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Born Without A Face were a great diverse hardcore band from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They covered it all, from fast and chaotic hardcore, to doomy dirges, to more psychotic and darker sounds. They had an element of metal in their sound at times, but never enough to put them into crossover territory. The band took obvious influences from Corrosion of Conformity, Discharge, Black Flag, The Fix, Black Sabbath, and the early '80s hardcore scene in general, and melded it all into their own powerful sound. They had a lot of great demo material, but unfortunately only released two 7"s, keeping the band relatively obscure. I think a full length would have put this band over the top, and they would have been held in the same regard as their more well-known contemporaries.
Punks Before Profits Records was supposed to release a discography LP entitled "This Is The Hate", but the project got scrapped about a year and a half ago. So here you go, the band's discography (as i know it to be), in great sound quality. Thanks to Geeheeb and Cooch for the music. Enjoy!
Born Without A Face: 1984-1986
Here's a quick rundown:
First up is the band's debut 7", Unbecoming, which was recorded in 1985 and self-released in 1986. A lyric sheet was included, which you can check out here. This is a monster of a record, and my personal fave. Next is the band's follow-up 7", Worship, which was also self-released in 1986. They end this ep with a pulverizing and ominous cover of Heartbreak Hotel (originally recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956), which has to be heard to be believed. After that is Hostages, an exclusive track to the excellent compilation LP, There's A Method To Our Madness, originally released on Phantom Records (Alaska) in 1986 and repressed on We Bite Records (Germany) in 1987. Cover art by RK Sloane, who passed away on October 20, 2006. Born Without A Face contributed 2 tracks to this comp, but the other track, Maelstrom, was released on the Unbecoming 7". Ending the collection are the bands demos. Freakshow (1985) and Psych! (1984). Both fantastic from beginning to end, but i'll say Seven Steps To Hell stands out as my favorite song.
Many of the band's demo tracks appeared on various compilations, mostly tape comps. Here's some that i know of:
"Hideous Freaks Search For Happiness" tape (BCT 1984)
tracks: Only Human / Slum Feeder / Not A Love Song / Another American Success Story
"Numb Tongue No Taste" tape (Empty Records 1984)
tracks: Trash Is Truth / Seven Steps To Hell
"Save The Dead" tape (KML Records 1986)
tracks: Feed Your Head / Next Big Thing
"Godsmell" 2 tape comp (Empty Records 1988)
track: Not A Love Song
"War Between the States: South" comp LP (TPOS 1989)
tracks: Sloth / Seven Steps To Hell / Stubborn Beast Flesh
There's not much info to be found on this band online. Mark Dancey (founding member) went on to play guitar for Big Chief with Barry Henssler of The Necros.
The members of Born Without A Face (during the first 7") were: Mark Dancey, Robert Eastway, Dan Ross and Eric. I'm not sure who played what instrument, as it's not mentioned on the ep. According to an interview, the band had 3 constant members but went through a dozen drummers. You can check out the interview here.
In 1991, the majority of Born Without A Face formed a band called 36D (which i have yet to hear). This was the lineup:
Robert Eastway - vocals
Dan Ross - guitar
Mank Dancey - bass
Ed Alterman - drums
additional personel: Barry Henssler and Phil Durr
If anyone has any more info on this great band, please leave a comment.
Sorry for the delay. So here's what i've been working on for pretty much the past month. 110 tracks of Infest, and by "remastered" i just mean nicely cleaned up. All surface noise and pops removed, and all levels adjusted so every track is the same volume. I think this is going on year 10 that Deep Six Records has had the Infest discography on it's "coming soon" list, so i'm going to take a wild guess and say it's never going to happen. With that in mind, i tried my best to make this collection as close to CD quality as possible. I think it came out great. This is pretty much everything the band has ever recorded, aside from one demo track (Machismo), which i couldn't get a decent version of to work with, and a few samples before certain tracks. I've wanted to put this together for a long time, and it was a labor of love to be sure. I'm glad the fucking thing's finally done. If any band needs to be properly documented, this is it.
