A Chorus of Disapproval
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A Chorus of Disapproval (also known as "XCHORUSX" or "The Chorus") was a straight edge hardcore group from Southern California, started by guitarist Jeff Banks and vocalist Isaac Golub in 1987. Banks had been playing guitar in the punk group Visual Discrimination. Banks also played guitar for a brief period with Long Beach hardcore group Half-Off, and it was during this time that he met Isaac Golub. Golub was the singer for Orange County hardcore outfit Identity. Banks and Golub shared a kinship for the art of hardcore, and shared a philosophy that straight edge and hardcore were inextricably intertwined.
To a certain degree, XCHORUSX was born out of Banks' and Golub's frustration due to a lack of aggressive, no-nonsense, and non-compromising Straight Edge Hardcore. The two wrote several the songs and recorded for XCHORUSX's debut album, "Truth Gives Wings To Strength," with Banks playing guitar, bass and drums for the recording. The album was engineered by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz.
During the recording, Banks and Golub recruited bass player Regis Guerin, who had been playing with Orange County straight edge bands Back to Back and Rough House, and Jerome Hohman to fill out the line-up on the drums. XCHORUSX played their first show with Orange County hardcore group Insted and continued to play extensively in Southern California from 1990 through the late 1990's. The group's shows have been marred by violence several times throughout the years, with the band members partaking in several fisticuffs over the years.
The band also released a 7" entitled "The Chorus" in 1991, when pounding drummer R.D. Davies joined the group contemporaneously with the demise of Visual Discrimination. Banks and Guerin are known to have stated that Davies was the finest drummer they have ever played music with. Davies left the group, and XCHORUSX recorded another 7" for Italian label Helter Skelter records, entitled "The Italian 7"." Banks played drums and guitar on that recording as well, with Guerin playing bass and Golub again handling the vocals.
XCHORUSX also played several shows in Europe in 1994 and played a brief East Coast tour that same year. They continued to play into the early 1990's, and New Age Records released a discography of all the XCHORUSX works, entitled "Firm Standing Law. However, scholastic endeavors marked the end of recording and live performances for the band, as Banks graduated from Cal Berkeley and went on to Creighton Law School, while Guerin graduated from UCLA and went on to Loyola Law School. Golub has gone on to sing for hardcore band Amendment 18 (A18).
XCHORUSX has played a number of reunion shows over the years.
