| The Honor System | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Years active | 1999–present (hiatus) |
| Labels | Asian Man Records Double Zero Grey Flight Suburban Home |
| Associated acts | Slapstick The Broadways The Lawrence Arms Baxter Rise Against Alkaline Trio Tuesday Whale|Horse |
| Website | MySpace |
| Members | |
| Dan Hanaway Tyler Wiseman Chris Carr Rob DePaola |
|
| Past members | |
| Tim McIlrath Nolan McGuire |
|
The Honor System is a punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois that formed after the breakup of The Broadways.
Contents |
The band initially consisted of former Broadways members Dan Hanaway (vocals, guitar) and Rob DePaola (drums), along with Nolan McGuire (guitar), and Tim McIlrath (bass, vocals). Their first release was a 1999 demo cassette comprising the songs "Fool's Good", "Single File" (the band's only song with main vocals by McIlrath) and "Facelift". This demo was reissued on 7" and digital download by Solidarity Recordings in 2010.
Soon after, Chris Carr replaced McIlrath, who went on to form Rise Against. The band recorded and released their first full-length album Single File on Asian Man Records in 2000, featuring re-recordings of "Fool's Gold" and "Facelift".
The band's second release, the six-song EP 100% Synthetic, was released on Double Zero Records in May 2001. Later that year, McGuire left and was replaced by Tyler Wiseman, formerly of Tuesday. [1]
After a couple of national tours [2], the band released a self-titled three-song EP (limited to 1000 copies [3]) featuring the songs "Moving Day", "The Sound of Sinking" and "American Math", and showing a move toward a heavier sound, bolstered by the arrival of Wiseman. This was followed three months later by the band's second full-length recording, Rise and Run, which featured re-recordings of the EP's first 2 tracks.
Shortly after Rise and Run's release, the band went on hiatus when DePaola left to look after his ailing mother [4]. Hanaway and Wiseman went on to form Whale|Horse with some fellow Chicago musicians. An early incarnation of the band recorded some demos before Carr returned on bass, joined by ex Sweep the Leg Johnny drummer Scott Anna on drums. The new line-up recorded and released a self-produced debut EP, "Count the Electric Sheep", in 2006.
In August 2008, Solidarity Recordings released Single File on vinyl for the first time, in two colours (limited to 400 and 100) [5]. In September, I Hate Punk Rock Records reissued Rise and Run in 3 colours and as a special edition featuring all 3 standard colours and 3 rare presses, limited to 5 [6].
In April 2010, Solidarity Recordings reissued a remastered edition of the band's original 1999 demo tape, on three colours of 7" vinyl and digital download (Amazon MP3 and iTunes).
Lyrically, while the other band formed from The Broadways' breakup, The Lawrence Arms, favour more introspective lyrics, Dan Hanaway's lyrics for The Honor System retain his socio-political perspective: covering issues including police corruption ("Nails", "The Blaming Game"), criticism of the media ("The Blaming Game", "Losing Connection", "Hz"), anti-capitalisim/corporatism ("Fool's Gold", "Muffled By Concrete", "Replacement Parts", "Moving Day"), war ("Clockwork"), religion ("Witchhunt"), etc.
Musically, the band built upon The Broadways' melodic punk rock, dual guitars and non-traditional song structures, incorporating better production, more developed instrumentation and, particularly after McGuire's replacement by Wiseman, an increasingly heavy sound. Hanaway's vocals show a continued evolution from their rougher sound on his earlier works.