I'd say Infest was the band that had the single greatest impact on me as far as hardcore/punk music goes. My first time hearing them was on Pat Duncan's radio show in 1988, during the time the Slave LP was released. The songs were Mindless and Where's the Unity?, and the second i heard those tracks it changed my perception of how powerful music could be. Everything about it just clicked with me immediately. Up to that point i had heard a decent amount of the faster and heavier bands like DRI, Siege, and even Napalm Death. But Infest was a different kind of fast, and a different kind of heavy. It was just monstrous hardcore, like Youth of Today on steroids and speed. This was the band i'd been waiting to hear. I taped Pat's show every Thursday night and would catch an Infest song every now and then, which to me was like hitting the lottery. It was almost a full year later that i finally got a dub of the entire Slave album from a friend in art school. Thanks Marty! I never thought a band would ever have that much of an impact on me again, until the day i heard Neanderthal... but that's a whole other long-winded story.
OK, enough ranting. Here it is. 110 tracks taken from a dozen recordings. Thanks to Dan Hashthrash for the Slave and KXLU rips, Andy (Mortville Records) for the Apocalyptic Convulsions rip, and Gen (Ruido) for the 1987 demo rip. Enjoy!
INFEST Volume One
INFEST Volume Two
Volume One
Slave LP (tracks 1-19)
Originally released on Off the Disk Records (out of Switzerland)/Draw Blank Records (Infest's own label) in 1988. The Slave LP contained the 10 tracks from the band's previous self-released, self-titled 7" (known as the Machismo 7"), plus 8 new tracks. There were 1,000 made of the original press, which came with a lyric sheet, poster, 2 stickers and 1 flyer. It was recorded at Spot Recording by David Kory in June, 1988. Produced by Infest. Mixed by Matt, John O.D. and Joe. Back-ups by Dave, Matt, Joe, John O.D. and Jeff Banks. Awesome cover art by Seelenlos and graphics by Erich. The LP was re-issued in 1991 by Draw Blank/Deep Six Records, and the artwork changed to the more well known black and white image of a slave being led through the grass on a leash. Slave was bootlegged on LP in 1993 on Sand Im Getriebe Records (out of Germany of course) and also included the band's 2nd 7" (1991), 11 unreleased rehearsal tracks, and the sleeve was a 20 page booklet full of political propaganda. The LP was finally officially re-issued again in 2002 by Deep Six/Draw Blank. The tracks in this collection were taken from the 2002 re-release. Sound quality is fantastic, but unfortunately it's missing the sample at the opening of Sick-O.
1988 lineup
vocals - Joe Denunzio
guitar - Matt Domino
bass - Dave Ring
drums - Chris Clift
Matt Domino on the releasing of the Slave LP:
How did you get everything together so fast, like the 7" and 12"? How did you hook up with a Swiss label?
It actually went slow. We were planning to do a 14 song 7", but I ended up trading our demo to Erich and Thomas of Mega-Wimp fanzine in Switzerland. They really liked us and offered to do a 7" for us. So we recorded 18 songs, 10 for our 7" and eight for them to press up. Later on, they offered to do a 12", so we put 10 of the songs on our 7" as a US pressing and all 18 on their 12" as a European press.
What are the pressings of both the 7" and 12"?
The 7" is: 1000 black and 100 clear. Our 12" on Off the Disk is: 100 amber, 100 pink, 800 black. The colored vinyl came with posters. There might be a second press of the 12" of 500 on multi-colored vinyl, but we are not sure yet. The 12" and 7" are both sold out.
You can read the entire interview here.
The Slave LP still stands as my favorite Infest release. As amazing as the 2nd 7" and the No Man's Slave LP are, there's just something missing that made Slave so great to me. Everything from Matt's guitar sounds, to Joe's rabid vocals, to that thick bass sound that just cuts through everything. Add to that the raw production and perfect arrangement of songs from the start of Break the Chains to the end of Fetch the Pliers. It was a formula that comes along once in a lifetime, and then of course imitated endlessly, but never topped, for over 20 years now.
