Editing Rites of Spring (section)

== History ==
Picciotto, Canty, and Fellows had previously played together in the short-lived hardcore band Insurrection. The trio was joined by guitarist Eddie Janney—formerly of [[The Faith (American band)|the Faith]], [[Skewbald/Grand Union (EP)|Skewbald]], and the Untouchables—and began writing music together in December 1983. The band finished several songs during this early period, like "All There Is", "End on End", and "By Design". The group made a [[Demo (music)|demo recording]] at [[Inner Ear Studios]] in April 1984, but Fellows moved to California. "We thought he was leaving forever", Picciotto recalled. "And then we just kept practicing without him, hoping he'd come back. Lo and behold, three months later, he returned."<ref name=":0" />

''[[AllMusic]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Matt Kantor described the band's music as being at times "fast and furious", while also being "at other times lush and evocative though always with a sense of drive and melody".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/end-on-end-r75986/review |title= End On End - Rites of Spring - Review |author= Kantor, Matt |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=March 19, 2011}}</ref> Though rooted in the loud-and-fast style of [[hardcore punk]], Rites of Spring is to be among the first bands who played music in the emotional hardcore genre,<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Azerrad
  | first = Michael
  | author-link = Michael Azerrad
  | title = [[Our Band Could Be Your Life|Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991]]
  | publisher = Little Brown and Company
  | date = 2001-07-31
  | pages = 528
  | isbn =0-316-78753-1}}</ref> or what is now commonly and retrospectively called [[emo-core]], a precursor of [[screamo]]. [[Jenny Toomey]] notes that, "Rites of Spring existed well before the term did and they hated it."<ref name="NFG" />

They were influenced by [[The Faith (American band)|The Faith]] (Eddie Janney's previous band) and their 1983 EP ''[[Subject to Change (EP)|Subject to Change]]'' with their introspective lyrics and angry, melody-tinged songwriting.<ref name='Subject'>{{cite web | url = http://files.nyu.edu/cch223/public/usa/albums/faith_subjecttochange.html | title = Subject to Change 12" EP | access-date = 2012-08-12 | work = Kill from the Heart | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141217021327/https://files.nyu.edu/cch223/public/usa/albums/faith_subjecttochange.html | archive-date = 2014-12-17 }}</ref>

The band is named after the symphonic ballet ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' by [[Igor Stravinsky]]. "We were reading about Stravinsky and [[The Rite of Spring#Premiere|the first [performance]]] where everybody beat each other on the head", Picciotto explained. "Whenever you fuck with someone musically and they take their music really serious, they're gonna fuck with you back."<ref name=":0" /> Picciotto also said the band chose the name to reflect their desire to revive the D.C. punk scene. "We were trying to create a rebirth of what's going on here", he said. "It seemed to be stagnating for a long time and we just thought the name kind of fit the way we felt, a springtime type thing."<ref name=":0" />

=== Recordings ===
''[[Rites of Spring (album)|Rites of Spring]]'' was the band’s first album. Its twelve songs were recorded at [[Inner Ear Studios]] in February 1985, produced by [[Ian MacKaye]] of [[Fugazi]] and [[Minor Threat]] and Michael Hampton of The Faith and SOA. It was released on vinyl in June of that year as Dischord Records No.&nbsp;16. The album was re-released on CD and cassette in 1987, with an additional track from the same session, "Other Way Around", as well as the four songs from the Rites' follow-up [[Extended play|EP]], ''[[All Through a Life]]'', Dischord No.&nbsp;22. The CD and cassette originally retained the number "16", while the 1991 repress, as well as the 2001 remastered version of the same seventeen songs, were numbered "16CD" and given the new title ''[[End on End]]''. Their first demo of six songs was recorded in April 1984, almost a year before the sessions that became their debut album. It was released as a CD EP and 10" vinyl record in 2012 on Dischord Records with the catalog number 176. The band broke up in January 1986 soon after the sessions that produced the "All Through A Life" recording.<ref name="dischordrecordsofficialwebsite" />

=== Post-breakup and musical influence ===
Picciotto, Janney and Canty formed [[One Last Wish]] with [[Embrace (U.S. band)|Embrace]] alumnus, guitarist [[Michael Hampton (punk musician)|Michael Hampton]]. They recorded one studio album, entitled ''1986'', which was released in 1999 due to the band breaking up after mixing was finished.<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Rites of Spring", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, {{ISBN|1-84195-335-0}}</ref>

The Rites of Spring personnel reunited for a quasi-reincarnation called [[Happy Go Licky]], releasing an LP/CD of various live concert recordings though never producing any studio work. The music was much more experimental than Rites of Spring, heavily improvised and featuring tape loop effects.<ref name="Strong" />

Picciotto and Canty eventually teamed up with bassist Joe Lally and former [[Minor Threat]], [[Skewbald/Grand Union (band)|Skewbald/Grand Union]], [[Egg Hunt]], and [[Embrace (U.S. band)|Embrace]] singer [[Ian MacKaye]] (co-owner of the band’s label, [[Dischord Records]]) in [[Fugazi (band)|Fugazi]]. [[Mike Fellows (musician)|Mike Fellows]] went on to do session work for the [[Drag City (record label)|Drag City]] label and form [[Miighty Flashlight]], releasing an eponymous album under this name in 2002.<ref name="Strong"/>

Dischord released the band's only demo, entitled ''Six Song Demo'', in October 2012. All tracks on the demo were previously recorded versions of songs appearing on the ''Rites of Spring'' album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/164665-rites-of-spring-six-song-demo/|title=Rites of Spring: Six Song Demo|website=PopMatters|date=November 2012 |access-date=2016-04-23}}</ref>