While in high school, Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes were introduced through Barnes' girlfriend. Grisham and Barnes became friends, and took off with the girlfriend's guitar and amplifier and began playing around with sounds. In the beginning, Grisham claims, "All we did was make a bunch of noise and yell, ‘Fuck the neighbors’ all day."
In 1978, Grisham and Barnes began rehearsing with Joneses guitarist Steve Houston (a.k.a. Steve Dead) and bassist Laddy Tirrell, forming the band Vicious Circle. They quickly gained a following within the beach cities and Los Angeles punk rock scene. Vicious Circle was notorious for Ultra-violence at shows in the early days of punk rock. Grisham is later quoted as saying "Whatever the logic, the Vicious Circle was a maniac attractor."
After the demise of Vicious Circle, T.SO.L. was formed in 1978 in Huntington Beach, CA. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Jack Grisham (who has been credited as Jack Greggors, Fatty G, Alex Morgon, Jack Ladoga, Jack Delauge and Jack Loyd, among pseudonyms), guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche and drummer Todd Barnes. According to legend, the band acquired their instruments by casing a local music shop, waiting until closing, and then performing a smash-and-grab robbery.
T.S.O.L.'s debut five-song EP, T.S.O.L., was released in spring 1981 by Posh Boy Records, featuring the reconvened original lineup. This first release was harshly political, featuring tracks such as "Superficial Love", "World War III" and "Abolish Government".
Grisham brought a darker fashion and sound to the highly political punk rock scene in Southern California, painting his face white, dressing in all-black goth clothes and doing darker photo-shoots in cemetery locations in the dead of night.Their first full-length album, Dance with Me, was released later in 1981 on Frontier Records, and showcased a more gothic sound. Author Steven Blush attributed the shift from punk to goth as being influenced by The Damned, who had released The Black Album the previous year. T.S.O.L continued in this direction after signing to Alternative Tentacles, releasing the Weathered Statues EP early in 1982, and the melodic Beneath the Shadows album later that year; the latter featured a new member, keyboardist Greg Kuehn.
The original T.S.O.L. broke up on January 9, 1983, following the infamous S.I.R. Studios "Sunset Strip Riot" at a headlining show featuring Redd Kross, Social Distortion, Los Olvidados. The space was filled to capacity with fans and punks alike outside the venue when violence ensued. Grisham and Barnes walked away from the band.
1984–1988: Joe Wood era
After his exit, Grisham formed Cathedral of Tears, who released a 1984 EP on Enigma Records. Following the release of the Cathedral of Tears EP, T.S.O.L.'s replacement drummer, Mitch Dean, referred to Cathedral of Tears as a "synthesizer band" whose music he did not particularly like, adding, "not to make fun of it or anything," but that "[Grisham's] doing what he wants."
T.S.O.L. chose to reconfigure. Joe Wood and Mitch Dean joined on vocals and drums, after Ron Emory, who was at the time playing in Wood's band The Loners, asked him to start a new band with himself and Roche. This new lineup released four albums on Enigma: Change Today? (1984), Revenge (1986) Hit and Run (1987) and Strange Love (1990). All four albums featured a more polished production style, with Hit and Run reaching No. 184 on the Billboard 200 charts, and the band touring globally to support the releases. The band's first live album, Live, was issued by Enigma in 1988.
Emory left the band in 1988, during the recording of demos for Strange Love, leaving Roche as the sole remaining original member—though Emory was given a writing credit on the track "Blow by Blow". T.S.O.L. were joined briefly by guitarist Scotty Phillips, who quit before the band started recording the follow-up to Hit and Run. They eventually hired former Dino's Revenge guitarist and actor Marshall Rohner.
1989-1999: Schism
In 1989, T.S.O.L. recorded a new album titled, Strange Love, which would be released 1990. Roche left the band in October 1989, after internal problems caused their tour to be canceled after only a few dates, leaving the band with no original members. Meanwhile, Wood had allowed the original members of T.S.O.L. to reunite for what was planned to be a one off show at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim.
Because Wood and Dean were the legal owners of the name T.S.O.L, the original members were forced to use a different moniker when they decided to do additional shows after their reunion.
In 1996, Wood and Dean were joined by guitarists Mike Martt and Drac Conley, and bassist Dave Mello (from Uniform Choice), with Dean subsequently replaced by Steve "Sully" O'Sullivan. In 1999, the original members fought with Wood for rights to the name and won.