Infest 7" (tracks 20-29)
Commonly known as the Mankind 7". Originally released on Deep Six/Draw Blank in 1991. Recorded January 1991 at the Annex by Dickie Moe, and mixed by Dave, Joe and Matt. It was bootlegged in 1991 on limited edition blue vinyl (no label), and again in 1994 as a 3-sided 2x7" (no label). "Mankind" on one 7", and the live Gilman tracks from the PHC split 8" (1990 Slap A Ham) on the one-sided 7". The flip-side was screen-printed with a red Infest logo. It was legitimately re-released on 10" vinyl in 2006 (Deep Six/Draw Blank) and included the songs from the Apocalyptic Convulsions 10" (1992 Ax/ction Records) and the Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! - The Record 7" (1991 Slap A Ham) as bonus tracks. It sounds like the "Mankind" 10" is a different mix than the original 1991 7". The tracks in this collection were taken from the 10". Excellent sound.Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! - The Record 7" (track 30)
Released on Slap A Ham Records in 1991. 64 tracks! Matt Domino plays guitar in 2 other bands on the comp. Neanderthal and Mouthfart (who only have 1 known recorded track). I assume it's Neanderthal under a different moniker... but it could just as well be Infest actually. Give the track a listen. In 2003, Goatsucker Records out of Mexico put out a CD containing all 3 Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! 7"s. Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! - The Record (1991), Son of Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! (1992), and Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh!: A Music War" (1998). All originally on Slap A Ham, and all with a shitload of songs.
Apocalyptic Convulsions 10" (tracks 31-32)
Released on Ax/ction Records in 1992. Limited to 1500 copies. 10" vinyl with poster insert containing liner notes contributed by each band. First 500 copies came with a bonus 7". Great cover art by Morbid Mark (who also did art for MITB). I'd say this comp was half great. It had some killer songs by some of my favorite bands of the time, like Assuck, Charred Remains AKA Man is the Bastard, A.C., Rovsvett and The Scam, but unfortunately had a bunch of 'not so good' bands on there as well, to put it nicely. The 2 Infest tracks on this comp were labeled as "untitled", but had titles later when they appeared as bonus tracks on the Mankind 10".
No Man's Slave LP (tracks 33-51)
Released on Deep Six/Draw Blank in 2002. The music was recorded in 1995 and the vocals were recorded in 2000. For this amazing comeback album, R.D. Davies from Visual Discrimination replaces Chris Clift on drums, and Matt Domino lays down both the guitar and bass tracks. Easily one of the most anticipated hardcore albums of all time, and it's safe to say if knocked everyone on their ass.
Fear of Smell LP (track 52)
Released on Vermiform Records in 1993. Two pressings, 2,441 made. The first 1,000 LPs has custom, hand-made covers. Most were badly drawn cartoons with a marker over a white background (by Sam McPheeters, band members and friends i'm guessing), and some were actually pretty artistic and creative. There's a website that is trying to catalog all 1,000 variations of the LP. Check it out here. And if you have a copy, send in a picture. Fear of Smell was released on CD in 1998 (Vermiform) as 1 pressing of 1,900. One of my favorite compilations of the '90s, and of all time. The Infest track here was ripped from the CD version.
Reality 2 LP (track 53)
Released on Deep Six Records in 1997 on both LP and CD. Issued with a one-sided 8.5"x11" insert. The Infest track on this comp, Cold Inside, was also the opening track to the No Man's Slave LP. Ripped from CD version.
Reality 3 LP (track 54)
Released on Deep Six in 1999. First 300 LPs of first press were on orange vinyl. Released on CD the same year. This is a kick ass song, but i have no idea when it was recorded. I'm guessing it's an outtake from the No Man's Slave sessions? Also ripped from CD version.
