articles of Faith: Complete, Vol. 1: 1981-1985 ( Memento of July 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ A b Steven Blush: American Hardcore: A Tribal History . 2nd Edition. Feral House, Port Townsend 2010, ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2 , pp. 252 .
- ^ ChicagoReader.com: Claim to Fame. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
- ↑ TrouserPress.com: Effigies. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
- ^ RegressiveFilms.com: You Weren't There. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .
- ^ Allmusic.com: Articles of Faith: Biography. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ TrouserPress.com: Articles of Faith. Retrieved June 3, 2019 .