Transplants and first hiatus (2002–2003) After two years of recording, Transplants released their debut album
Transplants on
Hellcat Records in October 2002. In the end, the album was recorded and mixed entirely in Armstrong's basement. Special guest vocalists included
Eric Ozenne (
The Nerve Agents),
Davey Havok (
AFI),
Son Doobie (
Funkdoobiest),
Danny Diablo (
Crown of Thornz, AKA
Lord Ezec),
Lars Frederiksen (
Rancid) and
Brody Dalle (
The Distillers, ex-wife of Armstrong). Brody sings on the track "
Weigh on My Mind", which Armstrong, at the time, described as "their song." The singles "
Diamonds And Guns" and "
D.J. D.J." quickly became MTV favorites and earned the band critical and commercial success. "Diamonds and Guns" and its unmistakable piano hook played by co-producer
Dave Carlock was featured in TV commercials for
Garnier Fructis shampoo and
Neutrogena, and both this and the song "Tall Cans in the Air" were featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 movie
Bulletproof Monk. By 2003, the band had temporarily disbanded, while Barker worked on then-upcoming
Blink-182 album, and Armstrong worked on Rancid's
Indestructible. Haunted Cities (2004–2005) In 2004, during an extensive
Rancid hiatus, Armstrong decided to bring Transplants back together. The band's second album, titled
Haunted Cities, was released in June 2005, just four months after Barker's former band
Blink-182 announced their hiatus. The album's first single, "
Gangsters and Thugs" was a hit and the band began touring on the 2005
Warped Tour. After the
Warped Tour, Transplants started to plan a large North American tour with
Pennywise and wanted to release a second single. The band shot and released another video for the single "
What I Can't Describe." The band released the
Chopped and screwed version of
Haunted Cities on November 1, 2005. Soon after the cancellation of the tour, two band members announced several more side projects that they would be embarking on during Transplants break. Barker revealed that he would be starting a tour with
DJ AM and also a new band with Aston and DJ
Paul Wall which would become
Expensive Taste. Aston revealed that he was working on a solo album.
Second hiatus (2006–2010) In an interview with Aston and
Paul Wall on January 16, 2006 about their project,
Expensive Taste, Aston stated "The
Warped Tour had just ended and Transplants had just broken up". This led to some confusion over whether the band had officially broken up, or not. Despite the statement made by Aston about how the band had "broken up", frontman
Tim Armstrong contradicted this statement on a
MySpace bulletin. He stated: "In the upcoming years, I hope to make another Transplants album. I love recording with those guys". From 2006 to 2009, Transplants had been "on hold", as all the members had continued working on their own projects. Armstrong was busy touring with
Rancid promoting their new album,
Let the Dominoes Fall. He also released his solo album, ''
A Poet's Life'', in 2007. Travis Barker worked on an album with a recently reformed
Blink-182, who toured during the summer of 2009, and also formed a new band called
Expensive Taste, along with Aston.
Second reunion (2010–present) In January 2010, Barker announced on his
Twitter account that Transplants were reunited and are in fact recording new material in 2010. The band announced that their new website will be posted in February 2011. It was also announced that the third album will be released on the band's original home at Hellcat Records. Armstrong and Aston appeared as guests on Barker's first solo album
Give the Drummer Some along with former
Guns N' Roses guitarist
Slash on a
Latin rock influenced song called "Saturday Night". The band performed the song live on
Conan March 7, 2011, with
Mix Master Mike on turntables,
Elvis Cortez on guitar and
Kevin Bivona on bass. Slash did not take part in the performance. In an interview with 29-95 in April 2011, Barker has revealed that material for the Transplants album has been written since August 2010, and that 16 songs were already written by Armstrong, Aston and Barker for the album. He has also said that he expects around 30 songs to be written, with the best 12 to 15 making the cut. On November 13, 2011, an announcement was made from the band's official Facebook page that they will be finishing up their new album in December. On November 29, Armstrong revealed that the album is slated for a spring 2012 release date, which will be followed by a new
Rancid album in that summer. On December 16, 2011, Aston posted a photo on Facebook revealing Kevin "Sweatshop" Bivona as the newest member. After assorted announcements during 2012, the third album, titled
In a Warzone, was finally released June 25, 2013. The first single, "In a Warzone", came out April 2, 2013; a second single, "Come Around", was released the following week on April 9. On February 28, 2014, it was revealed on the band's official Facebook page, that the band had begun writing and recording new material. On April 28, 2015, Barker announced that Transplants were almost finished with the recording of several cover songs. He released a list with song titles including songs by bands like Circle Jerks, Unwritten Law, Cypress Hill, Minor Threat, Beastie Boys, House of Pain, and Sepultura. On January 19, 2017, Barker confirmed that Transplants would be releasing a covers album. On June 6, 2017, the band posted "Friday the 13th. October 2017." on their Facebook page, which led to rumors this would be the date for the release of the announced record. On July 29, 2017, the band announced on their Facebook page that the new record would be released on October 13 2017 and it would be an EP named
Take Cover. The announcement was repeated on September 22. On October 6, 2017, Transplants announced the track list for
Take Cover. The EP would consist of 7 songs. The EP
Take Cover was released as planned on October 13, 2017. ==Band members==