Volume 2
1987 demo (tracks 1-19)
This is missing the song Machismo because the track i had was damaged, but i think there are at least 3 other versions of this song in the collection. Tracks from this 20 song demo were bootlegged a bunch of times. First i know of was a one-sided 7" put out in January, 1993 on Shiny Happy Records. Tracks were Where's the Unity?, If I Were You, and Which Side? Six more tracks were bootlegged in 1994 on the Not Over Yet 7" (no label). Not sure how many of these were pressed, but i remember these being everywhere in the late '90s, on various colors. It was re-issued on black vinyl in 1996. Tracks were Sick of Talk, Life's Halt, The End, Dirty Dope Dealer, Son of the Sun, and Going. Finally (at some point in the past 10 years), the entire 20 track demo was put onto 12" vinyl. It was a Fanclub release, and contained 25 tracks. Kind of an odd release, it contained the demo, plus 3 rehearsal tracks (with samples at the beginnings), and a track titled "Outro", which was actually The Melvins (Echo from the album Gluey Porch Treatments). I'm not sure why that was thrown on there, but if you've never heard that Melvins track, i'd say it would be pretty easy to be tricked into thinking it was Infest. The 1987 Demo LP also came with a lyric sheet and a fold out poster sleeve full of classic flyers.
There was a second guitarist on the demo named Rob Arvizu, who left the band shortly after it was recorded. After the Slave LP, the demo has some of my favorite Infest recordings. Lots of great exclusive songs on here like If I Were You, Snooze-U-Loose, Son of the Sun, Going, The End, and Dirty Dope Dealer (one of my favorite Infest tracks). These songs would have made a hell of a 7". The demo has a great raw sound, and Joe's vocals are more psychotic and manic sounding than on the LP, with a weird echoey effect at times that fits the frantic madness of this demo perfectly. I'm really happy with the sound quality of this one. I was able to bring down the high-end a bit so it doesn't sound so blown out.
Infest/PHC split 8" flexi (tracks 20-27)
Released as an 8" flexi-disk on Slap A Ham Records in 1990 as the label's first release. The original version had 5 Infest tracks recorded live at Gilman on 2/10/89. The Infest track Head First is labeled as "Pissed!". Slap A Ham re-released the record as a 7" in 2000 with 3 extra Infest tracks (from the same show), and 2 extra PHC tracks. The split was bootlegged at some point as the Live and Pissed 7" (no label), with a pretty cool Robert Crumb "Fritz the Cat" cover. These are great live recordings, with a very full and powerful sound.
Live KXLU LP (tracks 28-45)
Recorded live on KXLU on July 1, 1991. This radio set was first put out as a bootleg in 1996 on 10" vinyl entitled How They Poison the Young (Ear Wax Records). Deep Six released it on a 12" in 2001. The majority of the set is from the Mankind 7", with a few comp tracks and a few Slave tracks thrown in. The song entitled Seen It All Before was renamed You're A Star, and Blinded was renamed Freeze Dried, both for the No Man's Slave LP. These are my least favorite Infest recordings, mainly because of Matt Domino's guitar sound which is usually so vicious sounding. To me it's like Infest "unplugged". The energy is still there, but the power is missing. Most people i've talked to have disagreed with me on this, and that's fine. To each his own, i just find it lacking. And with that said it still takes a huge shit on most anything hardcore related in the past 10 years.
Rehearsals (tracks 46-56)
Completely fucking rabid rehearsal session of all Slave tracks. Joe sounds like a complete madman on this, ready to jump out of the speakers and tear your head off. These rehearsal tracks are the one good thing that came out of that completely awful Still Fighting bootleg CD out of Germany. Christ was that thing a mess. They put both the band's first self-released 7" on there as well as the Slave LP, even though they're the exact same recordings. The songs from all of the records (besides Slave) were all lumped into 1 or 2 tracks (28 tracks total for an Infest discography?). And then there's the sound quality. Oof. Anyway, i snagged the rehearsals off that CD and split them up, so like i said, it was good for something. It makes a cool Infest coaster too. Actually i'm being too harsh here. At least they made an effort to get the music out there at a time when the vinyl was hard to find. Cheers!
"INFEST" The dictionary definition: "To overwhelm, swarm, and mar, in a menacing way".
- from Joe Denunzio's Myspace page here.
Unofficial INFEST Myspace pages here and here.
Infest pioneered an entire genre of aggressive hardcore later coined "powerviolence" by Eric Wood of Neanderthal/Man is the Bastard.
Sorry for the month-long intermission. Be assured, the blog is far from dead. I'll get back on track after the holidays, and have tons of great new music in the works.
