Local Punk Rockers Saints of Lorain Release New Single

When Al & the Coholics exploded into Cleveland’s underground scene in 1999, they played music that was “raw, unfiltered and unapologetic,” as it’s put in a press release.

But tragedy struck, and after drummer Jonny Blood died, the band dissolved. But once his brother Rob picked up the drum sticks to honor a promise that “the music would never die,” a new group, Saints of Lorain, came to fruition with original Coholic Greg Melnyk and longtime scene veteran Dill Hams.

“Nothing to Lose,” the lead single from the upcoming compilation,Before We Were Saints, is a reflection on who they were, while the grim album cover art serves as a warning of the consequences they survived.

“It’s the sound of a band that’s been to the bottom and clawed their way back up, now coming for everything they were told they couldn’t have,” reads the press release.

Saints of Lorain play a release party at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Hydrant in Berea.