IN: Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from McHenry, Illinois. The band consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Matt Skiba, bassist and co-vocalist Dan Andriano, and drummer Derek Grant. Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Porter, Alkaline Trio released its debut single, "Sundials", in 1997. Following its release, Doran departed from the band and was replaced by Andriano.

In 2001, the band released From Here To Infirmary on Vagrant Records. This album inspired music videos for the singles "Stupid Kid" and "Private Eye." The album was the band's first album to reach above Billboard top 200 mark and the first to gross six figures in sales.  Their next full-length album was Good Mourning, released in 2003, with the album's launch single "We've Had Enough" seeing much the same success as the previous single "Stupid Kid". The album was something of a departure from earlier works, featuring greater production values.  The band appeared on various compilation albums, notably Plea for Peace Vol. 1, Vagrant Records: Another Year on the Streets Vol. 1, 2, and 3, and Rock Against Bush Vol. 1. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano have both independently recorded split records, Skiba with Kevin Seconds on Asian Man Records and Andriano with Mike Felumlee on Double Zero Records, as well as jointly performing backing vocal duties on the album This is Unity Music by Common Rider. They recorded two split EPs: one with Hot Water Music in 2002 and the other with One Man Army in 2004.  In 2004, Andriano became a member of The Falcon, a group consisting of The Lawrence Arms' bassist Brendan Kelly, previously of Slapstick (alongside Andriano) and The Broadways, and drummer Neil Hennessy. The Falcon also saw contributions from Todd Mohney of The Killing Tree and formerly Rise Against. The band released an EP, God Don't Make No Trash / Up Your Ass With Broken Glass in 2005 and its first full length, Unicornography in September 2006.

Can you tell me if this is the name of an album?

OUT: From Here To Infirmary


IN: Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg, Yiddish: ysydvr hvkbrg; April 8, 1896 - March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

Harburg, the youngest of four surviving children (out of ten), was born Isidore Hochberg on the Lower East Side of New York City on April 8, 1896. His parents, Lewis Hochberg and Mary Ricing, were Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews who had emigrated from Russia.  He later adopted the name Edgar Harburg, and came to be best known as Edgar "Yip" Harburg. He attended Townsend Harris High School, where he and Ira Gershwin, who met over a shared fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan, worked on the school paper and became lifelong friends. According to his son Ernie Harburg, Gilbert and Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw taught his father, a "democratic socialist, [and] sworn challenger of all tyranny against the people, that 'humor is an act of courage' and dissent".  After World War I, Harburg returned to New York and graduated from City College (later part of the City University of New York), which Ira Gershwin had initially attended with him, in 1921. After Harburg married and had two children, he started writing light verse for local newspapers. He became a co-owner of Consolidated Electrical Appliance Company, but the company went bankrupt following the crash of 1929, leaving Harburg "anywhere from $50,000 - $70,000 in debt," which he insisted on paying back over the course of the next few decades. At this point, Harburg and Ira Gershwin agreed that Harburg should start writing song lyrics.  Gershwin introduced Harburg to Jay Gorney, who collaborated with him on songs for an Earl Carroll Broadway review (Earl Carroll's Sketchbook): the show was successful and Harburg was engaged as lyricist for a series of successful revues, including Americana in 1932, for which he wrote the lyrics of "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" to the tune of a lullaby Gorney had learned as a child in Russia. This song swept the nation, becoming an anthem of the Great Depression.  Harburg was a staunch critic of religion and an atheist. He wrote a poem entitled "Atheist" that summarized his views on god and religion.

How did his career begin?

OUT: he started writing light verse for local newspapers.


IN: Motion City Soundtrack was an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Justin Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew Taylor, and drummer Tony Thaxton.

Motion City Soundtrack was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997 by singer-songwriter Justin Pierre and guitarist Joshua Cain. Previously, the duo had separately played in a number of bands. Cain was in a group named the Saddest Girl Story, and recruited Pierre to join as a singer. He was subsequently in a band called Boxcar, and following its dissolution, he and Pierre founded Motion City Soundtrack together. The band's name was created by Cain's brother, Brian. Their early days were difficult, as they found it hard to break out of their local scene. When they could get weeks off from their jobs, they would tour. According to Cain, the members of the band soon realized that there "wasn't really anywhere to play [shows] in Minneapolis", and that they would have to "tour all the time" to rise in popularity. In its early years, the group went through several lineup changes. Through these, Cain and Pierre would often have to take over keyboard duties during shows. The group's first release was a 7" single, "Promenade / Carolina", released in 1999. Their next two releases, both extended plays--Kids for America and Back to the Beat--were released the following year.  Over the course of the early 2000s, the band continued to tour and shuffle through members. In late 2001, while touring in Milton, Pennsylvania with the band Submerge, they convinced two of its members--bassist Matthew Taylor and drummer Tony Thaxton--to join Motion City. Thaxton initially took about a year to convince to join the band. Jesse Johnson, a friend and co-worker of Cain's, joined the band as keyboardist just three weeks before the band recorded their first album. Johnson had never played the keyboard before but Cain taught him the parts that had already been written. After their first attempt at self-recording an album failed, the band culled together $6,000 to record with producer Ed Rose, best known for his work with the Get Up Kids. They recorded much of their debut album, I Am the Movie, in ten days. Initial copies were hand-packaged inside floppy disks, which were sold out of the back of their tour van for a year.  The band began receiving offers from various record labels, including Universal, Triple Crown Records, and Drive-Thru Records, and they performed at industry showcases. Meanwhile, Brett Gurewitz, founder of Epitaph Records, learned of the band from members of the group Matchbook Romance. He attended four of their shows in Los Angeles that Pierre later regarded as among his worst, as his voice was poor from constant touring. While they were interested in Universal, they chose to sign to Epitaph as they felt the contract was less restrictive and more honest. Eli Janney from Girls Against Boys helped the band secure management and a lawyer. Motion City became part of a slew of Epitaph signings, including Matchbook Romance, Scatter the Ashes and From First to Last, amid concerns the Southern California label had strayed too far from its roots, and seemed "a little too emo."

How many members of the band were there in the beginning?

OUT:
singer-songwriter Justin Pierre and guitarist Joshua Cain.