Vic Bondi / Articles of Faith

A Chicago-based hardcore band that took a strong political stance, Articles of Faith were considered one of the vanguards of that Midwestern city's scene and released a handful of highly influential records. Fronted by former protest singer and eventual history instructor Vic Bondi, Articles of Faith first came on the scene in 1981. Their first EP, What We Want Is Free, was released in 1982 and was followed by the Wait EP in 1983 and the LPs Give Thanks (1984) and In This Life (1985), which were both produced by Bob Mould. While their early releases contained a mélange of differing styles, their last release, In This Life, is one of the records credited with kick-starting the emocore sound. The band (Bondi, vocals and guitar, Dave Shield, bass and vocals, Virus-X, drums, Dorian Tajbakhsh, guitar, and Joe Scuderi, guitar) broke up in 1985. Bondi went on to form Alloy and Jones Very, released the EP Fortunate Son in 2003, and appeared in the 2006 documentary American Hardcore. In 2002 punk rock label mainstay Alternative Tentacles released Complete, Vol. 1 and Complete, Vol. 2, a comprehensive anthology of the band's work.