Biography
Lyres ranked among New England's foundational underground rock outfits, channeling the essence of 1960s garage rock well before such retro moves gained traction, with their compact yet high-energy approach holding steady despite repeated personnel shifts across more than forty years. Vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and driving force Jeff Conolly—better known as Monoman—originated the group and shaped its organ-driven approach while delivering countless high-intensity performances, generating a powerful din through his keyboard assaults, unhinged vocal delivery, and tambourine accents whenever momentum flagged. The band launched in 1979 right after Conolly's earlier project DMZ dissolved, swiftly establishing themselves as regulars in Boston's rock circuit and emerging as central figures in the 1980s garage revival thanks to the albums On Fyre (1984) and Lyres Lyres (1986). Though the decade that followed brought reduced national visibility for many in that scene, Lyres retained loyal support in their home state of Massachusetts and kept releasing material and playing shows into the 2010s.
Conolly earned the nickname Monoman partly through his preference for monophonic recordings from the 1960s and partly through his single-minded fixation on classic rock & roll. Born in Albany, New York, he relocated with his family to a town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age five and then moved again at age ten to Darien, Connecticut. By the time he settled in Darien, Conolly had already started playing keyboards and formed an affinity for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. During his teenage years he connected with like-minded musical peers and considered attending music school, yet his parents steered him elsewhere. In 1976 he entered Boston University but soon left to pursue rock & roll full-time. While at BU he befriended Adam Schwartz, who was then singing in DMZ, a band whose raw 1960s influences mixed with the velocity and spirit of the rising punk movement. Conolly caught DMZ at a party and appreciated their sound, but Schwartz soon departed the lineup for coming across as overly polished. Conolly seized the chance, stepped in as lead singer, and added electric piano. DMZ, which briefly included David Robinson on drums before he joined the Cars, issued an EP on the respected independent label Bomp! Records in 1977, after which Sire Records extended a major-label contract. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles and Flo & Eddie and released in May 1978, failed to convey the full force of their live sets, and DMZ disbanded by the close of that year.
Refusing to quit, Conolly introduced the initial Lyres lineup in January 1979. The new group diverged from DMZ in modest yet meaningful respects: they dialed down the 1970s punk edges in favor of 1960s-style songs, Conolly switched from piano to a Vox Continental organ, and the band employed a single guitarist rather than two. Early performances featured the last DMZ rhythm section of Rick Coraccio on bass and Paul Murphy on drums alongside Rick Carmel on guitar. This configuration recorded the debut Lyres single, “How Do You Know” b/w “Don't Give It Up Now,” for Sounds Interesting Records, and selections from one of their shows later surfaced on the 1987 album Live at Cantones. By August 1979 the lineup had fractured, prompting Conolly to enlist guitarist Alex Kronos, bassist Scott Parmenter, and drummer Bob Mackenzie for subsequent gigs. Additional players cycled through before mid-1980, when Conolly joined forces with Peter Greenberg on guitar, Mike Lewis on bass, and Howie Ferguson on drums. That edition cut the first Lyres release for Boston's Ace of Hearts Records, the four-song EP AHS-1005 issued in 1981 (sometimes referred to by fans as “Buried Alive” after its opening track). The EP drew outside interest, followed in 1983 by the single “I Really Want You Right Now” b/w “Help You Ann.” By January 1983 that configuration had ended—Greenberg later joined Barrence Whitfield & the Savages while Mike Lewis played in an early version of Yo La Tengo—and Dan McCormack took over on guitar as the original rhythm section of Rick Coraccio and Paul Murphy returned. These four musicians recorded the band's first full-length album, 1984's On Fyre, a potent collection containing five originals and five covers that sounded cohesive enough to blur distinctions between the two categories. The record received strong reviews and solid independent sales, and this lineup remained intact until early 1986, an extended tenure by Lyres standards.
Once Johnny Bernardo replaced Paul Murphy on drums, Lyres entered the studio for their second album, Lyres Lyres, released by Ace of Hearts in 1986. A more reflective effort than the debut and containing more Conolly originals, it again performed well, leading the band to tour extensively across North America. 1988 brought their third album, A Promise Is a Promise, which featured guest contributions from Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church and Wally Tax of Dutch beat-era heroes the Outsiders. That record showcased yet another lineup—Conolly, Murphy, Jack Hickey on guitar, and Matt Milkos on bass—which performed in North America and Europe; in 1988 they also recorded a version of Love's “Signed D.C.” for an Arthur Lee tribute album, with Judd Williams on drums. In 1989 Conolly grew weary of Boston and relocated to San Diego, California, where he assembled a fresh Lyres edition using three members of the Nashville Ramblers: guitarist Carl Rusk, bassist Tom Ward, and drummer Ron Silva. By 1991 Conolly had returned to Boston and reconstituted Lyres with three prior members—Ricky Carmel on guitar, Rick Coraccio on bass, and Paul Murphy on drums. This group recorded the 1993 album Happy Now for Boston's Taang! label, which had earlier issued the odds-and-ends EP Nobody but Lyres in 1992.
From the mid-1990s onward Conolly kept performing with Lyres, frequently alongside Rick Coraccio and Paul Murphy, though recording output narrowed to singles for specialist labels including Telstar, Feathered Apple, and Living Eye. Lyres contributed a version of the Rolling Stones rarity “Now I've Got a Witness” to the Norton Records series of Stones tribute singles, with the B-side featuring the Lyres offshoot the New Conolly Six. A steady flow of reissues and collections of rare material continued to appear: Taang! issued the Some Lyres collection in 1994, Norton Records released Those Lyres in 1995, Matador Records reissued the three Ace of Hearts albums in 1998, and Munster Records put out a box set of eight vinyl singles in 2017 titled Lucky 7. In 2015 Jeff Conolly started work on a new Lyres album and initiated a crowdfunding campaign to fund the sessions. In September 2018 he announced the project had reached its final stages, with concluding recording and mixing slated for late October of that year.
