Hell Is For Heroes

In London, England, during 2000, guitarists Will McGonagle and drummer Joe Birch launched the post-hardcore rock outfit Hell Is For Heroes once their prior group, the heavily promoted yet disappointing Symposium, dissolved. Justin Schlosberg on vocals, Tom O’Donohue on guitar, and James Finlay on bass completed the lineup. The five-piece adopted its title from the 1962 war film that featured Steve McQueen. Through Superior Quality Recordings they issued the limited-edition double a-side “Sick/Happy”/“Cut Down” in June 2001 and soon afterward secured a deal with Chrysalis Records.

The musicians traveled to Los Angeles to track their first album, whose distinctive title originated in a Birch-coined expression for the city’s superficial scene. Several months of postponement followed, allowing fellow UK rock revivalists Hundred Reasons to eclipse some of Hell Is For Heroes’ momentum with their own widely praised debut. When The Neon Handshake finally appeared in February 2003 it earned consistently strong notices. The clip for the single “You Drove Me To It” became the first promotional video to employ “red dot” digital interactive television technology.

Creative differences with Chrysalis led the band to exit the major label in 2004. They proceeded to finish a second album, Transmit Disrupt, which surfaced the next year on Schlosberg’s Captains Of Industry imprint.