Endpoint (band)

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Endpoint
Background information
Origin	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Genre(s)	Hardcore
Years active	1988-1994
Label(s)	Slamdek, Conversion, Doghouse
Associated acts	By the Grace of God, Black Cross, D. Biddle, Guilt, The Aasee Lake, Ousia, Wino, Armbar, Redhanded, Amaroq, Erchint, 7 More Seconds
Former members
Kyle Crabtree, Rob Pennington, Rusty Sohm, Jason Graff, Lee Fetzer, Chad Castetter, Pat McClimans

For other uses of the word, see Endpoint

Endpoint was a hardcore band from Louisville, Kentucky.

Endpoint is one of the largest bands to have come out of Louisville. Their initial sound was developed from a more speed-orientated punk/hardcore, with songs inducing large sing-alongs by the audience. Eventually, the band's sound transformed into the heavier sound that defines modern hardcore.

Endpoint was part of a hardcore movement that had been building since the mid-nineteen seventies, including west coast bands such as Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys and east coasters Minor Threat and Bad Brains. They were especially influenced by the "New York" style of hardcore that sprouted in the mid-1980s with bands such as Agnostic Front, Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits. These groups most influencing their metal riffs and positive lyrics, as they are considered founders of the modern sound of hardcore. Yet unlike many midwestern bands during this era, Endpoint did not just ape their influences. Instead, they forged a unique sound, thanks in large part to the high-pitched warble of singer Rob.

A considerable amount of their songs dealt with social and political issues about which the band felt strongly. Like many bands in the punk and hardcore genre, they focused upon issues of social justice, and like emo and straightedge bands they stressed self improvement and personal transformation. Within their lyrics and the liner notes were issues dealing with government policies and especially women’s rights and abuse. For example, a 1993 t-shirt read:

"Warning: Every 26 seconds a woman is beaten in the United States. This statistic is based solely on the incidents of abuse that are reported. In truth, this number may represent only one tenth of the crimes committed against women. And this number will only increase unless people speak out against these atrocities. Please take a stand and help us smash this disgusting cycle."

On the back was an outline of a woman lying face down with the band's logo

Prior to Endpoint, the band's original name was Deathwatch. They had only released one album which was a split 7” with another local band named Crain. In 1989, the band changed their name and with most of the original line-up, and they released a short album on cassette through the Slamdek label called "If The Spirits Are Willing." The album had seventeen songs, recorded in three days. Following this release, the band only performed twice and then practically disappeared. They wanted to build fan excitement about the material, so when they played they would be especially good and impress their fans.

Released on local label Slamdek, "If The Spirits Are Willing" unleashes the speed and the fury of Endpoint's early hardcore/punk/heavy metal blend. Later Louisville bands, such as Falling Forward and Enkindel (later The Enkindels) greatly based their own sound upon Endpoint. In fact, in the late 1980s and early 1990s the "Louisville sound" was Endpoint's sound.

Within a year of its release, "If The Spirits Are Willing" replaced other bands as the cornerstone of Slamdek’s mail order business, eventually selling more than any other hardcore cassette. Like any other Slamdek release, it was a truly independent affair. The cassette constantly went in and out of print, sometimes being unavailable for months at a time. It would then return with completely different packaging. Unlike other bands on the Slamdek label, "If The Spirits Are Willing" was never carried by any national distributors. As a result, the album was essentially available only in Louisville stores, by mail order, Endpoint shows, in out of town stores that bought directly from Slamdek. Its definitive and most common version is its 1994 reissue compact disc. The compilation disc contains twenty five songs, documenting Endpoint's first seventeen song cassette, their tracks from the first Endpoint/Sunspring 7", their contribution to the Christmas 1990 tape, and five of the seven songs they recorded in 1988 under the name Deathwatch.

Although Slamdek was a local and regional favorite, neither the label nor most of its bands ever gained the national and international popularity of other independent punk labels, such as Dischord, Alternative Tentacles and Victory Records. Yet Endpoint did move on to the national spotlight, if in a limited way. The Endpoint and Sunspring 7" where Endpoint recorded two songs in November 1990. One of them, "Promise," was for a 7" compilation, A Change For The Better, on Vicious Circle Records. The other, "Priorities", was a spare song that was recorded just because the band was in the studio. The Split 7" also created a bond between the two bands that lasted up until the two played their final shows. In December 1993, a second split record was released. "Written In Rock" paid tribute to Rick Springfield, an early - if ironic - inspiration for both bands. After a bit of a line-up change and finally being able to secure a new drummer, the band released "In The Time Of Hate" through the Conversion label based in California. The album didn’t receive much acclaim as the previous releases or the future albums but all in all it was a very well constructed album that continued their punk/hardcore influence.

