Punk was always intended to be fast, loose and fleeting; The Ramones didn’t have a pension plan. Neil Young wasn’t wrong when he noted that it’s better to burn out than to fade away and yet, for every band like The Sex Pistols that existed for a moment in the sun, there’s a band like SoCal’s Strung Out, with an amazingly long history and a potent catalog to back it up.
Strung Out roared out of Simi Valley, Calif., in 1989, self-releasing an eponymous 7-inch and recording a handful of tracks right before becoming one of the first signings to Fat Wreck Chords, the legendary Punk label founded and run by NOFX frontman Fat Mike. The quintet’s first two albums, 1994’s Another Day in Paradise and 1996’s Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues, were frenetic examples of balls out, double clutched Punk with a discernible melodic Pop undercurrent.
Strung Out’s more overt Pop/Punk inclinations were explored to a greater degree on 1998’s Twisted by Design, which was released just before the dismissal of bassist Jim Cherry (who died of a congenital heart condition in 2002). Other than that, Strung Out’s lineup has been amazingly stable; vocalist Jason Cruz and guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos were founding members, drummer Jordan Burns joined in 1993 and Cherry’s replacement, Chris Aiken, has been the band’s bassist for the past 16 years.
After a nearly decade-long run of releasing an album every few years — including 2007’s politically streaked Blackhawks Over Los Angeles and 2009’s Metal-flaked Agents of the Underground — Strung Out concentrated on touring, releasing the best-of collection Top Contenders in 2011.
The following year, Burns announced that Strung Out would release a new album. Planned for mid-2014, Transmission. Alpha. Delta, the band’s ninth studio release for Fat Wreck Chords, was ultimately delayed until just last month, when it was released to fairly consistent critical acclaim. Fan reaction generally fell in line with a comment on the album’s full album stream on YouTube:
“I was miserable, but now I’m not. Thanks Strung Out I fucking love you.”
STRUNG OUT plays Saturday at Thompson House in Newport. Tickets/more info
here .
This article appears in Apr 22-28, 2015.