The Falcon

Although the members never regarded the Falcon in such terms, the Chicago punk rock outfit still operated as a supergroup of sorts, drawing together vocalist/guitarist Brendan Kelly (the Lawrence Arms, Slapstick, the Broadways), bassist Dan Andriano (Alkaline Trio, Slapstick, Tuesday), drummer Neil Hennessy (the Lawrence Arms, Colossal), and guitarist Todd Mohney (Rise Against). Longtime friends, the quartet first coalesced once Kelly had written material that felt ill-suited to his ongoing work with the Lawrence Arms. He discussed forming a new band with Mohney, yet beyond settling on the name the idea stayed dormant for roughly a year. When a bassist was still required, Kelly played the songs for Andriano during a casual visit, prompting an immediate commitment; a subsequent call to Hennessy then locked the lineup in place. The group tracked its energetic debut EP on a shoestring budget and without external assistance, resulting in the December 2004 release of God Don't Make No Trash or Up Your Ass with Broken Glass on Red Scare—the label’s inaugural offering—while also contributing a song to Fat Wreck’s 2005 benefit compilation Protect: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children. Each participant remained occupied with separate projects until the band reconvened to cut its first full-length, Unicornography, issued in late September 2006. Mohney had already departed by that time, leaving the Falcon a trio. The unit stayed largely dormant for the ensuing eight years until reuniting in 2014 to mark Red Scare’s tenth anniversary. That occasion prompted a return to the studio and the completion of the follow-up album Gather Up the Chaps, which surfaced in 2016.