The Straight Ahead collection was recently revised for superior sound quality. All the studio tracks (the 12-song demo and the Breakaway 12") have been cleaned up nicely. We're talkin' CD quality here. Well worth the download. Check it out here.
I'll be revising lots of older collections in the coming months, until i'm happy with the blog up to this point, then i'll move forward again. First up will be Warzone, Token Entry and AbombAnation (i didn't realize how poorly that demo sounded). I'll also be updating the INFEST collection as a 2xCD, with a lot more recordings and much better sound. Since i don't think the discography on Deep 6 will ever happen, i'll try and make it as comprehensive as possible. I also found a new way to clean tracks which i tested on a few INFEST tracks, and i'm really happy with the results.
The Born Without A Face discography will most likely be the first new post (thanks to Geeheeb), and will contain the "Psyche" demo from 1984, the "Freakshow" demo from 1985, both the band's eps and some extras. Roughly 40 tracks, all mastered.
Please keep the suggestions, downloads and band info comin'. I appreciate all the help.
I'm still looking for the following sets recorded live on WFMU:
Merel
Native Nod
Infamous Basturds
Rorschach (without the first track cut)
Huasipungo
Token Entry
also looking for NY Hoods live at CBGB (i know this exists!)
Happy Holidays
Vin
The late '80s straight edge scene in Orange County, CA had it's share of great bands. Insted and Uniform Choice come to mind as being at the forefront. But No For An Answer, fronted by the always outspoken Dan O'Mahoney, were my personal favorite. They seemed to be on another level. This is a collection of most of the band's released material, aside from the "You Laugh" ep, which is still available through Revelation Records. Great live versions of all the songs from that 7" are scattered throughout this collection, so all the songs the band wrote are in here. Sound quality is excellent. Thanks to Mark Anthony, Claude, Graig and anyone else who helped with the music. Enjoy.
No For An Answer collection
A Though Crusade LP
Dan O'Mahoney - vocals
Gavin Oglesby - guitar
Sterling Wilson - bass
Chris Bratton - drums
NFAA's full-length was a huge step up from the band's debut 7", both musically and lyrically. "A Thought Crusade" was recorded at Spot Recordings 8/88 through 10/88 and originally released on Hawker Records later that year. It was re-released in 1996 on CD with the Carry Nation "Face the Nation" ep as bonus tracks. Carry Nation was a Dan O'Mahoney and Gavin Oglesby side project band, who's only ep was originally released in 1989 on Workshed Records. All versions of "A Thought Crusade" and the CD re-issue with Carry Nation are long out of print.
Free For All comp LP
This classic comp was a 4-way split (Token Entry, Wrecking Crew, Rest in Pieces and NFAA) all recorded live at CBGB on April 9, 1989. Released on Hawker Records in 1989.
The Icemen Cometh comp 7"
This comp featured Pushed Aside, Hard Stance, Slapshot and NFAA, all recorded live at the Whiskey in Hollywood on May 17, 1989. It was released on Nemesis Records in 1990. Great live version of an unreleased song called Man Against Man. The recording here was taken from the CD version.
Open Your Eyes Vol. 1 comp tape
This was the first in a series of cassette compilations released by Open Your Eyes fanzine out of Seattle. Vol. 1 (released in '89) was a collection of various demo and live tracks from lots of great bands, including Unit Pride, Breakaway, Brotherhood, Insted, Our Gang and Trip 6 just to name a few. Vol. 2 (my favorite of the 2) had tracks from Infest and Turning Point (among many others), and a full live Antidote set recorded at CBGB tacked onto the end. The 3 live No For An Answer tracks from this tape are a bit rough sounding compared to the rest of the collection, but i cleaned them up as best as possible. The live version of "Just Say No" kills.
Live in Treviso, Italy
Recorded on Feb. 11, 1994. Easily the best sounding No For An Answer live set i've ever heard. The sound is amazing, and the set-list and performance is just perfect. Some classic Dan O'Mahoney stage banter as usual throughout this set, and at times pretty amusing because of the language barrier.
