Temecula, CA · post-hardcore · emo

Finch

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'What It Is to Burn'-era post-hardcore, still one of the era's most-loved single records — a title track that remains a scene-wide scream-along.

Finch started in Temecula, California, in 1999 as Numb, with singer Nate Barcalow, guitarist Alex Linares, bassist Derek Doherty and drummer Alex Pappas, all of whom had previously played together in a short-lived band called the HIVs. The group added guitarist Randy Strohmeyer, who brought a connection to Drive-Thru Records boss Richard Reines, and renamed themselves Finch shortly afterward.

A showcase performance for Drive-Thru at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, reportedly in front of 700 people, led to a deal with the label. Finch released the Falling into Place EP in October 2001, then recorded their debut with producer Mark Trombino at Big Fish Studios in Encinitas, California.

The band's 2002 debut, What It Is to Burn, was released jointly by MCA and Drive-Thru Records, with Glassjaw's Daryl Palumbo guesting on two tracks. Built around the singles 'Letters to You' and the title track, it became one of the defining records of that period's American post-hardcore scene, and its closing song still gets sung back wherever the band plays.

The title track reached number 15 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and spent sixteen weeks there, and the band toured heavily through 2002 and 2003 with acts including Brand New, New Found Glory, Something Corporate and Coheed and Cambria, alongside television appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and MTV's Campus Invasion tour.

The follow-up, Say Hello to Sunshine (2005), took a darker, more angular turn that divided listeners at the time, reached the top 30 of the Billboard 200, and has since been reassessed more kindly. After lineup setbacks the band released Back to Oblivion in 2014; Finch have broken up and reformed more than once since, with reunions typically organised around the anniversary of the first record.

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post-hardcoreemo