Strung Out
Strung Out is an American punk band from Simi Valley (California) consisting of Jason Cruz, Jake Kiley, Chris Aiken, RJ Shankle and Rob Ramos. The band is one of the defining representatives of the melodic punk rock of the 1990s of the label Fat Wreck Chords, with which they are still signed today. Stylistically striking for Strung Out are musical borrowings from metal, which have found an increasing share in the music of the band especially since the turn of the millennium.
Band History
The band was formed in 1989 with singer Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Bob Ramos, Jim Cherry on bass guitar and Adam Austin on drums. Not long after, Austin was replaced by Jordan Burns, who had left Ten Foot Pole. In 1993 they were signed to the fledgling punk label Fat Wreck Chords, and a year later they released their debut album Another Day in Paradise. They secured a solid punk-pop following two years later with their second album, Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues. On the next album, Twisted by Design, released in 1998, they began to mix their melodic songs with heavy metal elements, moving towards hardcore punk. A year after its release, bassist Jim Cherry left the band. He had always struggled with heart problems and died three years later. With his successor Chris Aiken the final band line-up had been found.
Some time passed before the next full album, during which an EP and a compilation of early Strung Out songs were released. An American Paradox was released in 2002 and was the first album to make it onto the official US album chart, reaching #185. On the indie charts, the album was #11. A live album recorded in Anaheim a little later also entered the indie charts the following year, as did the next albums Exile in Oblivion (2004, produced by Matt Hyde) and Blackhawks over Los Angeles (2007). While the band continued to develop their fast punk rock with metal influences, they also critically addressed political issues such as 9/11 and the subsequent U.S. war efforts. The album Agents of the Underground was their seventh studio album and marked the band's 20th anniversary. It was their second album on the official charts. It was produced by Cameron Webb, who had worked successfully for Motörhead, among others. This once again emphasized their metal orientation.
After that, Strung Out toured extensively again and then retired. After 2010, a best-of album and a box set with their 1990 albums and a DVD were released. It wasn't until 2015 that the band released another new studio album. At #144 on the Billboard 200, Transmission Alpha Delta was their top-ranked album. It also marked their first appearance on the hard rock charts, where they entered at #2.
In 2018, they released Black Out the Sky, an EP largely dominated by acoustic guitars, which included some new songs as well as acoustic versions of earlier songs. In the same year, Jordan Burns was replaced by RJ Shankle due to personal differences. The first studio album with the new line-up - Songs of Armor and Devotion - was released in 2019.
Discography
- Another Day in Paradise (1994)
- Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues (1996)
- Crossraods & Illusions (EP, 1998)
- Twisted by Design (1998)
- The Element of Sonic Defiance (EP, 2000)
- An American Paradox (2002)
- Live in a Dive (2003)
- Exile in Oblivion (2004)
- Blackhawks over Los Angeles (2007)
- Agents of the Underground (2009)
- Transmission Alpha Delta (2015)
- Black Out the Sky (2018)
- Songs of Armor and Devotion (2019)
Compilations
- Skinny Years: Before We Got Fat (1998)
- Prototypes and Painkillers (2009)
- Top Contenders: The Best of Strung Out (Double CD, 2011)
