Taking Back Sunday

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Hometown:: Long Island, New York, United States
Founded:: 1999
Genre:: Alternative
Label(s):: Warner Brothers Records
Victory Records

Website:

http://www.takingbacksunday.com/

Members:

Adam Lazarra (Lead Vocals) [(2001-Present)]
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John Nolan (Guitar/Keyboard/Backing Vocals) [(1999-2003)(2010-Present)]
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Eddie Reyes (Guitar) [(1999-Present)]
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Shaun Cooper (Bass) [(2001-2003)(2010-Present)]
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Mark O'Connell (Drums) [(2001-Present)]
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FORMER Members:

Jesse Lacey (Bass/Backing Vocals) [(1999-2001)]
Steven DeJoseph (Drums) [(1999-2001)]
Antonio Longo (Lead Vocals) [(1999-2001)]
Fred Mascherino (Guitar/Backing Vocals) [(2003-2007)]
Matthew Fazzi (Guitar/Backing Vocals) [(2008-2010)]
Matt Rubano (Bass/Backing Vocals) [(2003-2010)]
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Biography

As one of the leading lights of America’s contemporary punk scene, Taking Back Sunday have experienced career highs and lows usually found in bands who have been around twice as long. TBS were formed in Amityville, Long Island, New York, by guitarists John Nolan and Eddie Reyes (formerly of the Movielife) in 1999, beginning with a lineup including vocalist Antonio Longo, bassist Jesse Lacey and drummer Steven DeJoseph. In 2001, Lacey left the band to form Brand New and was replaced by North Carolina native Adam Lazzara. When it came time for the band to record what would be their first album, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends, Longo was fired; Lazzara moved into the frontman spot while Shaun Cooper took over on bass; and Mark O’Connell assumed drumming duties. Issued by Victory Records, Friendswas a defining album for the band, as well as a talisman for America’s emo universe, featuring such bona fide scene-staples as "Cute Without The E (Cut From The Team)," and "You’re So Last Summer."

While the success of the album and the band’s touring schedule certainly created an ardent fanbase, social dynamics within the band began to go awry. In 2003, Nolan and Cooper left to form Straylight Run. Despite one of their main songwriters leaving, TBS carried on, enlisting guitarist Fred Mascherino (formerly of Breaking Pangaea) and Matt Rubano, a bassist whose resume included session work with the likes of Lauryn Hill and Macy Gray. The new lineup’s debut, 2004’s gold-certified Where You Want To Be, was a rejuvenating shot for the band, as well as a psychic middle finger to all of the skeptics who thought Taking Back Sunday were finished.

The success of the album put the band squarely on the major-label radar: TBS signed with Warner Bros. in 2005, and released Louder Now the following year. A noted departure from the band’s emo roots,Louder Now contained the pop hooks the band were known for, while making significant achievements in their songwriting prowess. (It is also the band’s best-selling record, having moved close to 1 million copies.) While both fans and critics were waiting to hear what TBS would deliver on their fourth time out, Mascherino announced he was leaving the band to start his own unit, the Color Fred. His replacement was Matt Fazzi, guitarist from Facing New York, whose 2005 self-titled debut was a huge favorite among the members of TBS. Album number No. 4 had the telling title New Again, signifying both a fresh new direction. The album featured some of the band’s best work, especially the title track and “Sink Into Me.”

Then, in late March 2010—in a move that no one expected—it was confirmed that after many talks (“negotiations” is such a corporate term), Rubano and Fazzi were “let go” from Taking Back Sunday to make room for the return of Nolan and Cooper to the ranks, thereby reuniting the band’s “classic” lineup. The news was relished by longtime TBS fans, and the band members themselves were happy that whatever recriminations they may have had toward each other now belonged completely in the past. “Everything has been in the spirit of why we wanted to start a band in the first place and why we made music together at all,” Lazzara told AP when news of the reunion became public. “Together, the five of us really believe in what [we] can do. I want to be happy doing what I'm doing and proud of it. If doing this is going to allow me to feel that, then I don't care what anybody says.”