H2O

H2O is a band that had beginnings like any other band. No one could have guessed that a few guys from New York, who started as a one-song side project with former Sick of It All roadie Toby Morse and a few friends, would turn into a world-touring powerhouse. They took humble roots and worked their way to add their chapter to the long history of New York hardcore and they would define the term “melodic hardcore" that would become so common years later.

H2O from 1996 to 2003 was unavoidable - four albums on Blackout!, Epitaph, and MCA records with over 300,000 copies sold, constant world touring with the likes of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid, AFI, Pennywise, the Used, Sick of It All, the Misfits, 7 Seconds, and Madball, as well as runs on the Warped Tour. They established themselves as a household name and inspired countless others in their wake. In the pre-internet world of hardcore and punk, H2O was the band that bridged the heavily tattooed, unbridled rage of New York bands like the Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front with the punk melodies of bands like the Descendents and Token Entry that would change the face of independent music forever.

The band's Bridge Nine debut, 2008's Nothing to Prove was not a comeback. That’s way too simple. Nothing to Prove was a statement of everything the band is and a taste of what the band might be in the future. After touring the globe, they returned for 2011's Don't Forget Your Roots, a 15-song covers album (prefaced by three geographical-based teaser 7"s) tackling their influences like Bad Brains, the Clash, Ramones, Rancid and more.