Music Driven presents a special screening of RYE COALITION: THE STORY OF THE HARD LUCK FIVE featuring a post screening Q&A with director Jenni Matz & members of Rye Coalition and an after party in our Lo-Res bar downstairs featuring DJ Lobster Tears!

When they signed with one of the world’s biggest record labels, Rye Coalition was primed to finally get their glory, or so it seemed. Like countless rockers before them, childhood best friends started a band in a basement with a couple simple goals in mind: have fun and play good music.  As one of the first bands to develop the new “emo” sound, they were at the forefront of a movement that included Shellac, Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker and Karp (with whom they later recorded a legendary 12? split). Rye Coalition’s first recording was a demo cassette tape (1994?s “Dancing Man”, self-released), backed by an East Coast tour in a beat up school bus long before most of them had their driver’s license.  For over a decade they blasted through a seemingly endless array of basement shows and dive bar gigs as their talent and fan base grew. They released albums on indie labels and toured the country on bigger and bigger bills: (At-the-Drive-in, Mars Volta, Queens of the Stone Age , Foo Fighters). After gaining momentum from 2002?s “On Top” LP, engineered by Steve Albini, they were signed to Dreamworks Records and none other than Dave Grohl (Nirvana) came on as their producer. Then, it all imploded. As Henry Owings of Chunklet put it- “Rye Coalition has had the worst luck of any band I can think of.”

This film traces their career (culled from over 20 years of home movies and unseen tour footage) supplemented with new interviews with the band and those who know them best. Although the band was praised by critics and supported by an absurdly dedicated grassroots fan base, somehow these Jersey rockers never got their due. Until now.