Strung Out

Strung Out emerged from California in 1989 as a quintet built around vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Jim Cherry, and drummer Adam Austin. Before the group’s first 7" appeared, Jordan Burns had already taken over the drum chair. The band signed to Fat Wreck Chords—run by NOFX bassist Fat Mike—in 1993 and delivered its debut album, Another Day in Paradise, the next year.

Over the ensuing decades the California outfit moved through skate punk, metal, and melodic hardcore while remaining a fixture on the punk circuit. Its early releases, including the 1996 album Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues, delivered rapid-fire hardcore anthems laced with anti-authority themes that gradually drew new-school pop-punk listeners. The 1998 Crossroads & Illusions EP and full-length Twisted by Design pushed the sound further, folding progressive structures and technique-oriented heavy-metal elements into the attack; Fat Wreck Chords also issued the early-material compilation The Skinny Years: Before We Got Fat that same year.

Bassist Jim Cherry departed in 1999 to join Zero Down and Pulley and was replaced by Chris Aiken. The Element of Sonic Defiance EP arrived in 2000, followed in 2002 by An American Paradox, the band’s first Billboard 200 entry and a number-11 success on the Independent Albums chart. Their contribution to the label’s Live in a Dive series appeared in summer 2003, offering 21 tracks whose comic-book artwork was drawn by Cruz. Exile in Oblivion, produced by Matt Hyde of Slayer, came out in November 2004 and included “Swan Dive,” a tribute to Cherry, who had died in July 2002 from a lifelong heart condition. Blackhawks Over Los Angeles followed in June 2007, reaching the Top Five of the Heatseekers chart.

Marking their 20th anniversary in 2009, Strung Out issued the B-side and rarity collection Prototypes and Painkillers alongside Agents of the Underground, their seventh studio album and second Billboard 200 entry, produced by Cameron Webb. After a subsequent hiatus they returned in 2015 with Transmission.Alpha.Delta, their highest-charting release to date. During the recording of the next project, Burns left after twenty-five years; Sean Winchester of Everclear and Buckcherry handled studio duties while Runaway Kids’ RJ Shankle covered live performances. The eight-song acoustic set Black Out the Sky appeared in spring 2018, revealing a more melodic and matured sound. The band then returned to its hardcore foundation with the politically charged Songs of Armor and Devotion in 2019.

Another extended pause followed as the global pandemic unfolded and Cruz completed his third solo album, Wolves, under the name Jason Cruz & Howl in 2023. Shankle exited in 2022, giving way to drummer Daniel Blume. Strung Out’s tenth album, Dead Rebellion, surfaced in 2024 after a five-year absence, favoring a midtempo and introspective approach over the technical density of prior work.