Strung Out Bio

Southern California punkers Strung Out were formed in 1992, with a lineup featuring vocalist Jason Cruz, guitarists Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos, bassist Chris Aiken, and drummer Jordan Burns. The quintet signed with NOFX bassist Fat Mike's Fat Wreck Chords label in 1993, and issued their debut album, Another Day in Paradise, the following year. The band took an artistic leap forward with the 1996 follow-up Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues, which began to build their following among fans of new-school punk-pop. 1998 saw the release of the Crossroads and Illusions EP and the full-length Twisted by Design, a more progressive work which found Strung Out beginning to mix elements of technique-oriented heavy metal into their instrumental attack; in addition, Fat Wreck Chords also issued a set of early Strung Out material titled The Skinny Years...Before We Got Fat. The band returned in 2000 with the EP The Element of Sonic Defiance.