Orchid (hardcore punk band)

History

The band was formed while Jayson Green, Will Killingsworth, and Brad Wallace were studying at Hampshire College, and Jeff Salane was attending UMass in Amherst, Massachusetts in early 1998. The majority of their discography was released on vinyl records which they often shared with other bands. There were three full-length (by their standards) records released: Chaos Is Me, Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! and the final Self-Titled release (often called "Gatefold" after its packaging), all on Ebullition Records.

Towards the end of their lifespan, the final line-up of Orchid had formed various side-projects, with vocalist Green, bassist Geoff Garlock and drummer Salane forming the band Panthers. Guitarist Will Killingsworth played in the band Bucket Full of Teeth and worked on Dead Air Studios, his recording project based in Amherst, MA, where the band recorded their final album. They had previously recorded at Godcity with Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. Orchid played last shows in a number of cities during the summer of 2002, the last of which was at The Advocate in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA, where they played with Sinaloa and the band Wolves, who had former Orchid bassist Brad Wallace playing guitar for them.

Killingsworth continues to run his own label, Clean Plate Records, whilst his band Bucket Full of Teeth released several records, including a full-length LP on Level Plane Records before he formed the band Ampere, who are still active. Green, Garlock, and Salane continue to play in the band Panthers, who have released two full-length albums and an EP. After Wolves finished, Brad joined Transistor Transistor to play guitar, who also recently released an album on Level-Plane. Jayson Green later formed a hardcore punk supergroup named Violent Bullshit, with members of Black Army Jacket and the Fiery Furnaces. Jayson Green, Will Killingsworth, and Geoff Garlock currently play together in the band Ritual Mess.

Style and legacy

Orchid's musical style, which has primarily been described as screamo, is highly dissonant, fast and chaotic. It combines the melodic and poetic approach of post-hardcore and emo with the extremity of powerviolence (a fusion sometimes termed emoviolence) and grindcore. Orchid was known for their well-conceived literary approach to lyrics which are of a personal nature, even more than other screamo bands. Their lyrics make reference to Anna Karina, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer & the Frankfurt School, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jacques Attali, Guy Debord, and other aspects of European critical theory and culture. But their music also includes melodic elements, violins, and brief snippets of modern classical music. Italian site "Emotional Breakdown" gave a positive review of Orchid's compilation album Totality, saying: "[Orchid] are the concentrated essence of the most poignant music you can imagine: the vocal cords that are pulled until they tear, the music sounds dark and desperate. They possess all these characteristics as the undisputed masters they have taught many proselytes, in all of their cynical splendor."

Orchid is considered a prominent and quintessential band in screamo. Orchid are considered legends in the emotional hardcore scene primarily due to their debut album Chaos Is Me, which left "a huge crater that was their influence". Lars Gotrich, when writing for NPR music credited Orchid alongside bands Circle Takes The Square and Pg.99 as being prominent influences on emotional post-hardcore. In January 2012, Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein released a sixth studio album titled Short Songs, which included a covered Orchid's "Destination: Blood". The cover was included on a second disc of covers of, in the band's opinion "classic punk songs" which were all less than 90 seconds in length.

Members

Studio albums

Compilation albums

EPs and split records