Not the computer program, but a skatecore/crossover band from Venice, CA (where else?), Excel were musical baby brothers to hometown heroes Suicidal Tendencies, and recorded a trio of albums which became quite popular with informed fans of the genre, if not the music-buying masses. Formed in 1985 by vocalist Dan Clemente, guitarist Adam Siegel, bassist Shaun Ross, and drummer Greg Saenz, Excel debuted in 1987 with the well-intentioned but overly ST-dependent Split Image. They later learned a few original tricks of their own for 1989's slightly improved The Joke's on You, but split up for a few years before recording 1995's funk-thrash swan song Seeking Refuge -- by which time they'd started sounding more like San Francisco's Mordred. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia