Jank (band)

Jank (stylized as JANK or J A N K !) was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2015.

History

JANK formed from the ashes of Downingtown, Pennsylvania duo Panucci's Pizza,^[1] which broke up in September 2015 and consisted of Lou Diamond and Brock Benzel. During Panucci's tenure, Diamond had been introduced to bassist Ruben Polo through mutual friends in the Philadelphia DIY music scene, and he later met drummer Sam Becht due to them both being students at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. After the breakup of Panucci's Pizza, Diamond decided to start a new band containing light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and upbeat, energetic instrumentals. This was a departure from the emotionally sincere lyricism displayed in the mostly-acoustic Panucci's Pizza.

Spawned in the Kensington, Philadelphia basement DIY-punk scene, JANK released their first full-length album, entitled Awkward Pop Songs, on November 10 2015 via Honest Face Records.^[2][3]

After a few months of touring North America to promote Awkward Pop Songs, JANK began to develop a cult following among the underground music scene throughout the United States. In early 2016 they recorded a new EP called Versace Summer. The band self-released a remixed version of Awkward Pop Songs, entitled Awkward Chopped Songs, on July 5 2016 before releasing Versace Summer on July 27 2016 through Creep Records^[4][5][6][7]

Breakup

In early September 2016, while the band was beginning to plan multiple tours with Modern Baseball and Sorority Noise, bassist Ruben Polo announced his departure from JANK, citing reasons he did not wish to discuss.^[8] Following this announcement, singer/guitarist Lou Diamond posted a lengthy statement to the band's Facebook page claiming they had been accused by various people in the Philadelphia DIY music scene of sexual abuse, and offered their perspective of the alleged incident. The band pulled out of all upcoming shows and tours, and shortly afterwards deleted all trace of their music on the internet, including all of their social media accounts. Their Bandcamp page would later be restored, and their music would also later be re-uploaded onto Spotify.

On August 31, 2017, Lou Diamond reappeared with ex-Jank drummer Sam Becht, and announced they had been working on a new project entitled fail better, heal faster. The self-titled album was released for free via a Bandcamp page and an accompanying website with a disclaimer posted on it. The disclaimer states that the project is "not a band" and is a one-off collection of songs intended to be a form of self-therapy for Lou to help cope with the impact the allegations had on their life from the previous year.^[9] There would be no promotion, no merchandise, and no tours centered around the project. fail better, heal faster was also released with the intention of sparking conversations in the DIY music scene regarding sexual abuse/abusers and how the behavior should not be tolerated or encouraged. It was claimed that any profits made from people who chose to donate money when downloading the album would be given to various charities including RAINN, The Centre for Justice & Reconciliation, Trans Youth Equality, and The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. However, only 4 days after the album was released, many people in the Philadelphia music community felt that the message was insincere, and as a result, revealed details of further allegations made against Diamond which were not made public during the breakup of JANK.^[10] The subsequent release of information caused Becht to publicly distance himself not only from Diamond and all projects the two had previously worked on, much like Ruben Polo had done the year before. This signalled a more definitive end to JANK and the collaborative efforts of its members.

Members

• Lou Diamond – guitar, vocals
• Ruben Polo – bass guitar
• Sam Becht – drums

Discography

Studio albums

• Awkward Pop Songs (Honest Face Records, 2015)

EPs

• Versace Summer (Creep Records, 2016)

Remix albums

• Awkward Chopped Songs (Self-released, 2016)

References