Kingface

Formed in 1985, King Face put the rock back in punk rock in Washington, D.C.'s hardcore punk scene. The group combined the emotionalism and highly melodic punk style of D.C. contemporaries Scream and Dag Nasty with the hard rock swagger of Van Halen, circa David Lee Roth. The culmination of these two different styles along with singer Mark Sullivan's soulful crooning and bluesy harmonica jams, not to mention the group's tight musicianship made it easy to see why King Face stood out amongst the rest of the D.C. punk music scene. The dread-locked and highly charismatic Sullivan penned lyrics that were a departure from the political message common with most D.C. punk groups at the time in favor of a more poetic and philosophical prose that was in a class of it's own. Guitarist Patrick Bobst had a real flair for laying down flanger-laden riffs that again evoked the spirit of Van Halen in their prime. While bassist Andrew Rapoport and Drummer Larry Colbert anchored down the group's melodic high-energy sound. The band recorded their first self-titled debut album in April of 1986, which was produced by Ian Mackaye at Inner Ear studios and released by the band itself. In 1989 the group released their second album Everywhere You Look on the Dutch punk label Konkurrel. Shortly there after the band called it quits. Then in 1995 King Face, in conjunction with Dischord Records, compiled and released a self-titled anthology, which included previously unreleased and compilation tracks. The fall of 1996 saw the return King Face in the form of a string of reunion shows in their hometown of D.C. as well as in New York City. ~ Rick Kutner, All Music Guide