F.O.N.

In 1998 a poppy punk ensemble called F.o.N. assembled, its roster exceeding seven players with two assigned to vocals. Still teenagers, the members recorded the Freak of Nature demo and issued Hooked on FoNIX before year’s end. Festival appearances followed at Van’s Warped Tour and Woodstock ’99, where drummer Ilan Rubin—already in the band at age seven—earned notice for his precocious skill. A return to the studio in 2001 produced material first slated as “FoNopoly,” yet Hasbro Toys dispatched costly attorneys who confiscated every piece of related artwork and merchandise upon recognizing the Monopoly parody on the cover. The project was retitled Cease and Desist: The EP Formerly Known as “FoNopoly,” though Hasbro continued to seek “monetary compensation.” The band rejected the claim, pointing out that no copies had ever been pressed, and cheekily asked whether the sum could be settled in Monopoly currency. Their second Van’s Warped Tour run in summer 2002 occurred after Hasbro quietly dropped its pursuit. Later that season Doc Hollywood Records placed the second full-length album, Adventures in Boredom, in stores.