"Somebody tell him in Italian... it was a stagedive... there are infinitely more important things in this world... and he's making an ass of himself. And he's pissing me off."
Great stuff. Plus the usual (and always intelligent) ranting about child abuse, police brutality etc.
Aside from what's in this collection, the band also released the "You Laugh" ep in 1988 on Revelation Records (Rev 06) and appeared on a few other comps (still in print). There was also a studio bootleg of the band's demo for the "You Laugh" ep called "Last Warning", released in 1993 on We Laugh Records. 500 made, and includes an unreleased a cappella type song labeled "We Are the World".
You Laugh ep (1988) lineup:
Dan O'Mahoney - vocals
Gavin Oglesby - guitar
John Mastropaolo - bass
Casey Jones - drums
After NFAA broke up, Dan formed 411, and later Speak 714.
Other members of the band have played in various hardcore bands, including Inside Out, Unity, Justice League and Ignite.
Dan O'Mahoney on No For An Answer:
NFAA was supposed to be mid paced and somewhat melodic like mid-model GI or Stalag 13, Dag Nasty even... whoops!
When Youth off Today came through opening up for 7 Seconds (in '86 I believe) everything changed. They were so aggressive, so bent on networking with everyone they met, knowing those guys made you immediately a part of something. I remember Ray getting my number from Billy and calling me at home even though we'd never met simply because we shared so many friends. We talked for an hour and worked together and sometimes in opposition to each other but always as friends for many years to follow. In those early days the group identity had not yet become quite so codified. By '87/'88 NFAA was making waves of its own and already starting to resist several facets of the youth crew movement. If you look at the lyrics to the "A Thought Crusade" record this resistance is pretty clear.
Check out the full interview (in 7 parts) right here, on Double Cross.
Blog to check out: Dave K's Digital Fanzine Preservation Society (DFPS) blog. An archive of scanned hardcore zines spanning the early '80s into the '00s. The site has been up for a very short amount of time and already Dave Koenig and company has amassed well over 30 zines, including issues of In Effect, Boiling Point, Even the Score, Urban Decay, and of course every issue of Dave K and Brett Beach's classic Hardware zine. Plus much more. As if that wasn't enough, there's a the "History of Hardware Omnibus". Dave K:
This PDF has my history of Hardware Fanzine, Brett's intro, all the flyers were made and handed out to advertise the 'zine and interviews conducted by others with us. This pretty much lays out what Brett and I accomplished with Hardware.
And the icing on the cake. A free download of Dave's unfinished book "New York Hardcore 1986-1993: A Time We Will Remember". Just over 200 pages in PDF format. If you're reading this post right now, chances are this is a book you'll be interested in. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one myself. NYC d
uring the late '80s and early '90s was an amazing time for hardcore.
So take a trip down memory lane. If you're an old timer like myself, you'll find this blog to be a goldmine. Stop by, download some zines you lost, sold, or traded 15+ years ago, and leave a comment letting Dave know his hard work is appreciated. It literally takes 10 seconds to say "great job, keep up the good work" or whatever. I'd say this is one of the most important hardcore related blogs kicking right now, and hopefully it lives on for a while.
The DFPS blog is always looking for help. If you can contribute in any way by contributing or scanning old zines etc., i'm sure that would help a great deal. Check the blog for more info on how to help out.
And spread the word. If you have a blog, link DFPS. Tell people about it, put it on message boards... whatever.
I posted an Altercation collection back in April, but after recently listening to it, i decided it was about time to revise as much of it as i could. Basically i was able to clean up the bare essentials: the 1987 demo, the 3 unreleased rehearsal tracks, and the CBGB set. Unfortunately the WNYU set and interview were beyond repair, but the band only wrote 10 tracks, and most of them are already here twice. I'd say this is all you really need, but if you want to check out the radio recordings, the old Altercation post is still on the blog. I think the demo came out great. The first track is still a bit rough, but after that all the tracks sound really clean, and each instrument clearly audible. Since this is my favorite NYHC demo, it's great to finally hear it like this, as opposed to the muddy wall of noise i've been listening to for years. Two of the three rehearsal tracks, "Liberty or Death" and "A New Tomorrow", also came out really well. "Getting Away With Murder"... not so much. The CBGB set came out pretty good, considering the source i had to work with was a blown-out mess under a thick blanket of tape hiss. Bottom line... this is as good as it gets. Which is a shame really. If ever a NYHC band needed a legit discography, this would be it.
