The World/Inferno Friendship Society
Encyclopedia
The World/Inferno Friendship Society (also known as "World Inferno" or "The Inferno") is a band from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Its style merges punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

, klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

 and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, while its collective
Musical collective
Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared. Such entities have transitioned from the traditional hierarchical configuration that features either a frontman , or a plurality of band members in tension for...

 membership features horns
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...

, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and guitar. The ensemble has over 30 members, including a former member of Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart....

. About nine or ten members usually perform at a time. The group is led by singer Jack Terricloth, who has been the most constant member during the group's history. Terricloth is known for his pointed commentary during shows; his monologues have touched on politics and his transformation from the "old school".

Its lyrics often concern historical or biographical subjects, such as Weimar-era
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...

 Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...

, Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club...

 of The Gun Club, Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...

, Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...

, Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...

, Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...

, and Jonathan Fire*Eater. Other songs deal with many aspects of life. One composition is a three-song cycle about love and loss in a temporary autonomous zone
Temporary Autonomous Zone
T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism is a book by anarchist writer Hakim Bey published in 1991 by Autonomedia...

, which appears on the 2002 album Just the Best Party
Just the Best Party
Just the Best Party is the second studio album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society. It was released on April 2, 2002 on Gern Blandsten Records. It is referred to by the band as 'Inferno #8', as it is the eighth release of new material by the band...

. The lyric pattern and subject matter of the song cycle are similar to The Wild Party
The Wild Party (poem)
The Wild Party is a narrative poem. Written in the classical epic style, it is Joseph Moncure March's first published work.Upon its 1928 publication, the poem was widely banned, first in Boston, for having content viewed as wild as the titular party...

.

Hallowmas

The World/Inferno Friendship Society's annual Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 show, Hallowmas
All Saints
All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...

, is its most-anticipated performance of the year. The event is known for its elaborate planning and surprises. Past Hallowmases have included a burning effigy of Mr. Terricloth constructed and set alight by a large, caustic cat; an ethereal string quartet
Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music is a composer/performer collective founded in New York City in 2001. The group started as a one-off concert organized by Franz Nicolay of world premieres of works by William Brittelle, Jason Freeman, Dan Lasaga, Franz Nicolay, and John Wriggle at Columbia University's Philosophy...

 performing throughout the evening in the rear of the hall; circus performances and fire breathing
Fire breathing
Fire breathing is the act of creating a fireball by breathing a fine mist of fuel over an open flame. Proper technique and the correct fuel create the illusion of danger to enhance the novelty of fire breathing, while reducing the risk to health and safety...

 by the Odd Child Uprising troupe and a cadaverous marching band materializing on stage for the finale, "Pumpkin Time". The song (performed only at Hallowmas shows) includes street rallies, and references The Great Pumpkin
The Great Pumpkin
The Great Pumpkin is an imaginary character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.The Great Pumpkin is a holiday figure that seems to exist only in the imagination of Linus van Pelt. Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear...

 from the Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

comic strip.

Personnel

Active members
Name Instrument(s) Years Other groups
Jack Terricloth  Lead vocals, guitar 1996- Sticks and Stones
Sandra Malak  Bass, backing vocals 2006- SHLSHKD
Matthew Landis Piano, backing vocals 2008- The Minor Arcana
Frank Morin Guitar 2010-
Leslie Wacker Alto saxophone 2010- Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, Black Bear Combo, Blackberry Wood, Environmental Encroachment
Mora Precarious Drums 2010- Ketman, Trabants
Rebecca Schlappich Viola 2010- Kiss Kiss
Kiss Kiss (band)
Kiss Kiss is an indie rock band formed by Joshua Benash and Jared Karns . Although their music is primarily indie in style, it also includes an electric violin that adds an orchestral sound to many songs.- History :...


Alumni
Name Instrument(s) Years Other groups
Peter Hess Tenor saxophone, clarinet 1998-2011 Guignol, Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music is a composer/performer collective founded in New York City in 2001. The group started as a one-off concert organized by Franz Nicolay of world premieres of works by William Brittelle, Jason Freeman, Dan Lasaga, Franz Nicolay, and John Wriggle at Columbia University's Philosophy...

, Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box
Balkan Beat Box is an Israeli musical group founded by Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef . As a musical project they often cooperate with a host of other musicians both in the studio as well as live...

, Capital M, The Peter Hess Quartet
Ken Thomson Baritone Saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

 
2005-2011 Gutbucket, Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music is a composer/performer collective founded in New York City in 2001. The group started as a one-off concert organized by Franz Nicolay of world premieres of works by William Brittelle, Jason Freeman, Dan Lasaga, Franz Nicolay, and John Wriggle at Columbia University's Philosophy...

, Signal
Signal (band)
-Members:*Yordan Karadzhov - vocals, bass guitar*Vladimir Zahariev - drums*Alexander Marinovsky - guitar*Georgi Yanakiev - bass guitar-Discography:...

Raja Azar Piano, backing vocals Jollyship the Whiz-Bang
Benjamin Kotch Drums 1997–2007, 2010 Eve's Plum
Eve's Plum
Eve's Plum was a New York City-based alternative rock band who recorded in the 1990s. The band was fronted by Colleen Fitzpatrick. Eve's Plum released two albums and numerous singles on 550/EpicRecords, before breaking up in 1998.- Forming :...

Lucky Strano Guitar 1996-2010 Morning Glory, Sewage, Devastation Wagon
Maura Corrigan Alto saxophone 1998-2010 Georgia Redcoat Marching Band
Georgia Redcoat Marching Band
The Georgia Redcoat Marching Band is a college marching band formed in 1905.-History:The Redcoat Marching Band was started in 1905 as a division of the UGA Military Department. It started as 20 military cadets and has grown to include over 400 University students. Their first performance as a...

, Mod Alpert
Brian Viglione
Brian Viglione
Brian Viglione is the drummer for The Dresden Dolls. Additionally, he was a prominent member of New York City's cabaret punk orchestra, The WORLD/INFERNO Friendship Society...

 
Drums The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione...

, Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...

, HUMANWINE
H.U.M.A.N.W.I.N.E.
H.U.M.A.N.W.I.N.E. is a band based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Their name is an acronym of the phrase, "Humans Underground Making Anagrams Nightly While Imperial Not-Mes Enslave". This is a reference to the subtly-coded lyrics that comprise most of their songs...

Kevin Raczka Drums Jollyship The Whiz-Bang, Hungry March Band
Hungry March Band
The Hungry March Band is a brass band with approximately 15 active musicians and performers. In performance, the group's size can vary from five to fifty: from an intimate quintet to a giant entourage of musicians, dancers, baton twirlers, hula hoopers, and second-liners...

Ara Babajian
Ara Babajian
Ara Babajian is an American drummer who has been a member of such bands as Leftöver Crack and The Slackers. Ara is of Armenian descent, and is named after Ara, an Armenian king....

 
Drums Leftöver Crack
Leftöver Crack
Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...

, The Slackers
The Slackers
The Slackers are a New York City band, formed in Brooklyn in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz...

, Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters is a punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs!-Initial formation...

Semra Ercin Percussion, bells, backing vocals Chandeliers, kiss Slash Crooked Smile, Casa de Chihuahua, Kid Casanova
Franz Nicolay
Franz Nicolay
Franz Nicolay is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is perhaps best known for playing the accordion and the piano in The World/Inferno Friendship Society and playing keyboards in The Hold Steady from 2005 to 2010...

 
Accordion, piano, backing vocals Guignol, The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady
The Hold Steady is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2004. The band consists of Craig Finn , Tad Kubler , Galen Polivka , Bobby Drake , and Steve Selvidge...

, Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music
Anti-Social Music is a composer/performer collective founded in New York City in 2001. The group started as a one-off concert organized by Franz Nicolay of world premieres of works by William Brittelle, Jason Freeman, Dan Lasaga, Franz Nicolay, and John Wriggle at Columbia University's Philosophy...

, Against Me!
Against Me!
Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida and relocated to Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records,...

Yula Beeri
Yula Beeri
Yula Beeri, born Yuli Yael Be'eri, is an Israeli composer, musician, and performer. She has been performing music in New York City for the past ten years....

