Circa Survive

Philadelphia’s Circa Survive was formed by former Saosin vocalist Anthony Green with guitarist Colin Frangicetto — both of them veterans of the local emo and hardcore scenes looking to indulge in the rule-breaking freedom of the neo-progressive movement of the mid-2000s. After issuing two records through Equal Vision, the band inked a deal with Atlantic and released 2010′s acclaimed Blue Sky Noise, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 11. Circa Survive remained fixtures of the alternative and hard rock charts as the decades progressed, continuing to hone their progressive hardcore sound on efforts like Violent Waves (2012), The Amulet (2017), and Two Dreams(2022).
After Green and Frangicetto discovered like-minded bandmates in second guitarist Brendan Ekstrom, bassist Nick Beard, and drummer Steve Clifford, Circa Survive recorded an album, Juturna (named after a Roman goddess), for Equal Vision Records in 2005. Lots of touring followed, including Warped Tour dates, and the album steadily sold an impressive 100,000 copies.
A spot at the 2007 Coachella Festival paved the way for the late May release of Circa Survive’s follow-up, On Letting Go, which cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Top 200. The band eventually left Equal Vision to sign with Atlantic, and in 2010 released its third album, Blue Sky Noise, which eschewed many of the hardcore elements of records past in favor of a more melodic, indie rock approach. (No surprise that the album charted quite high, almost making the Top Ten.) The band’s fourth long-player, the self-released Violent Waves, arrived in 2012 and debuted at the number 15 slot on the album charts. After its release, Circa Survive signed to Sumerian, which reissued a deluxe edition of Violent Waves and then released the band’s fifth album, Descensus, in November 2014. In July 2017, the band released the single “Lustration” ahead of the release of their Hopeless Records-issued sixth studio long-player, The Amulet, which arrived later that September. In 2021 they teamed up with producer Will Yip for the EP A Dream About Love, which added electronic elements to their sound and included the epic single “Imposter Syndrome.” A second EP, A Dream About Death, appeared in 2022. The full-length Two Dreams, which included both EPs, arrived later that year and coincided with the announcement that the band was taking an indefinite hiatus. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia