Category Archives: Breaking Up

Of Us Giants Call It Quits

In January, I had the pleasure of reviewing an amazing release by an up and coming band called Of Us Giants.

Of Us Giants - Nova Scotia

My last paragraph in that review stated:

I would not be surprised if this band was taking over stages in the near future playing to sold out crowds. This is an impressive release that I can see all sorts of music lovers getting into.  Don’t sit on Of Us Giants like I did, it is too good to pass up.

I really had high expectations with this band, but sadly over the weekend, they called it quits.

I get it.  Indifferences happen, but man, this band barely took off and their debut release Nova Scotia is still in heavy rotation.

OUG really impressed me with their DIY approach and truly were excited with all that was going on.  I really could feel their excitement and was hoping their would have made it to Cleveland one day.

Even after USPS lost a bunch of their vinyl (almost $600 worth), the band fought hard to regain their losses and successfully were able to raise money thanks to their amazing fans.

Clearly something happened though forcing them to part ways before more people were able to get into them.

Here’s what the band had to say on their Facebook page:

This is really difficult to write, but here it goes… we are very sorry to announce that we have decided to call it quits as a band due to personal issues. Unfortunately, that means we are dropping off the Captives / Keyes tour. We also were planning a 7″ split with Captives to be released later this year. We are not sure if anybody would still be interested in hearing those songs, but we may still record them… maybe not… it’s up in the air right now.

We want to take the time to say THANK YOU to all of you for caring about this band over the past few years. We are forever grateful for all of your love and support. We would be nothing without all of you. Our music is free atwww.ofusgiants.com and you can pick up any of our leftover merch at www.ronaldrecords.com. All orders are shipping soon. We also want to thank all of the record labels that have taken a chance on our music and have released it for us: Songs From The Road Records / Driftwood Records / Fly the Light Records / Close To Home Records / Little League Records / Mutt Tapes.

Last but not least, thank you to everybody that has been a member of the band over the past few years. We have had the privilege of working with some amazing people/musicians.

Goodbye… for now.

We love all of you,
Dustin and Jon

Good luck guys.  I still blame USPS for this break-up…

The Facials To Play Their Last Show

It is always sad to see a band call it quits.

What’s sadder is when it is a band full of your friends who you have known for a long time.

Facials 1

Akron/Cleveland punk act The Facials recently announced that they are going to throw in the towel.  In a proper approach, they are going to play one more show before disbanding.

Note that the band is not breaking up because they hate each other but rather because they are soon to be a bit distant from one another.

I have seen the Facials countless times and have always enjoyed their live shows.  From playing the ever elegant Chuck’s Steakhouse in good ol’ Akron, to playing both stages at the Agora in Cleveland, I can honestly say they have played solid sets.

They have shared stages with Rancid, White Wives, Street Dogs, Whole Wheat Bread, Civit, Swingin’ Utters, and even The Menzingers just to name a few.

Hell, I remember the time the band did a NOFX set.  That was one hell of a night…

Facials

Bummed to see them split, but I understand totally.  I know they didn’t want it to end, and I  think Chad said it best on his Facebook post about the band coming to an end:

There has never been a show that lacked the energy we aimed to create, so hopefully everyone can make it out one last time to end it right!

I consider myself lucky to have befriended these guys.  I was introduced to them back when The Narcoleptics X5 were still playing drunk shows in the early 2000s.  I liked their Pennywise approach and tried to hit every show they played.  From there, I would see other live shows with them and party until I would fall down a flight of steps.

I remember when we would all hit up the Warped Tour and be the old men heckling all the kids.  Good times.

As the years passed, things started slowing down for them with their day gigs taking up their free time and most of the band getting married and whatnot.  I really am stoked to hear that they are going to play one last show.  This will be the prefect farewell to a bunch of good dudes what have been doing their thing for almost 13 years.

Come see the band play one last hurrah at Now That’s Class on Friday, March 21st with special guests Night Sweats, The Old One-Two, and a couple other acts to be announced.

The Measure (sa) (2004-2011)

The Measure (sa) called it quits yesterday…

Making a public announcement about 2011 being the end of the band, guitarist/ vocalist Lauren Denitzio had the following to say on why they decided to split as well as talked about their final plans as a band including live shows and releases.

After a number of lineup changes, the Measure increasingly became Fid and I finding ways to continue making music together. For a while, that was working, but this Fall I made the decision that I can’t continue with the band. There were a lot of personal reasons behind that and I realized that my heart just wasn’t in the project anymore. It’s not fair to anyone to try to keep going after that, especially when you’re expected to tour and write music and play shows and look like you’re having a good time. As far as parting ways goes, it’s a fairly amicable event and I’m glad that we’re ending the band on good terms and as friends.

We started the band when I was 20, and if you had told me then that I would get to travel around the country, put out over 18 records and play with some of my favorite bands because of it, I’d think you were out of your mind. It’s been a great privilege and I hope those experiences don’t end here. Fid and I will certainly be putting out music in other bands soon, so stay tuned.

We’re planning on releasing the next collection record of the more recent 7”s later in 2011 and intend on playing Fest 10 (Oct 28,29,30-2011) for one final show. There’s a possibility of another couple 7”s as well. Locally, we’ll be playing our last shows during the second weekend in April in Brooklyn and New Brunswick. Details to be announced soon.

We want to thank everyone who has been so helpful and supportive over the years. Especially those who have set up shows, given us places to stay and put out records for us (Don Giovanni, Kiss of Death, Salinas, Chunksaah, Ernest Jenning, Art of the Underground, Los Diaper, Team Science, Snuffy Smiles and No Idea) . We’re incredibly grateful to the awesome folks at No Idea who have both distro’d our records and put out a split 7” and LP for us, getting our music out there to a larger audience than we were able to do on our own. They’ve been one of our favorite labels for a long time and it was an honor to get to work with them so closely both as a label and as friends.

To Mike Regrets, Big A, J Nixon, Mikey Yannich, Joel Control, Tim Burke!, Chris Pierce, Gore, Joey Birds, DanO, CJ, and Marco Reosti: thanks for getting through this band with us”.

punkrockneverstop,
Lauren + Fid

The Measure (sa) released their final studio album, Notes, at the end of 2010 on No Idea Records. You can still stream the album in its entirety on the band’s Punknews.org band profile page!

The Measure [SA] – Unwritten from If You Make It on Vimeo.

These Arms Are Snakes Announce Break-Up

These Arms Are Snakes announced their depature as a band today…

Direct from the band:

It’s with a heavy heart we tell you that These Arms Are Snakes is no more. It’s been a great run and we’d like to send out a very hearty “Thank You” to everyone that we’ve worked with or anyone that we’ve toured with; anyone that lent us a floor, towed our van and / or trailer, lent a van, given us a listen, downloaded our records prior to their coming out, bought our shit, or asked us where our band name came from; everyone who cooked us food, made habanero-infused tequila, had a safety meeting with us, let Steve gyrate all over you, had to live with any of us, made us pay shitloads of money to get off your punk label, got us into LOST, found Steve drunkenly wandering the streets of Tokyo alone, played Madlibs in the van (plural nouns), lost money promoting one of our shows, took Chris to the hospital, put up with our drunken sorry asses, got into a fight with us, etc. etc.

This band could not have been possible without all of you. We sincerely thank you.

Much love,

TAAS 2002 – 2009