 
Electric bass, backing vocals 1999-2006 Nanuchka
Nanuchka
`Nanuchka is a New York City based group composed of bassist Yula Be’eri , guitarist Roy Gurel, and drummer Shlomi Lavie. Their ever-changing sound is greatly eclectic. Yula’s voice, compared to that of an “angry Kate Bush,” soars over both surf-rock guitars and soothing mandola melodies alike...

, Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters
Star Fucking Hipsters is a punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands including Leftöver Crack, Ensign, and The Ergs!-Initial formation...

, Yula & the eXtended Family
Karen Kanan Correa Bass, backing vocals, viola 2005-2006 Demander
Gina Rodriguez (Moist Gina) Electric bass, backing vocals April–May 2005 Moisturizer
Erik Proft Bass 2007 Planned Collapse, Kama Rupa
Steve Paelet Electric bass 2002
Dan Bailey Baritone saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

 
1998-2005 Milk Money, The Grown-Ups, The Panic, The Maspeth Holders
Kevin Corzett Tenor saxophone 2007-2008 Reverend Glasseye, Ketman
Ketman
Kitman is the act of paying lip service to authority while holding personal opposition. It is a sort of political or religious camouflage, for the purpose of survival, in circumstances where open opposition would result in persecution...

John Moore Baritone saxophone 1997-1998
Max Bank Jazz flute 1999-2009
Brian Pearl Piano 2000-2001 Matt Pond PA
Matt Pond PA
Matt Pond PA is a New York based band formed in Philadelphia by singer-songwriter Matt Pond. They have released eight LPs and eight EPs since 1998....

Scott Hollingsworth Piano 1996-2000 Sticks and Stones, Product
Ms. Xtal Chaos Tuba 1996-1998
Detroit Rios Percussion 1997-1998
Stephe Polier Tenor saxophone 1997-1999
Geoff Blythe Tenor saxophone 1999 Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners
Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart....

, The Bureau
The Bureau
The Bureau were a New Wave soul group formed in late 1980 in Birmingham, England, when the original lineup of Dexys Midnight Runners split-up....

, Black 47
Black 47
Black 47 are a New York City based celtic rock band with Irish Republican sympathies, whose music also shows influence from reggae, hip hop, folk and jazz...

, The TKO Horns
The TKO Horns
The TKO Horns were horn section formed in 1982 when Big Jim Paterson , Paul Speare and Brian Maurice left Dexys Midnight Runners. After a brief spell touring with Paul Young's Q Tips they began performing on a regular basis with Elvis Costello...

Sam Burns Tenor Saxophone 1999-2000
Rio Glenn (Rio No ABC) Backing Vocals 1999-2000
Kika Von Kluck Backing vocals 1997-1998
Sioux Kovax Backing vocals 1996-1997 (graphics, 1994-2003)
Mike Wagner Trombone 1999 Antibalas
Klaus Schank Trombone 1998 Scrapy
Lauren Black Trumpet 1997-1999 Kenn Firpo Rent Explosion, 1,000 Pounds of People
David Patrikios Marimba, banjo 1997-1999 Serpico, Milhouse, Greensleep, The Realistics, The Flying Aces
Chris Leo Trombone 1997 The Van Pelt, The Sin Eaters, The Lapse, Native Nod
Native Nod
Native Nod were an emo band formed in the early 90's based in the New York / New Jersey area where they'd often play shows. In their short lifetime as a band they only released 9 songs, divided amongst the 3 seven inch EPs Bread, Answers, and Lower GI Bleed...

Dan Neustadt Piano, backing vocals The Hold Steady
Jon Gilch Drums Sticks and Stones

Albums

  • The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League
    The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League
    The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League is the first album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society. It is referred to by the band as 'Inferno #4', as it is their fourth release. It is a musical, telling the story of a gang of New Jersey youths who would steal cars by astral projection...

    - 1997
  • Just the Best Party
    Just the Best Party
    Just the Best Party is the second studio album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society. It was released on April 2, 2002 on Gern Blandsten Records. It is referred to by the band as 'Inferno #8', as it is the eighth release of new material by the band...

