The roots of Amity Lane stretch back to the mid-'90s, when lead singer and guitarist Kevin Palmer and bassist Josh Moates formed the Smashing Pumpkins-inspired alt-metal act Trust Company. Signed to Geffen Records in 2002, the group had some chart success with their debut album, 2002's The Lonely Position of Neutral, but after label politics delayed the release of the follow-up, True Parallels, by over a year, Palmer bailed on Trust Company and the group folded in 2005. Reconnecting with Moates, who had already left Trust Company a year earlier, Palmer began writing songs for a new project. After flirting with the possibility of keeping the Trust Company name, the duo instead called themselves Amity Lane after the street Palmer grew up on. Adding Kevin's wife, Layla Palmer, on keyboards and backing vocals and a succession of temporary drummers, the newly reconstituted Amity Lane signed with the California indie metal label Corporate Punishment and released their debut album, The Sound of Regret, in the fall of 2006. By the album's release, the band further included Jason Rash to handle more keys and samples. ~ Stewart Mason