Blast From The Past: Spitalfield

So this is what it's like when four members of four different hardcore bands form a band and a sound all their own. Deep in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, a small movement occurred in 1998 that allowed those four hardcore members to join each other under one banner. Guitarist/vocalist Mark Rose and drummer J.D. Romero started to write alt-indie hits that conveyed more emotional issues than what they had been writing in the hardcore scene. However, they took that alt-indie mood and added pop emphasis with the intimacy of hardcore. Rose was quoted in an early interview that the band drew influences from Texas In The Reason and Braid. The two soon recruited Dan Lowder as another guitarist and a year later T.J. Minich joined the group on bass and the circle was completed. Before a jam session together, Rose approached the band with a band name. The name Spitalfields was the village that Jack The Ripper was raised in. So they decided to drop the last 's' and become Spitalfield.

It took little time to gain a devote following in their hometown, which can be contributed to their energetic and visceral live shows. In their first year together, the band opened up for bands like Jurassic 5, Thursday, Rise Against, Brand New, The Movielife, and Hey Mercedes just to name a few. Their devote following started to spread the word and the band gained a massive amount of new fans. After recording a few demos in 2000, the band finally released The Cloak and Dagger Club EP in 2002. The sound quality wasn't ideal, but the record summed up all that energy and the great songwriting potential that the band showcased. The EP was enough to garner attention of larger labels than the label that released it. In January 2003, the band signed to Victory Records and almost immediately after that went into the studio to record what turned out to be their debut full-length, Remember Right Now. Producer Sean O'Keefe headed the album after working with the likes of Motion City Soundtrack and Fall Out Boy and helped capture the sound that Spitalfield had been striving for.

The band toured on their debut album for nearly two years straight, spreading their heartfelt songs across the land and developing a devote following. After supporting acts like The Early November and Sugarcult, Victory wanted a new album. So almost three years after their debut, Spitalfield released Stop Doing Bad Things that held more melodic anthems and brought bands like Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World to mind. Minich decided to leave the band shortly after releasing that record, and the guys soon found a replacement in bassist T.J. Milici. That summer Spitalfield hit the Warped Tour, but were forced to drop off near its end when Lowder suddenly announced he'd be leaving the band. The group wasted little time in finding a replacement for Lowder and eventually enlisted Jeff Meilander as a touring guitarist. The three remaining troop went on to stay a three-piece and released Better Than Knowing Where You Are in 2006. The group toured for not quite a year on that record until they decided to go their separate ways.

What everyone who performed in Spitalfield achieved while the band was a cohesive unit is unparalleled by their peers. They didn't achieve stardom, they didn't make a dozen records, and they didn't make a lot of money. What they did do however, was leave behind one of the most loyal fan bases the underground world has ever seen, some fantastic memories of their energetic live shows, and three albums that are as enjoyable to listen to now as they ever were. The group's hardcore background is very much present on every record and combines that with melodic harmonies as well as alt-indie stylings. Each and every album is filled to the brim with heartfelt lyrics, anthemic choruses, and are sonically energetic.

With the rise of Mark Rose's solo work, there has been some mumblings of a reunion. But Rose's latest music has become a mixture of pop and blues. However, on certain occasions you will hear him play Spitalfield songs during his live sets. The loyal following has never stopped hoping and pushing for a reunion, but each member has their own projects and the prospect of a reunion seems out of contention at the moment. Just listening to their albums takes you down memory lane to the days of hoping that they would come to a town near you so that you could witness their live shows. Unlike other bands, Spitalfield never relied on anything else at their shows other than the instruments they possessed and the hearts in the band members that made them play with the intensity that they did. If you got the chance to see this band live, then you saw one of the treasures that very few in the scene truly appreciated.

Recommended Listens:
"I Love The Way She Said L.A."
"The Only Thing That Matters"
"Those Days You Felt Alive"
"Restraining Order Blues"
"Five Days And Counting"

Recommended If You Like:
Taking Back Sunday
Armor For Sleep
The Promise Ring
Senses Fail
Thursday