Punchline (band)

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Punchline

Origin	Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, USA
Years active	1998–present
Genres	Pop punk/Alternative/Rock
Labels	Fueled by Ramen
Members	Steve Soboslai Jon Belan Chris Fafalios PJ Caruso
Past members	Greg Wood Paul Menotiades

Punchline is a pop-punk band from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, formed in 1998. Fans of Punchline are referred to as "Punchkids" by the band and themselves.

Punchline started with the meeting of lead singer/guitarist Steve Soboslai, bassist Chris Fafalios and drummer PJ Caruso, who attended high school together; they started Punchline when Chris was a senior and PJ and Steve were both juniors. [1] As a three-piece in 1998, Punchline played local shows and recorded poppy and sometimes ska-influenced punk, especially on the band's first release "How to Get Kicked Out of the Mall."

In 1999 the band self-produced and self-released the full-length "Punchline," and co-produced "Major Motion Picture" with Billy Rossi for an August 2001 release after the trio was joined by guitarist/vocalist Paul Menotiades. The four recorded "The Rewind EP" in 2002, again collaborating with Billy Rossi. The band also signed to Fueled by Ramen Records in 2003 and "The Rewind EP" was remixed and remastered by Shelly Yakus for its Fueled by Ramen re-release. The early pressings included The Rewind Documentary DVD.

On February 2004's full-length "Action," produced by Sean O'Keefe, Punchline set itself apart in the over-saturated world of pop-punk music with bright three-part harmonies and unique melodies, catchy riffs and a strong rhythm section. Soboslai, Menotiades, and Fafalios all contributed vocals to the disc, and this release's early pressings also included a DVD, entitled The Action DVD.

In January 2005, after 4 years of playing with the band, Menotiades left the band in the middle of a tour, shortly before a show in Albany, New York. The remaining members of the band enlisted long-time friend Greg Wood to fill in on guitar and vocals for the remaining shows of the tour. Wood, who previously performed as a solo artist and was a member of Connecticut's now defunct West Beverly, later joined the band as a permanent member, and plays keys/piano in addition to guitar on Punchline's "37 Everywhere."

TDR Records (formerly known as To Define Records) released an Over It/Punchline split 7 inch vinyl in 2005 featuring two exclusive songs. The Over It side features an acoustic version of "Partner In Crime," while the Punchline side features a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Battlescars." For this release both bands have thrown aside their fast pop punk tempos. [2]

Punchline's 37 Everywhere, produced by Shep Goodman and Kenny Giota, was be released by Fueled by Ramen Records on April 11, 2006. The album is dedicated to the life and times of John 'Beatz' Holohan (1974-2005) of Bayside. It's liner notes advise that "The number 37 is everywhere. It is in your daily routine and it will surprise you. Look for it and it will look for you." The liner notes are said by the artist/designer Jason Sho Green to contain 37 instances of the number 37.

Songs on "37 Everywhere" contain references to the departure of former bandmate Menotiades and the album features guest vocals from Anthony Raneri, lead vocalist of New York's Bayside. The title of the album's tenth track, "They Are Strong Hands," is a reference to the track "They Looked Like Strong Hands" on Bayside's 2005 album Bayside, which features guest vocals from Punchline vocalist and lyricist Steve Soboslai. "37 Everywhere" also features Ryan Mendez of Yellowcard and Staring Back playing guitar on the track "Don't Try This at Home," vocals from John Johansen of the defunct Stryder on "Caller 10," and Josh Bonner of the defunct Unsung Zeroes on "Wars Will Always Happen."

Punchline has toured the United States with Bayside, Less Than Jake, Hidden in Plain View, Hellogoodbye, Mest, Reel Big Fish, Hawthorne Heights, The Juliana Theory, No Use for a Name and Sullivan. Punchline also toured Japan with labelmates Fall Out Boy in the summer of 2004. The band embarked on their first headlining tour, "The Now or Never Tour," in Spring 2005 and is headlining the "37 Everywhere Tour" in Spring 2006 with labelmates Cute Is What We Aim For opening.

On August 28, 2006, the band announced the departure of Greg Wood. Wood is said to be in good standing with the band, and left the band to pursue other interests. Long time Punchline friend Jon Belan, previous member of The Berlin Project replaced Greg Wood for his first tour with the band, the "Better Than Knowing Where You Are Tour". This tour featured Spitalfield, Over It, Valencia, and Boys Like Girls in addition to Punchline.

The soundtrack for National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj will include the song "Green Light" from their album "37 Everywhere".

In a recent Myspace bulletin they announced that they are recording new songs for a upcoming 2007 release (full details are not known as yet.)

On "37 day" March 7, 2007, Punchline posted a 30 second clip from a new song on the website Heavy.com.

1 Members
2 Discography
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Members

Steve Soboslai – guitar, vocals
Jon Belan – guitar, vocals
Chris Fafalios – bass, vocals
PJ Caruso – drums

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

How To Get Kicked Out Of The Mall 1998	Punchline 1999	Major Motion Picture 2001	The Rewind EP 2002 and 2003
Action 2004	37 Everywhere 2006

[edit] Compilations

A Santa Cause - It's A Punk Rock Christmas (Immortal Records, November 11, 2003) - track 18: Icicles

Dead and Dreaming: An Indie Tribute to Counting Crows (The Vinyl Summer, November 23, 2004) - track 6: Round Here

[edit] Trivia

Punchline fans are known as "Punch kids".
Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy once came on stage during a Punchline show in Japan and sang a verse of the song "Heart Transplant".
Punchline wrote a song about their friend, drummer John "Beatz" Holohan of the band Bayside, who died in a car crash when Bayside's van hit a patch of ice and flipped over on October 31, 2005. The song is titled "They are strong hands" in reference to a Bayside song Steve Soboslai (lead vocalist) had sung guest vocals on: "They looked like strong hands".
Punchline bassist Chris Fafalios hosts several short series on youtube.com and currently HEAVY.com including the Chris Fafalios show and a cartoon called "Texas Toast" which he cowrites and edits