RIVAL SCHOOLS ‘UNITED BY FATE’ LP (Green Glitter Vinyl)

Following high-speed hardcore efforts with Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today, and after redefining heavy in the Nineties with groovy post-hardcore icons Quicksand, Walter Schreifels thrust himself into a melodic new era with Rival Schools. The band’s turn-of-the-millennium self-titled debut still surges with the energetic spirit of hardcore — the quartet’s roster also featuring genre vets from Iceburn, CIV and Glassjaw — but singles like “Used for Glue” and “Good Things” revealed that vocalist-guitarist Schreifels was now confidently mixing his punky DNA with alt-rock hooks that demanded arena-sized singalongs. Their 2001 lesson plan is back in print on “green glitter” vinyl.