Suicide Machines

The Suicide Machines came howling out of Detroit in March 1991 with Jason Navarro screaming up front, and whatever else changed over the years, and plenty did, he never gave up the mic. The early records mashed punk, ska and hardcore into one sweaty, skanking pileup, ska-core at its most frantic, and Destruction by Definition in 1996 gave rock radio the jittery "No Face".

Behind Navarro the lineup was a revolving door: Dan Lukacinsky held down guitar and backing vocals until 2006, Derek Grant and later Ryan Vandeberghe manned the drums, and Royce Nunley and then Rich Tschirhart took the bass. The self-titled album of 2000 delivered "Sometimes I Don't Mind" and "I Never Promised You A Rose Garden", and after a short detour toward friendlier radio sounds the band swung right back to the upstroke and the fury, now with harder hardcore edges and politics worn on the sleeve.

Seven full-length albums in, spread across Hollywood, Side One Dummy and Fat Wreck Chords, they earned their name the old-fashioned way: on the road, again and again on the Warped Tour and Riot Fest, and every year at home with their Black Christmas festivals.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.