Cloak & Dagger

by Stewart Mason Apparently too busy to put a simple ampersand and a couple of spaces in their band name, Cloak/Dagger are something of a post-hardcore supergroup, gathering members of various minor hardcore acts from the Richmond, VA, area: singer Jason Mazzola (Count Me Out, Time Flies), guitarist Colin Barth (Trial by Fire, Renee Heartfelt), bassist Aaron Barth (Striking Distance, Renee Heartfelt), and drummer Colin Kimble (Count Me Out, Time Flies; not to be confused with the Colin Kimble who is lead guitarist for the Baton Rogue-based Christian hardcore act As Cities Burn). Formed in October 2006, originally as a side project, Cloak/Dagger began touring the East Coast hardcore circuit immediately and signed with the influential Washington, D.C., label Jade Tree Records in early 2007. The band's debut 7" single, "Pinata Breaks," was released in the spring of 2007; digital outlets such as iTunes were serviced with an expanded EP called Pinata Breaks, Demo Takes, adding six previously unreleased demos to the three songs from the vinyl single.