Park's debut album was produced by Brendan Gamble. Another who weaved his way through bands and studios (primarily as an engineer), Gamble's first album recordings were with the Urbana indie punk band Poster Children. Poster Children released their debut album Flower Power in 1989 on the Limited Potential label.
Here is the discography surrounding Poster Children's debut album:
Another Face (1985 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Automatic (1986 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Better Than God (1986 compilation song by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Toreador Squat (1988 demo) Flower Power
Poster Children Live at The Gallery in Normal, IL 1988
Baxter packaged the song "These Times" on the compilation album How to Be a Hero. Of course, the compilation album featured about 15 other bands but most of them more established. There was one other, sort of, "rookie band" on the compilation though: Park. From Springfield rather than Chicago (like the last handful of tour stops), Park plays a hard-edged pop-punk. They released their debut album Scene 14 in 1998 on Playing Field Records.
Here is the discography surrounding Park's debut album:
Demo (1996 demo)
Blue Screen (1996 EP)
Mood Ring (1997 EP)
Atmosphere Only Gets You so Far (1998 compilation song) Scene 14
The Sound of Sirens (1998 split EP)
How to Be a Hero (1999 compilation song)
Pocket Bomb (1999 compilation song)
Live at Viele's Planet (1999 live bootleg)
Random and Scattered (1999 EP)
What's this? We were about to head to the band bassist Pete Wentz is most famous for being in, but it seems we've detoured. Instead, the tour's being dragged away by another founding member of Arma Angelus who is also more famous for being in a different band. And of course, we're not going to be covering that more famous band either.
Instead, we follow Tim McIlrath (who was a member of Arma Angelus for only a short period of time) as he plays with his Chicago post-hardcore band Baxter. They released their debut album Troy's Bucket in 1997 on Astroyboy Records.
Here is the discography surrounding Baxter's debut album:
Baxter (1996 demo) Troy's Bucket
More Than Music (1997 compilation song)
Lost Voices... (1997 single)
"The Star-Spangled Banner" by Tim McIlrath (of Baxter)
This time we'll follow Racetraitor band members Daniel Binaei and Andy Hurley to their next band Arma Angelus. Bassist Pete Wentz is here, too, but he's not playing bass for this band (he's the lead singer) and we're still not yet to the band he's most famous for being in. Binaei, Hurley, and Wentz were all members of Arma Angelus from its inception, but only Wentz was a member when the band recorded their only album Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares in 2001.
Here is the complete Arma Angelus discography:
The Personal Is Political (2000 demo)
The Grave End of the Shovel (2000 EP)
Chicago Arise from the Ashes (2001 compilation song)
Ascend from the Darkness (2001 compilation song) Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares
Covered in Blood (2002 compilation song)
As the tour keeps touring, let's keep following Pete Wentz. We're not quite to the band he was most famous for fronting, and, in fact, our next stop is a band he wasn't in but with which he occasionally played fill-in bass. Like Extinction, Racetraitor was a straight edge hardcore band from the mid-to-late 90s. Short-lived, they released their only (short) album Burn the Idol of the White Messiah in 1998.
Here is the discography surrounding Racetraitor's debut album:
Hinckley (1995 single by Hinckley)
Continuing the Tradition Demo 1996 (1996 demo)
The Great Age of Enlightenment? (1998 compilation song) Burn the Idol of the White Messiah
Make Them Talk (1999 split EP)
By the Time I Get to Pennsylvania (2016 single)
Invisible Battles Against Invisible Fortresses (2017 EP)
Compilation Vol. 1 - A Benefit for Animal Sanctuaries (2017 compilation song)
The community of Degrassi also attracts a lot of talent. Most of the time this talent comes to town as visiting bands that play local concerts or do interviews for the school paper, but Degrassi also attracts famous musicians that go undercover and, weirdly, pretend to be locals. For bassist Pete Wentz, it seems he simply enjoyed the local vibe and hung out downtown for a while.
Before he was famous for being in a nationally popular pop-punk band or hanging around Degrassi high schoolers, Pete Wentz was a figure of the underground Chicago hardcore movement where he, alongside many other young hardcore musicians, formed bands; recorded demos, compilation songs and singles (sometimes, an EP); then disbanded. It wasn't until 1999 when his band Extinction shook up the formula and managed to release a (short) album Hypocrisy Breeds Traitors. They then disbanded.
Here is the discography surrounding Extinction's discography:
Everlast (1993 demo by Everlast)
...Drown the Self... (1994 single by Everlast)
The Cold War (1994 compilation song by Everlast)
'94 Demo (1994 demo by Plagued With Rage)
I Won't Forget (1994 single by Plagued with Rage)
Outcast (1996 demo by Birthright)
Outcast / Final Judgement (1996 split single with Birthright)
Birthright (1996 single by Birthright)
Ascension (1997 EP by Birthright)
The First Crush Compilation (1997 compilation song by Yellow Road Priest)
For the Sake of Dedication (1997 compilation song by Plagued With Rage)
What Have You Created... (1997 EP)
The Difference Between Us (1997 compilation song)
All Systems Go! (1997 compilation song)
Out of Darkness (1998 EP by Birthright)
Glenview Hardcore (1998 compiation song by XFirstborn)
Milemarker / Yellow Road Priest (1998 split single with Yellow Road Priest) Hypocrisy Breeds Traitors
The Path of Compassion (2002 compilation song by Everlast)
These Words Run in My Veins (2008 compilation album by Birthright)
