Avail

From Punkopedia - The Punk, Hardcore, and Indie Encyclopedia

Avail

Music genre(s)	Rock, Hardcore
Homebase	Richmond, VA
Years active
Current Status	On Break
Notable Records	Dixie, Front Proch Stories
Label(s)	Fat
Website	Avail

Avail hails from Richmond, VA. They play fast rock and roll somewhere between punk, hardcore, and country. They are one of the most influencial punk/hardcore bands of the 90's.

1 History
2 Discography
3 Members
4 Other Projects
5 Links

[edit] History

Flashback to the late 1980s: Avail is just getting out of the garage. They're living in an outer suburb of Washington, D.C., 90 miles north of Richmond. Founding member Joe Banks is on guitar, Barry is playing drums, Beau Beau is driving the band to gigs --and dancing like a Ritalin kid -- while a couple of other long-gone dudes round out the picture. The fabled D.C. hardcore scene is factionalizing. Ian MacKaye and the old guard are fusing rock and funk and reggae with powerchord punk, and people are calling it "emo." Meanwhile, across town, a new generation of straight edge kids are throwing all-day mosh-a-thons. At the same time, a huge thrash metal scene is going on and punks are going crazy for Slayer and Nuclear Assault. The Avail guys are into all of it -- and even end up playing shows for all three sub-scenes.

In 1990, the band gave up on the D.C. area, moving into a low-rent, 100-year-old brick rowhouse in Richmond and regrouping with Barry on vocals. From there, Avail got serious about world domination, touring relentlessly and releasing four acclaimed studio albums (Satiate, Dixie, 4 A.M. Friday, and Over the James) for Lookout Records, before recording One Wrench for Fat Wreck Chords. In addition to veterans Barry, Beau, and Banks, the current lineup consists of bassist/surfer/Bob Villa-wannabe Gwomper and drummer/mural painter Ed Trask. Songwise, it's pretty much classic Avail. The tunes go from Ramonesy ("Done Reckoning") to chugga chugga ("Gravel to Dirt") to anthemic ("East on Main.") "I'm really happy with it, which is an odd thing, 'cause there's usually three or four tracks I hate," jokes Beau Beau. The fellows say they just wanted to make a record they liked -- and didn't give a fuck what anybody else thought. Chances are, though, that plenty of other people will dig it, because, at a time when the airwaves are clogged with get-rich-quick emo bands full of phoney angst, Front Porch Stories is an authentic offering from an honest band.