So here you go. 18 tracks of fucking Altercation. Best quality you'll find. Thanks again to Patrick Lindenhof (great guy) for his help (even though i didn't use his version of the demo). Enjoy!
Altercation: 1987 (the revised collection)
Crazy Jay Skin - vocals
Rude Paul Crude - guitar
Myles Reiff - guitar
Eddie Cohen - bass
Andy Guida - drums
The Altercation demo was recorded at Don Fury Studios in 1987.
Andy Guida on the Altercation demo:
I remember bits and pieces of recording the demo at Don Fury's but nothing worth nothing. Vague memories of listening back to each take and sitting in the tiny shit ass drum booth he had. We tried to record a second demo at some studio in Brooklyn but I think Eddie didn't show up and I don't know what happened to the tapes.
I think the songs are great, the lyrics are pretty stupid but we were kids. Actually Paul's girlfriend at the time wrote the lyrics. I think we played really well for a bunch of kids. I still listen to it for enjoyment once in a while. We were so short lived but we got to leave a mark. We were lucky. I still meet new people who tell me that they really like that demo. There was a time when I was embarrassed by the band but I am grateful now that I was a part of it.
Excerpts taken from Double Cross. You can read the entire interview here.
The three rehearsal tracks were recorded at the Grid Box Studio in Brooklyn on April 3, 1987. There were actually 3 rehearsal sessions recorded, the other two recorded on March 4 and March 21, both rehearsals of demo tracks. The final session (included here) was a 3-song rehearsal of the songs that didn't make it to the demo. "A New Tomorrow" and "Getting Away With Murder" also appear on the CBGB set, but "Liberty or Death" is exclusive to this session. Info by Chris Minicucci. You can read more on the Grid Box sessions here.
Andy Guida on the beginning of Altercation and the Grid Box days:
I went to high school with Myles, who played rhythm guitar in Altercation. He and I were trying to start a band. We had some songs and we practiced in my parents' basement. He knew Eddie, who played bass in the band, from the hardcore scene. Eddie knew Jay (vocals) and Paul (lead guitar) and the three of them were trying to put a band together. We were all kids from Brooklyn so we got together at a studio that was called Gridrock (Grid Box), in Brooklyn. I still remember sitting in McDonald's after one of our rehearsals trying to come up with a name. I was looking through the newspaper and I came across the word "altercation." It seemed a sufficiently angry word which fit our collective mindset. We were a study in varying degrees of teenage anger and frustration. Some of us started or got into a lot of fights and did a lot of drugs. Altercation rehearsals were a cloud of pot smoke. Amazing we remembered our songs because we smoked a shit load of pot. How were we so stoned and still so angry? Amazing.
Excerpts taken from the always great Double Cross.
According to Andy, Altercation only played 4 shows, 2 at CBGB and 2 at The Pyramid. The live set in this collection was recorded at CBGB on June 7, 1987, with Sheer Terror and some metal bands. The other CBGB show (4/5/87) was a double record release party for Warzone and Youth of Today, also on the bill was Side by Side. Apparently a great sounding soundboard tape of this exists. If anyone has it, please get in touch. Thanks to Chris for the info.
Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Moondog, Rival Schools) on Altercation:
Altercation were so amazing that they scared me. They were so good but so evil and fucked up. There was a second there when I thought the dark side just might win. Altercation were fucking awesome Brooklyn skinhead metal... it was the first time I ever heard metal techniques in hardcore, like a proper guitar squeal. Biohazard probably capitalized on their spirit, but say what you will about them, I think that Altercation was about a million times better.
You can read the entire interview with Rival Schools (Walter and Sammy) here.
Altercation's last show was at the Pyramid with Death Before Dishonor. Shortly after that show, Jay and Paul left Altercation to join Warzone and Altercation broke up. Mark Ryan, vocalist of Death Before Dishonor (now called Supertouch), was so impressed with Andy's drumming at the Pyramid show, that he asked him to join Supertouch.