    - 2002
  • Red-Eyed Soul
    Red-Eyed Soul
    Red-Eyed Soul is the third full-length album from The World/Inferno Friendship Society, a punk band from Brooklyn. The vinyl double-LP contains three extra songs.-Track listing:#Brother of the Mayor of Bridgewater#The Velocity of Love#Your Younger Man...

    - 2006
  • Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century
    Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century
    Addicted to Bad Ideas is the fifth album by The World/Inferno Friendship Society, and their second for Chunksaah Records. Subtitled "Peter Lorre's Twentieth Century", the release is a concept album inspired by the life and films of actor Peter Lorre....

    - 2007
  • The Anarchy and the Ecstasy
    The Anarchy and the Ecstasy
    The Anarchy and the Ecstasy is an album released by the World/Inferno Friendship Society on March 15th, 2011. It is their fifth full length album. Three members left the group between the previous release and Anarchy....

    - 2011

Live/Compilation albums


Singles

  • "Tattoos Fade" b/w "Nothing You Begin" –1994, Blue Ghost Records ("Tattoos Fade" was re-released on the East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today! compilation)
  • "The Models and the Mannequins" b/w "Glamour Ghouls" – 1996, Gern Blandsten Records
    Gern Blandsten Records
    Gern Blandsten Records is an independent record label based in River Edge, New Jersey.The label's acts have included The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Canyon, Chisel, the Van Pelt, Radio 4, The Flesh, and Rye Coalition...

     (both re-released on the East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today! compilation)
  • "Our Candidate" b/w "All Of California And Everyone Who Lives There Stinks" – 1996, Gern Blandsten (both re-released on the East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today! compilation)
  • "Pumpkin Time" b/w "Ich Errinere Mich An Weimar" – 1999, Gern Blandsten (both re-released on the East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today! compilation)
  • "I Wouldn't Want to Live in a World without Grudges" b/w "All the World is a Stage (Dive)" – 2000, X-Mist Records (both re-recorded for Just the Best Party)
  • Hallowmas 2010 – 2010, Chunksaah Records (7" disc distributed at Hallowmas 2010, featuring "Canonize Philip K. Dick, OK")

EPs

  • International Smashism! - 2001
  • Speak of Brave Men - 2004
  • Me v. Angry Mob - 2005
  • Vox Inferne - 2010

Unreleased demos

  • A Demonstrational Introduction To The Astral Plane - 1996-1997
  • Powder Waves Goodbye Sessions - 2000
  • A Lexicon of Friends & Enemies - 2004
  • The New Americana Demos - 2008
  • 3 Ring Brain and a Circus Heart - 2010

Other appearances

  • CMJ New Music April 1997: Compilation with CMJ magazine, featuring "Our Candidate"
  • Achtung Autobahn (2000): Benefit compilation featuring "Peter Lorre"
  • Against Police Injustice (2003): Compilation featuring "Secret Service Freedom Fighting USA"
  • Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1
    Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1
    Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 is a Rock Against Bush compilation album released on the Fat Wreck Chords record label. It contains a collection of songs, both released and unreleased, by various punk rock artists and includes a bonus DVD with political facts, commentary regarding the U.S...

    (2004): Compilation featuring "The Expatriate Act"
  • Fuck World Trade
    Fuck World Trade
    Fuck World Trade is an album by American punk band Leftöver Crack, released in 2004 on the Alternative Tentacles label.The album continues the band's self-defined status as anti-racist, anti-misogynist, anti-capitalist, and anarcho-communist. It also contains references to the fact that their first...

    (2004): Album by Leftover Crack
    Leftöver Crack
    Leftöver Crack is an American punk rock band formed in 1998, following the breakup of the ska punk band Choking Victim. Primarily playing an amalgam of ska and hardcore punk, they classify themselves as "crack-rocksteady". The band is currently signed to Fat Wreck Chords for CD releases, and...

    with "Soon We'll Be Dead"
  • Go-Kart vs. The Corporate Giant 4 (2006): Compilation featuring a live version of "Tattoos Fade"

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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