Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. Along with Embrace, and Beefeater, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement[5] which took place within the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk scene. Musically, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with its compositional rules. Lyrically, they also shifted hardcore into intensely personal realms and, in doing so, are often considered the first emo band[2] but Rites of Spring itself rejected any association between themselves and emo genres.[6][7]

This article is about the band. For other uses, see Rites of Spring (disambiguation).
Rites of Spring
Rites of Spring members Guy Picciotto (left) and Mike Fellows (right) performing
Background information
OriginWashington, D.C., U.S.
Genres
Years active1984–1986
LabelsDischord
Associated acts
Past members

The band only performed around 15 shows in the DC area.[8] Vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty went on to play in Fugazi with producer and former Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye in the late 1980s, while bassist Mike Fellows formed Mighty Flashlight and has had a solo career.

History

AllMusic's Matt Kantor described the band's music as being at times "fast and furious" while also being "at other times lush and evocative though always with a sense of drive and melody."[9] Though rooted in the loud-and-fast style of hardcore punk, Rites of Spring is to be among the first bands who played music in the emotional hardcore genre,[10] or what is now commonly and retrospectively called emo-core, a precursor of screamo. Jenny Toomey notes that, "Rites of Spring existed well before the term did and they hated it."[6]

They were influenced by The Faith (Eddie Janney's previous band) and their 1983 EP Subject to Change with their introspective lyrics and angry, melody-tinged songwriting.[11]

The band is named after the symphonic ballet The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.

Recordings

Rites of Spring was the band’s eponymous debut album from 1985. Its twelve songs were recorded at Inner Ear Studios in February 1985, produced by Ian MacKaye of Fugazi and Minor Threat, and released on vinyl in June of that year as Dischord Records No. 16. The album was re-released on CD and cassette in 1987, with an additional track from the same session, "Other Way Around," as well as the four songs from the Rites' follow-up EP, All Through a Life, Dischord No. 22. The CD and cassette originally retained the number "16" while the 1991 repress, as well as the 2001 remastered version of the same seventeen songs, were numbered "16CD" and given the new title End on End. The band broke up in January 1986.[8]

Post-breakup and musical influence

Picciotto, Janney and Canty formed One Last Wish with Embrace alumnus, guitarist Michael Hampton. They recorded one studio album, entitled 1986, which was released in 1999 due to the band breaking up after mixing was finished.[12]

The Rites of Spring personnel reunited for a quasi-reincarnation called Happy Go Licky, releasing an LP/CD of various live concert recordings though never producing any studio work. The music was much more experimental than Rites of Spring, heavily improvised and featuring tape loop effects.[12]

Picciotto and Canty eventually teamed up with bassist Joe Lally and former Minor Threat, Skewbald/Grand Union, Egg Hunt, and Embrace singer Ian MacKaye (co-owner of the band’s label, Dischord Records) in Fugazi. Mike Fellows went on to do session work for the Drag City label and form Miighty Flashlight, releasing an eponymous album under this name in 2002.[12]

Picciotto himself doesn't recognize the attribution of having "created" emo. When asked about it in an interview his response was, "I've never recognized 'emo' as a genre of music. I always thought it was the most retarded term ever. I know there is this generic commonplace that every band that gets labeled with that term hates it. They feel scandalized by it. But honestly, I just thought that all the bands I played in were punk rock bands. The reason I think it's so stupid is that - what, like the Bad Brains weren't emotional? What - they were robots or something? It just doesn't make any sense to me."[13]

Dischord released the band's only demo, entitled Six Song Demo, in October 2012. All tracks on the demo were previously recorded versions of songs appearing on the Rites of Spring album.[14]

Members

Discography

Studio album

EP

Compilation

Demo
  • Six Song Demo (2012)

See also

References
  1. Jewett, Chad (July 13, 2015). "Jukebox Breakdown: Rites Of Spring – "All Through A Life"". Half Cloth. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  2. DeRogatis, Jim (1999). "Emo (The Genre That Dare Not Speak Its Name)". Guitar World. Future US, Inc. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  3. Pattison, Louis. "Rites of Spring and the summer that changed punk rock". The Guardian.
  4. Dugan, Josh. "End On End: D.C.'S Rites Of Spring". Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  5. Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark (Soft Skull Press, 2001). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. Fourth ed., 2009. Akashic Books. ISBN 9781933354996. p. 193.
  6. Greenwald, Andy (2003). Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 13–4. ISBN 0312308639.
  7. Huey, Steve. "Rites of Spring". AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  8. "Rites Of Spring". Dischord Records Official Website. Dischord Records. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  9. Kantor, Matt. "End On End - Rites of Spring - Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  10. Azerrad, Michael (2001-07-31). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991. Little Brown and Company. p. 528. ISBN 0-316-78753-1.
  11. "Subject to Change 12" EP". Kill from the Heart. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  12. Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Rites of Spring", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
  13. "Guy Picciotto - 2003 Interview" markprindle.com. Retrieved on February 23, 2009.
  14. "Rites of Spring: Six Song Demo". PopMatters. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
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