Schoolyard Heroes 'Abominations' album

Schoolyard Heroes are NOT for the faint at heart. They're a far cry from the guyliner-smudged, wallowing-in-self-pity emo bands you've been drowned by for the past two years. "We need to go out and destroy everything that is wrong with music right now" announces towering bassist Jonah Bergman. Schoolyard Heroes aren't here to save the day, but, as he describes, they "would like to fuck shit up."

The foundations of this wonderfully weird and wild quartet were first laid in 1999 in a high school in Seattle, WA. Jonah Bergman and Ryann Donnelly became fast friends and very soon afterwards, teamed up with guitarist Steve Bonnell, before completing the line up a year later with the addition of drummer Brian Turner. They toured relentlessly with the likes of Bayside, The Fall Of Troy, Action Action and Vendetta Red, winning fans everywhere they went with their explosive live shows. The band finally found a home in 2007 with Stolen Transmission (The Horrors, Permanent Me, The Photo Atlas.) Just in the past year alone, Schoolyard Heroes has played SXSW, Bamboozle and Bamboozle Left.

This fall, Schoolyard Heroes arrive fully charged and armed with an album to blow your brains out of your ears. Brace yourself for their mighty ST debut, Abominations. Produced by John Goodmanson (Blonde Redhead, The Gossip, Bikini Kill,) the record is both an ambitious and impressive attempt at capturing the horrific parts of human nature with a heavy apocalyptic theme soaking each song like a bloody stain.

"We've always used the horror theme and violent dark imagery as the medium to tell the story in our songs," explains Ryann. "We look at the shitty, gnarly parts of life and instead of dwelling on these dark situations, we celebrate them," adds Jonah. "Instead of being bummed out, we dance!"

biography
While most 21 year olds are innocently batting their lashes at the lenses or gently crooning about sugar-coated day dreams and tearful heart breaks, Schoolyard Heroes fiery singer Ryann Donnelly is busy finding the nearest speaker to climb up and jump off as she declares, “I AM THE DEVIL AND I’VE COME TO DO THE DEVIL’S WORK!”

DISCLAIMER: Schoolyard Heroes are NOT for the faint at heart. They’re a far cry from the guyliner-smudged, wallowing-in-self-pity emo bands you’ve been drowned by for the past two years. “We need to go out and destroy everything that is wrong with music right now” announces towering bassist Jonah Bergman. Schoolyard Heroes aren’t here to save the day, but, as he describes, they “would like to fuck shit up.”

“I like to think Halloween is a pretty accurate idea of what our band represents. We’re just celebrating the gory side of life. That six-year old kid dressed up on Halloween, with a fake knife in his chest and blood all over his face is the perfect embodiment of our band.” Ryann chimes in, “We’re just a silly group of fun individuals with twisted brains.”

The foundations of this wonderfully weird and wild band were first laid in 1999 when the Seattle based quartet formed during high school. Jonah and Ryann became friends after meeting through their student council and soon teamed up with guitarist Steve Bonnell, before completing the line up a year later with the addition of drummer Brian Turner. Their first ever show, held at a Christian club, resulted in it being cut short due to offensive lyricism as they performed a cover of a Misfits song ‘Last Caress’.

They continued to tour relentlessly, winning fans everywhere they went with their explosive live shows and released two albums on the road, The Funeral Sciences and Fantastic Wounds, before finding a home in 2007 with Stolen Transmission (The Horrors, Permanent Me and The Photo Atlas). This fall, Schoolyard Heroes arrive fully charged and armed with an album to blow your brains out of your ears. Brace yourself for their mighty ST debut, Abominations. Produced by John Goodmanson (Blonde RedHead, The Gossip, Bikini Kill), the record is both an ambitious and impressive attempt at capturing the horrific parts of human nature with a heavy apocalyptic theme soaking each song like a bloody stain.

“We’ve always used the horror theme and violent dark imagery as the medium to tell the story in our songs,” explains Ryann. “We look at the shitty, gnarly parts of life and instead of dwelling on these dark situations, we celebrate them,” adds Jonah. “Instead of being bummed out, we dance!” And dance you will, with stomping anthems such as ‘Cemetery Girls’ and ‘Dude Where’s My Skin?’ providing the perfect soundtrack to your fist pumping riots. Tracks like ‘Children Of The Night’ and ‘Violence Is All The Rage’ are confident, complex and powerful enough to ignite frenzy in the mosh pit, and also showcase Ryann’s stunning operatic vocal range and Steve’s wailing guitar solos.

Schoolyard Heroes are rewriting all the rules you’ve known before. They’re here to scream in your face and deliver a much-needed kick in the crotch of the music scene. So don’t be afraid, embrace the inevitable end, because as Abomination proves, death can be one badass dance party.

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Tracklisting

Schoolyard Heroes - Abominations