The break-up of Altercation came too soon, as (according to Sammy Siegler of Side By Side, Youth Of Today, Judge, Project X, Gorilla Biscuits...) there was talk of Schism releasing an Altercation album shortly before they broke up. That ranks up there with the Krakdown/NY Hoods split LP as a record that would have destroyed most anything else at the time. Oh well, i'm just glad we have the demo. It's timeless.
Sammy Siegler on Altercation:
I think Altercation were the best unsung band from back then.
I agree.
Some notes of interest:
Eddie Cohen also played in Sick Of It All and Leeway.
Myles Reiff went on to do some great things in the entertainment business. Including co-writing The Road to Graceland, a trilogy of animated prequels to the Warner Bros. release, 3000 Miles to Graceland, starring Kevin Costner and Christian Slater. From there he went on to do work for Universal , Lions Gate Films, A&E, the History Channel, FX and Bravo. You can read his IMDB bio here.
Clenched Fist were a great, but short-lived hardcore band with members in NYC and North Jersey. Kind of a NY hardcore supergroup with members that were in (and would go on to be in) Mental Abuse, Breakdown, Born Against, Life's Blood, Citizens Arrest, Jersey Fresh and Outgroup. This is a collection of the band's 1987 demo, and 6 songs recorded live at CBGB. Great sound quality. Thanks to Chris Fist for the info, and for letting me put this collection on my blog. Enjoy!
Clenched Fist: 1987
Demo lineup:
Perry Pelonero - vocals
Chris Fist - guitar
Neil Burke - bass
Dave Jones - drums
The band formed in '86, and before Perry joined, the infamous Sid Sludge of Mental Abuse was on vocals. Apparently there are rehearsal recordings that exist with Sid on the mic. Maybe one day they'll surface. After Dave Jones left the band, Daryl Kahan and Todd Waladkewics both filled in on drums for a while.
I discovered Clenched Fist back in '87 on Pat Duncan's radio show on WFMU. The songs "Eagle Eyes" and "At the Beach" were on Pat's playlist most Thursdays (which i taped every week religiously). It was only a couple years ago that i was able to get a copy of the entire demo, and the live set. This stuff sounds just as good as it did over 20 years ago.
The demo was recorded in New Jersey in '87. The song "Inner Strength" would later be the template for the song "Eulogy" by Born Against, which was released on a 2-song 7" (the other song being a cover of X's "Riding With Mary") on Vermiform Records in 1990. It came with issue #37 of Sam McPheeter's zine "Dear Jesus". The last track on the Clenched Fist demo, "Get Away" was originally an Outgroup (pre-Mental Abuse) song. Mental Abuse would also play this song live on occasion, and it's probably been covered by bands countless times. It's a NJHC classic.
The live set was recorded at CBGB on July 5th, 1987, with Tommy Prong working the board. Also on the bill was Dag Nasty and Suburban Uprise. The first track, titled "Mud Party", was the music to another old Outgroup song called "I Hate Japs", with the lyrics altered to be less offensive. The original Outgroup version was barely 30 seconds long. The rest of the set is basically all the songs from the demo.
CF also played shows with Youth of Today, Sheer Terror, Dag Nasty, Token Entry, and many other great NYHC bands.
Perry Pelonero was in Krieg Kopf (for about 2 weeks). Dave Jones was in Mental Abuse, Outgroup, and most notably played drums on Agnostic Front's classic "Victim in Pain" album. Chris Fist was in Breakdown, Mental Abuse and Life's Blood. Neil Burke was in Life's Blood and Born Against. Daryl Kahan was in Citizens Arrest, Born Against, True Colors and many death metal, black metal and powerviolence bands. Todd played in Jersey Fresh. Sid Sludge played in Mental Abuse and Outgroup (and i'm still not sure if he actually passed away).
Members of Clenched Fist have recently reformed, and Chris Fist is in the process of writing material for a new ep. It's going to kick ass so keep your eyes peeled.
You can check out the Clenched Fist Myspace page here.