Later, the band signed to Doghouse Records, which was at the time a small independent label out of nearby Bloomington, IN. After being signed, Endpoint released the monumental Catharsis album in 1992. Endpoint became one of the more popular hardcore bands on the Doghouse label and allowed the company to become what it is today. Later that same year, the band released an EP that was in many ways very similar to the popular thrash metal band Metallica’s Garage Days. Endpoint’s EP payed tribute to early punk bands such as The Misfits and Rites of Spring to emo bands such as Ian Mackaye’s (Minor Threat) Embrace.

Around this same time, the band went through a major line-up change, replacing two bassists and yet again another drummer. This line-up stayed strong through 1993 with the bands ninth release Aftertaste. This particular album was not considered to be one of their greatest feats, but at the same time, showcased the bands talents with a completely different style than previous releases. This record-featured songs with much slower tempos, les streamlined song writing, less furious lyrics and even an acoustic song. This steady dissolve, if you can call it that, is most common amongst bands of the genre. Even though the band had changed their sound, their lyrics and opinions remained strongly political with continuing messages concerning women’s rights within their linear notes.

While Endpoint continued, band members became involved in many side projects. Guitarist and co-founder of Endpoint, Duncan Barlow and bassist Kyle Noltemyer became involved with a band called Step Down, which eventually became Guilt. Guilt was probably the larger of the side projects that any of the other band members became involved with. Guilt was later signed to the major label Victory that was associated with popular hardcore bands like Snapcase and Earth Crisis and recently Hawthorne Heights and Spitalfield. Drummer Pat McClimans became front man of the band Scab, later drumming for Falling Forward, and ultimately playing for another major Louisville local, Metroshifter. Metroshifter could have possibly been larger than Guilt and at one point Endpoint, but by the end of Endpoint, Metroshifter was still a major player in the Louisville scene, but could have been bigger if it weren’t for the dissolution of Endpoint.

In 1994, the band finally decided to call it quits after a seven-year career. On December 31 the band had played their last and largest show for over two thousand people in, of course, Louisville. In 1995, the band released their last record, appropriately entitled "The Last Record." This album, although nowhere near as influential as Catharsis, is probably the most accomplished work from the band.

Duncan Barlow’s Guilt project eventually broke up and reunited with endpoint front man Rob Pennington to form another major band called By The Grace of God until the year 2000. Pat McClimans and guitarist Chad Castetter both left Metroshifter and formed and general rock band called MT Rhoades and His Lonesome Woods Band. Rob Pennington formed a band called Black Widows in 2001, which eventually changed their name to Black Cross due to copyright reasons. Black Cross was the unification of two fallen bands, By The Grace Of God and another Louisville local The National Acrobat. The appreciation of early 90’s hardcore (or DC hardcore) and association of Black Flag’s aggressive period created as what people know today as Black Cross

1 Members
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Compilations

[edit] Members

Rob Pennington- Vocals
Duncan Barlow - Guitar
Lee Fetzer - Drums
Rusty Sohm - Drums
Chad Castetter - Guitar
Pat McClimans - Bass
Kyle Crabtree - drums
Kyle Noltemeyer - bass
Jason Graff - bass
Jason Hayden - bass
Curtis Mead - bass
Ben Clark - bass

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Crain And Deathwatch Split 7" - Slamdek
If The Spirits Are Willing - Slamdek
Endpoint and Sunspring Split 7"- Slamdek
Endpoint And Sunspring Split 7"-Written In Rock: Songs Of Rick Sprinfield - Slamdek
EP2 7" - Break Even Point
Idiots 7"/CD - Doghouse
Every 26 Seconds 7" - Doghouse
Slamdek Discography 1988-1991 - Slamdek
In a Time of Hate
Catharsis - Doghouse
After Taste - Doghouse
The Last Record