Conolly earned the nickname Monoman partly through his preference for monophonic recordings from the 1960s and partly through his single-minded fixation on classic rock & roll. Born in Albany, New York, he relocated with his family to a town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age five and then moved again at age ten to Darien, Connecticut. By the time he settled in Darien, Conolly had already started playing keyboards and formed an affinity for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. During his teenage years he connected with like-minded musical peers and considered attending music school, yet his parents steered him elsewhere. In 1976 he entered Boston University but soon left to pursue rock & roll full-time. While at BU he befriended Adam Schwartz, who was then singing in DMZ, a band whose raw 1960s influences mixed with the velocity and spirit of the rising punk movement. Conolly caught DMZ at a party and appreciated their sound, but Schwartz soon departed the lineup for coming across as overly polished. Conolly seized the chance, stepped in as lead singer, and added electric piano. DMZ, which briefly included David Robinson on drums before he joined the Cars, issued an EP on the respected independent label Bomp! Records in 1977, after which Sire Records extended a major-label contract. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles and Flo & Eddie and released in May 1978, failed to convey the full force of their live sets, and DMZ disbanded by the close of that year.
Refusing to quit, Conolly introduced the initial Lyres lineup in January 1979. The new group diverged from DMZ in modest yet meaningful respects: they dialed down the 1970s punk edges in favor of 1960s-style songs, Conolly switched from piano to a Vox Continental organ, and the band employed a single guitarist rather than two. Early performances featured the last DMZ rhythm section of Rick Coraccio on bass and Paul Murphy on drums alongside Rick Carmel on guitar. This configuration recorded the debut Lyres single, “How Do You Know” b/w “Don't Give It Up Now,” for Sounds Interesting Records, and selections from one of their shows later surfaced on the 1987 album Live at Cantones. By August 1979 the lineup had fractured, prompting Conolly to enlist guitarist Alex Kronos, bassist Scott Parmenter, and drummer Bob Mackenzie for subsequent gigs. Additional players cycled through before mid-1980, when Conolly joined forces with Peter Greenberg on guitar, Mike Lewis on bass, and Howie Ferguson on drums. That edition cut the first Lyres release for Boston's Ace of Hearts Records, the four-song EP AHS-1005 issued in 1981 (sometimes referred to by fans as “Buried Alive” after its opening track). The EP drew outside interest, followed in 1983 by the single “I Really Want You Right Now” b/w “Help You Ann.” By January 1983 that configuration had ended—Greenberg later joined Barrence Whitfield & the Savages while Mike Lewis played in an early version of Yo La Tengo—and Dan McCormack took over on guitar as the original rhythm section of Rick Coraccio and Paul Murphy returned. These four musicians recorded the band's first full-length album, 1984's On Fyre, a potent collection containing five originals and five covers that sounded cohesive enough to blur distinctions between the two categories. The record received strong reviews and solid independent sales, and this lineup remained intact until early 1986, an extended tenure by Lyres standards.
Once Johnny Bernardo replaced Paul Murphy on drums, Lyres entered the studio for their second album, Lyres Lyres, released by Ace of Hearts in 1986. A more reflective effort than the debut and containing more Conolly originals, it again performed well, leading the band to tour extensively across North America. 1988 brought their third album, A Promise Is a Promise, which featured guest contributions from Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys and Lords of the New Church and Wally Tax of Dutch beat-era heroes the Outsiders. That record showcased yet another lineup—Conolly, Murphy, Jack Hickey on guitar, and Matt Milkos on bass—which performed in North America and Europe; in 1988 they also recorded a version of Love's “Signed D.C.” for an Arthur Lee tribute album, with Judd Williams on drums. In 1989 Conolly grew weary of Boston and relocated to San Diego, California, where he assembled a fresh Lyres edition using three members of the Nashville Ramblers: guitarist Carl Rusk, bassist Tom Ward, and drummer Ron Silva. By 1991 Conolly had returned to Boston and reconstituted Lyres with three prior members—Ricky Carmel on guitar, Rick Coraccio on bass, and Paul Murphy on drums. This group recorded the 1993 album Happy Now for Boston's Taang! label, which had earlier issued the odds-and-ends EP Nobody but Lyres in 1992.
From the mid-1990s onward Conolly kept performing with Lyres, frequently alongside Rick Coraccio and Paul Murphy, though recording output narrowed to singles for specialist labels including Telstar, Feathered Apple, and Living Eye. Lyres contributed a version of the Rolling Stones rarity “Now I've Got a Witness” to the Norton Records series of Stones tribute singles, with the B-side featuring the Lyres offshoot the New Conolly Six. A steady flow of reissues and collections of rare material continued to appear: Taang! issued the Some Lyres collection in 1994, Norton Records released Those Lyres in 1995, Matador Records reissued the three Ace of Hearts albums in 1998, and Munster Records put out a box set of eight vinyl singles in 2017 titled Lucky 7. In 2015 Jeff Conolly started work on a new Lyres album and initiated a crowdfunding campaign to fund the sessions. In September 2018 he announced the project had reached its final stages, with concluding recording and mixing slated for late October of that year.
Albums
Singles
