In the early years of Los Angeles punk, one of the premiere hardcore bands was T.S.O.L., which stood for the True Sounds of Liberty. Offering poppier music than many of their contemporaries and featuring an image that appealed to punks who wanted to dive deeper into the gothic subgenre already being offered by many British punk bands, T.S.O.L. became hugely popular in the local scene but never translated that success to national exposure because of their ever shifting lineup and sound.