El-Ahrairah - Discography (2000-2001)

El-Ahrairah was a screamo band from Richmond, VA that played from fall of 1999 (originally called Sirhan) to autumn 2001.  As a five-piece originally, the band recorded a six song demo in spring of 2000 with Jay and Duncan from Flashbulb Memory at their Mixed Signals "studio" (Duncan's parent's house).  Jay and Duncan recorded a lot of Richmond bands at that time including City of Caterpillar for their demo tape.

 

 The original lineup was:

Brendan Trache - Vox

Jon Zanin - Drums

Ryan McLennan - Bass

Bryan Litchfield and Tyler Dunaway - Guitars

 

Shortly after the first recording the band added second singer Edward Max Fendley.  There were plans in 2001 to release a 7" on Gene Byard's label, Bug Recordings (likely BUG 06), and also a split 10" with The Body.  Sadly neither release ever materialized, but in July the band went back to Mixed Signals to record another demo.

At some point there was indeed another demo recorded after the July 2001 recording but nobody seems to remember when or where.  Most song titles are lost/forgotten.

The band continued to play shows and tour, but by October they were done.  Brendan and Tyler would go on to play together in Stop It!! almost immediately after.  Ryan later played in Wilderness Medicine and went on to start Owsla Records which would release a lot of amazing music from bands like Sinaloa, Life At These Speeds, The Pine, and The Shivering.  Jon Zanin played in a number of other bands before and after El-Ahrairah, but would pass a few years afterwards.  May he rest in peace. 

Special thanks to Jason, Ed, Tyler, Ryan, and Will for helping me piece this together and putting up with my endless questions!  The full (and accurate) discography is currently a work in progress.  Feel free to check out the first demo and July 2001 demo on YouTube:

Policy Of 3 - Discography (1992-1995)

    Policy Of 3 was an emocore/post-hardcore band from New Jersey that existed from 1992-1995, prior to which they went under the name Matter Of Fact from 1989-1992. One member was also in the band Four Hundred Years. Policy of 3 was one of the pioneers of their genre who popularized it for the years to come. Blending the punk energy with radical politics and more complex and varied tempos and instrumentals which became characteristic of "emo". 

    The band released to 7"s, a 12" and posthumously, a 2xCD on Ebullition which contained all of their recorded tracks. Policy Of 3 was also featured on quite a number of compilations along with some of the best bands of their time including Julia, Born Against, Rorschach, Maximilian Colby and more. 

    Policy of 3 has been compared to the sound of other pioneering bands such as Moss Icon, Still Life or Hoover but I think they had a distinct sound that set them apart. With the rapid energy and tension of punk and the more introspective feel characteristic of "emo", they created music that put both their political views and strong passion for making music that mattered on display. A sense of anticipation is felt during their songs as they build from slow and sprawling guitar into crescendos of noise and screams. Their music is mature and refined in a way that not a lot of punk bands can pull off while maintaining that distinct punk energy. It's evident these guys really cared about what they were doing and wanted to make a difference in their music scene which they succeeded in. 

    Interestingly, their name came from Chinese history; from Discogs: "According to liner notes for the band's posthumous Anthology CD, the term "Policy of 3" refers to the ideas of a group of three farmers from China during the late 1930s who, through various nonviolent means, espoused increased power for peasants and independence from the wealthy landowning class."

An Anthology

Matter Of Fact Demo

S/T 7" 1993 (Bloodlink Records)

American Woodworking 7" 1995 (Old Glory Records)

Dead Dog Summer 12" 1993 (Old Glory Records)

An Anthology 2xCD 2005 (Ebullition Records)

The Spirit Of Solitude Compilation 7" 1992 (Yuletide)

Superpowers Compilation cassette 1993 (Troubleman Unlimited)

All The President's Men Compilation 12" 1994 (Old Glory Records)

XXX - Some Ideas Are Poisonous compilation 12" 1995 (Ebullition Records)

Education Compilation 12" 1995 (The Mountain Collective For Independant Artists Ltd.)