Ink & Dagger

from Wikipedia:

Ink & Dagger was a punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active in the 1990s. The two permanent members throughout the band's career were guitarist Don Devore and vocalist Sean Patrick McCabe. Other members included Ashli State, Terry Yerves, Ryan McLaughlin, Joshua Brown, Jennifer Park and Eric Wareheim. Band members frequently incorporated references to vampires in their music, painted their faces, and played with fake blood. Some members were previously in Crud is a Cult, The Mandela Strike Force and Frail.

On-stage theatrics

On one occasion, the band vomited on Christmas trees on stage. McCabe was also infamous for egging Hare Krishna devotees and throwing yogurt at Earth Crisis.

Influence

An example of their influence can be seen on the record The Fine Art of Original Sin which featured several tracks breaking completely from established norms of post-hardcore, incorporating aspects of techno, or drum and bass music.

Initially the band had a post-hardcore sound akin to Swiz and DC-focused rhythms, Ink & Dagger grew to be a popular band in Philadelphia. Additionally, the influences of past emotional hardcore band Frail can still be heard in the yelps and falsettos on Ink & Dagger's 7"s.

Known members

Sean McCabe – vocals, programmingDon Devore – guitar, programmingAshli State – bassTerrance Yerves – drumsEric Wareheim – bassJorge Gonzalez – guitarDavid Wagenschutz – drumsJoshua Brown – bass, backing vocalsRyan McLaughlin – drumsJennifer Park – additional vocalsChris Tropea (T-Rope) – lights, roadieGeoff Rickly - vocals

After the group's demise

In 1999, Ink & Dagger formally announced that they were disbanding. Shortly after recording what was to be the band's final album, singer Sean Patrick McCabe was found dead in a motel room in Indiana in 2000, at age 27. The final and self-titled album was released on Buddyhead Records with a picture of a young Sean in a vampire costume featured in the CD booklet.

Don Devore currently plays bass in Amazing Baby, and also plays in Souls She Said, a band consisting of him and Joe Cardamone from the Icarus Line. Also, during the band Refused's final tour Don played bass during their American shows.

Joshua Brown went on to play in Lenola and Like A Fox. He currently plays bass in The Midnight Sounds.

Terry Yerves put playing music aside for a bit to focus more on sound engineering in both the recording studio as well as live concert sound. He is currently residing in San Francisco, managing the audio dept at The Independent and playing drums in new project called Sporting Life.

Microsoft Xbox videogame Amped uses three songs from The Fine Art of Original Sin. In 2005, former drummer Ryan McLaughlin sued Microsoft, claiming that they were used without the band's knowledge. The suit was settled out of court in 2006.

Reunion with Geoff Rickly (2010–2011)

In August 2010, Ink & Dagger headlined the 2010 This Is Hardcore festival. Geoff Rickly of Thursday fame sang for this show. All of Ink & Dagger's profits earned from tickets and merchandise at This Is Hardcore benefited Maks Zielanski, a child diagnosed with cancer. Maks is the son of Ed Zielanski who was a member of Crud Is a Cult and Flagman. Ink & Dagger also played a small number of additional shows in Brooklyn, LA and Philadelphia. Rickly's vocals were generally warmly received as a replacement for McCabe. Jon Reiss of New York Press commented, "The band seemed pretty tight and the choice of Rickly for a singer worked about eighty percent of the time. It's impossible to replace a front man so dynamic as McCabe." Ink & Dagger also toured the UK with Rickly in January 2011.

The brief reunion lead to the creation of a new band called Cut Throat Tactics featuring members of Ink & Dagger, Thursday, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Cut Throat Tactics will begin work on their debut album once all of the members finish work with their primary bands have finished touring.