Attack Attack! with Our Last Night, The Color Morale and I Set My Friends on Fire

Although only together for four years, Attack Attack! has weathered much turmoil and notched some significant accomplishments along the way.

The Columbus area quintet got started in 2005 with a major in Metalcore and a minor in Christian-centered lyrics (although the band doesn’t align itself with the “Christian Metal” movement). Within months, they installed new bassist John Holgado and also added synth-sist Caleb Shomo as a sixth member, developing a Pop/Screamo/Techno sound that has been incredibly polarizing. People who love AA! really love them; people who hate the band send around its videos in a viral Rick Astley/Chuck Norris “so bad it’s hilarious” kind of way.

With a couple of years of regional touring under its belt, AA! self-released a debut EP, If Guns Are Outlawed, Can We Use Swords?, which led to signing with Rise Records and the band’s first full-length, Someday Came Suddenly. The album got as high as No. 25 on Billboard’s Independent Album chart and even cracked the lower reaches of the magazine’s general Top 200.

After recording a cover of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” for Fearless Records’ Punk Goes Pop 2, the AA! bandwagon hit a few bumps in the road. Last year, in the midst of a tour with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, the band fired original lead singer Austin Carlile and hired ex-For All We Know vocalist Nick Barham. Earlier this year, AA! hit the road with bands like Escape the Fate and Black Tide, among others, and the group traveled with the Warped Tour this past summer.

But the bigger news was the poison press generated by the video for the song “Stick Stickly” (the band members’ crab-like squat/stance in the clip led some to dismissingly call the AA! sound “Crabcore”). Barham amicably resigned about a month ago and Shomo was promoted to lead vocalist. Guitarist Andrew Whiting and drummer Andrew Wetzel are the only original members of Attack Attack! remaining.

AA! has reportedly added a tantalizingly titled new song, “Sexual Man Chocolate,” to its set on the “Shred Til You’re Dead” tour (one can only imagine this won't endear the band any more to its detractors). Can a new album, new member, new drama or new crustacean-based move be far behind? Stay tuned.