Smoke or Fire

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Smoke or Fire is an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts.

The band originally formed in 1998, when western Massachusetts natives Joe McMahan (lead vocals and guitar) and Jeremy Cochran (guitar) got together with fellow Boston University students Ken Gurley (bass) and Nick Maggiore (drums), hailing from New Hampshire. Originally calling themselves Jericho, the boys released their debut album, When the Battery Dies, in 2000. Their fan base grew as they played DIY basement shows and small clubs throughout the Northeast.

When living in Boston proved too expensive, the quartet moved to Richmond, Virginia to explore the punk rock scene and to work on their second album.

It was at about this time that band was contacted by a 1970s-era Christian rock band from Australia, also called Jericho, to inform them that the name was already taken. To avoid confusion and legal action, the boys politely amended it to Jericho RVA. The initials were a nod to their adopted hometown of Richmond, Virginia.

Jericho RVA is the name that appears on their 2003 EP Workers’ Union. An older version, released under the original name (Jericho), does not include the song “Oxygen” that is on the Jericho RVA release. The other 6 songs of the EP are the same on both records.

Worker’s Union caught the attention of reviewers and established bands interested in taking them out on tour. Due to pressure from Deep South Christian fanatics that complained about the religious “blasphemy” of a bible-derived name, Jericho RVA changed their name again to Smoke or Fire.

Tagged as:

punk, punk rock, melodic hardcore, hardcore punk, melodic punk
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Top Albums

Above the City
Smoke or Fire
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This Sinking Ship
Smoke or Fire
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The Sinking Ship
Smoke or Fire
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Top Tracks

1	The Patty Hearst Syndrome full track	268
2	Melatonin full track	238
3	What Separates Us All full track	184
4	Cops and Drugs full track	170
5	Filter full track	160
6	Culture as Given full track	151
7	Loving, Self-Loathing full track	147
7	Irish Handcuffs full track	147
9	Little Bohemia full track	138
10	This Sinking Ship full track	131
11	Southpaw full track	126
12	Goodbye to Boston full track	119
13	Fire Escapes full track	118
14	Delawhere full track	112
15	Cars full track	109

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TokenSunrise wrote:
18 days ago

HUGE fan of Above the City

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TheBartner wrote:
21 days ago

Good to hear they're working on a new album! Can't wait!

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MUSEmaniako wrote:
last month

come to SPAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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KyleLM wrote:
last month

I want this "hiatus" to be over....

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herrandrus wrote:
September 2009

if you like smoke or fire, please check this band: http://www.lastfm.de/music/Mnmnts and download their first ep for FREE: http://mnmts.blogspot.com/

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ForMiles wrote:
September 2009

so freaking good.

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Shaggy_Monster wrote:
September 2009

Good band. "California's Burning" is probably the best song by them.

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Luckydonkey wrote:
July 2009

warum ist da Jericho nicht bei den ähnlichen Künstler?!^

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ebrack23 wrote:
July 2009

Yo check out my bands new songs! Thanks, any feedback would be awesome! http://www.last.fm/music/False+Alarm/_/That's+Life?autostart http://www.last.fm/music/False+Alarm/_/Matter+Of+Fact?autostart

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Skulka wrote:
May 2009

i'm in love

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landmarcattack wrote:
April 2009

Anybody else heard Joe's new acoustic demo? It's pretty sweet, really puts the focus on the awesome lyrics.

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TokenSunrise wrote:
April 2009

+1 California's Burning

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stayouttahizbiz wrote:
April 2009

afghanistan is on when the battery dies, which as I said a couple years ago, is the best album these guys ever produced.

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FAskies wrote:
March 2009

cant find above the city anywhere :(

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PxUnit wrote:
March 2009

California's Burning isn't in the top tracks? ): That song made me like this band.

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davosmavo wrote:
March 2009

http://www.FalseAlarmOhio.com check out my band!

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spoon_of_grimbo wrote:
March 2009

anyone have the "when the battery dies" EP? it's the only smoke or fire stuff i'm missing...

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wdapunk wrote:
February 2009

like this band

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kylelikescoffee wrote:
February 2009

PUTCHO BONER AWAY SON

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Elminster89 wrote:
January 2009

Argh, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck! I Hate myself so much... Smoke or Fire played not only here in Denmark, but in the very city I live... And I did not see them! I hope so much they'll be back here one day. I pray! They're awesome. In one way, they're like many other punk rock bands in the sound and such, but I think that one of the things that differentiate SoF - in a good way - is that they know the perfect balance. They never go too soft or too hard, lose too much tempo or gain too much tempo - they maintain this perfect style all the way through, which is happy, fast and very catchy and very lovely punk rock. That of the kind, you just CAN NOT keep yourself from singing along to while moving to the tunes! GO SMOKE OR FIRE! ^_^

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