Articles of Faith (band)
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Articles of Faith were a highly influential Chicago-based hardcore punk band (1981-1985) notable for songwriting in a class above most of their contemporaries (and successors). The band's later work, the posthumous In This Life LP in particular, either founds or foreshadows the emo and emocore sound.[citation needed] The typical AoF song featured hummable melodies and conspicuous hooks, showing funk, reggae and jazz influences, accompanied by lyrics bemoaning the difficulty of finding freedom and fulfillment in a cookie-cutter mass-consumption driven society, typically but not always, delivered at a searing pace. While the band's influence was blunted by being based in Chicago, they maintained close musical and thematic ties to the Washington DC / Dischord Records scene. Drummer Virus X briefly left the band in 1984, due to the relative waning of the band's political emphasis, but returned to record In This Life.
Vocalist and guitarist Vic Bondi was originally a protest singer with decidedly leftist views. He went on to form Alloy and Jones Very after AoF's demise. At the time of AoF's original breakup, Bondi was working as a history instructor at the University of Massachusetts. Bondi's subsequent day jobs included working on Microsoft's Encarta as managing editor of the Encarta Interactive English Learning edition (Bondi's comments on this fairly ironic form of employment can be found here). Alternative Tentacles Records released the complete discography of the band in 2002. Bondi resurfaced with another politically charged band, Report Suspicious Activity, in 2006, and was featured prominently in the documentary American Hardcore.
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[edit] Line-up
- Dave Shield (bass, voc)
- Bill Richman aka Virus X (drums)
- Dorian Tajbakhsh (git)
- Vic Bondi (voc, git)
- Joe Scuderi (git)
- Pat Gruber (management)
- Steve Ross (road)
[edit] Discography
- What We Want Is Free (EP 1982) - Version Sound, re-released on the band's DIY label, Wasteland Records
- Wait (EP 1983) - Wasteland (3 song ep)
- Give Thanks (LP 1984) - Produced by Bob Mould
- In This Life (LP 1987) - Lone Wolf Records, Produced by Bob Mould
[edit] Anthologies and Posthumous Collections
- Core (CD 1991) - Bitzcore (a collection of EPs, comp appearances, and unreleased tracks recorded from 1981 to 1983)
- Give Thanks (CD 1992) - Bitzcore
- Your Choice Live (1994) - Tobby Holzinger (last night of 1991 European reunion tour)
- AoF Complete Vol. 1 (2002) - Alternative Tentacles, all AoF vinyl recorded between 1981 and 1983
- AoF Complete Vol. 2 (2002) - Alternative Tentacles, all AoF vinyl recorded between 1983 and 1985
[edit] Compilation contributions
- "Buried Alive" and "False Security" on the Master Tape compilation LP (Affirmation Records, 1982)
- "Five O'Clock" - On The Middle of America compilation LP( H.I.D. Productions, 1984)
- "Up Against The Wall" on the P.E.A.C.E. compilation LP (R Radical Records, 1985)
- "Buy this War" and "American Dreams" on the Fortunate Son split EP (2 old AoF songs along with a solo Vic Bondi performing one original and one cover song) (Alternative Tentacles 2003)