Barnes died of a brain aneurysm on December 6, 1999, at the age of 34.
2000–2008: Nitro era
After Barnes, death the remaining members recruited drummer Jay O'Brien (formerly of All Day, later of American Jihad). This lineup played the 2000 Vans Warped Tour, and released the "Anticop" single (2001) and the albums Disappear (2001) and Divided We Stand (2003), all on Nitro Records, the latter of which featured Kuehn back on keyboards as well as Billy Blaze replacing O'Brien.
In 2005, with new drummer Anthony "Tiny" Buisu, the band released the video album Live in Hawaii and the retrospective album Who's Screwin' Who?, the latter consisting of songs from T.S.O.L., Dance with Me, Weathered Statues, Beneath the Shadows, Disappear, and Divided We Stand re-recorded by the 2005 lineup (originally released through Anarchy Music, it was later re-released by Cleopatra Records under the titles F#*k You Tough Guy: The Collection and Code Blue).
In November 2006, the band announced they were breaking up, with final performances having taken place earlier in the month. In September 2007, Cider City Records released the seemingly posthumous live album Live from Long Beach, recorded in November 2006 on the weekend of the band's two announced "farewell" performances.
The hiatus was short-lived, as they returned to perform local shows in late 2007,[citation needed] the same year Nitro reissued Dance with Me. In 2008, The Early Years Live, a video release, and the live album Live from Long Beach, recorded at their next to last show before the hiatus, were released.[citation needed]
2008–present: Later releases
In February 2008, T.S.O.L headlined the "Fuck the Whales, Save a Chckn" benefit, held to help with cancer treatment bills for guitarist Craig "Chckn" Jewett of D.I. In December 2008, the band entered the studio to record Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Free Downloads, which was made available as a free download through sponsor Hurley International's website on January 8, 2009. It was also released on vinyl by DC-Jam Records in November 2009.
Grisham formed Jack Grisham's LOST Soul in 2012, a gigging ensemble featuring Kuehn and Biuso, with the intent of performing T.S.O.L. and The Joykiller material.
On April 20, 2013, T.S.O.L. released a 7-inch EP, You Don't Have to Die (TKO Records), for Record Store Day, composed of the title track (an unreleased 1980 demo) and two 1981 live tracks. That same year, the band toured Europe and South America; they also completed a US tour with Flag.
On January 27, 2017, the band released The Trigger Complex album on Rise Records. In August 2017, Antonio Val Hernandez joined the band as drummer, replacing Hanna.
In 2024 a new studio album, A-Side Graffiti was released on February 27.
In 1981, director Paul Young made Urban Struggle: The Battle of The Cuckoo's Nest, a film which featured live performances by T.S.O.L. as well as several Orange County punk and hardcore bands. Dave Markey's 1982 film The Slog Movie also featured live T.S.O.L. performances, as did Penelope Spheeris' 1984 Suburbia with their performances of "Wash Away" & "Darker My Love". Their music was featured as the soundtrack to the classic 1985 skateboarding/skaterock VHS video, Summer Sessions. They also appeared in the 1989 movie The Runnin' Kind. Their music was also featured in the popular 1985 horror movie The Return of the Living Dead and 1986 film Dangerously Close. They were also mentioned in the 2007 documentary Punk's Not Dead.
Legacy and influence
The Offspring’s guitarist, Noodles, has stated, “Without T.S.O.L. there would be no Offspring.” They have covered "Superficial Love" and "Abolish Government/Silent Majority" live with Ron Emory, A studio cover of "80 Times" appeared on their Happy Hour! compilation, Other prominent groups have covered T.S.O.L. songs: Slayer recorded a medley of "Abolish Government" and "Superficial Love" for their 1996 album Undisputed Attitude, while "Code Blue" has been covered by the The Bouncing Souls in 1995 on Punk Rock Jukebox and again that year by Black Velvet Flag on Come Recline., and parodied by Manic Hispanic on 2003's Mijo Goes to Jr. College under the title "Code Brown". Alkaline Trio covered "Wash Away" in 2004 on the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, and most recently Neil Hamburger recorded a version of "Sounds" of Laughter" on his 2018 album Still Dwelling.
