The National Honor Society crafts a retro-fitted sonic palette rooted in 1980s influences that blend moody post-punk, propulsive dance-rock, and expansive dream pop. Following their introductory 2017 EP and the 2020 full-length To All the Glory We Never Had—both shaped more by Britpop and swirling 1990s textures—the group leaned further into adjacent 1980s palettes on 2023’s To All the Distance Between Us.
Established in Seattle, Washington, in 2017 by singer/guitarist Coulter Leslie with former Turn-Ons members Erik Blood (bassist/producer) and Will Hallauer (drummer), plus Alina To on strings, the National Honor Society released their debut EP, All Change, that August. Their first album, To All the Glory We Never Had, surfaced in May 2020 and continued to obscure their American origins via a pronounced British aesthetic drawn from 1980s and 1990s college rock, dream pop, and Britpop sources. Produced by Blood, the record presented a reconfigured lineup still fronted by Leslie, now featuring Andrew Gaskin on bass guitar, Jerry Peerson on lead guitar and backing vocals, and Hallauer and To resuming drums and strings; Arthur Anderson added cello. It appeared in a limited CD edition on Spanish indie pop label Kocliko Records.
When the band resurfaced with the follow-up, the revitalized To All the Distance Between Us, in April 2023, the emphasis turned toward a more committed 1980s approach at a lush intersection of post-punk, dance-rock, and dream pop. Again produced by Blood, the set featured the central foursome without strings. Preserving their habit of placing tinted vintage photo portraits on the artwork, reminiscent of the Smiths, it emerged as a co-release from Shelflife (Portland, Oregon) and Discos de Kirlian (Barcelona, Spain), with Subjangle (Pretoria, South Africa) managing the CD edition.
