Flex Your Head

Just came across the original version of this classic Minor Threat photo from the back cover of the Flex Your Head comp. I don't recall ever seeing the photo without the high contrast as it's seen on Flex Your Head, so I thought this was kinda cool. -Tim DCXX

Septic Death - "Now That I Have Your Attention, What Do I Do With It?"

Septic Death - "Now That I Have Your Attention, What Do I Do With It?", my very first hardcore record. Picked it up through the June 1986 issue of Thrasher Magazine when I signed up for my subscription. Pretty extreme album to be ushered in by, definitely not a light weight collection of music by any means. Heavy, intense, manic and just about as raw as it gets. Septic Death really was Pushead's art and vision personified. I definitely had never heard anything like Septic Death up until that point and I'm pretty certain that 25 years later, I still haven't.

Never heard Septic Death? Do yourself a favor and search em' out. Be warned though, they are not for the faint of heart. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of destruction, something along the lines of what bands like Citizens Arrest and Infest went on to do years after Septic Death's demise. A Maximum RockNRoll article said it best, "Religions were formed to create a god, and god was created, so you wouldn't fear death, and the reality of dying is Septic Death". Make and effort, show your hardware. -Tim DCXX

Livewire / Double Cross shirt collaboration round II

Last week we debuted a brand new Double Cross / Livewire collaboration shirt design and to our surprise, all 36 shirts sold out instantly. In the wake of those shirts selling out, we received a lot of messages from people that wanted shirts, but missed out on that first round. In response, we've decided to order up 48 more shirts, only this time we've switched the athletic gray with vintaged black ink colorway to a brand new colorway, black premium tri-blend tees with vintaged dark gray faded ink.

Again, these shirt are one-sided, printed with super-soft, vintaged ink (16" across) on a black, premium tri-blend track tee (50% Polyester 25% Cotton 25% Rayon.) The shirts are pre-shrunk, extremely soft, and fit like your favorite 20+ year old tee.

So if you're interested, follow the link below or click on the sidebar ad and get your order in quick before this batch sells out. To anyone that got in an order for the first round of shirts, they've all been shipped, so keep an eye on your mail box. And if you were looking for XXL, we've added a few of them this time around. Thanks. -Tim DCXX

Livewire Double Cross Webstore


Another flyer that was an inspiration to this shirt design

Geoff Nicholson - Buffalo photographer

Civ and Wally with Gorilla Biscuits at The Pipe Dragon, Buffalo NY, Spring 1988, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

One of the things I like the most about doing DCXX is finding people who did some lesser-known albeit very cool stuff during their time in hardcore. A perfect example of this is a guy like Geoff Nicholson, a now California-based photographer who took some great photos of the Buffalo hardcore scene in the late 80s and was a part of the fanzine Pushed Too Far. Some of his great HC shots have circulated over the last couple years, and it made me wonder who was on the other side of the camera. Although some readers may wonder why we would interview a guy who only took some photos for a few years, the reality is that Tim and I love getting more info on practically anybody that was involved with the bands we love - even if was simply by taking photos.

Beyond that, we thought Geoff was able to provide some great info on the Buffalo scene from that time period. Thanks Geoff. -Gordo DCXX
geoffreynicholson.com


Zulu with BOLD at The Pipe Dragon, Buffalo NY, Spring 1988, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

When and where did you first get into punk/HC? What else were you into (or perhaps, not into) at the time?

Prior to punk my music tastes were pretty limited, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Kinks, many older records my dad had. I first heard "punk" through a friend's older sister when I was very young, 11-12. She used to babysit me and played me the Clash, "London Calling." I was fortunate enough to see the Clash play at the University of Buffalo in 1984, not the best line up, but it was a new experience for me.

Before that, the only live concerts I saw were with my parents, the Kinks and also the Police the year before. Soon after I heard the Clash I got the Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks." I thought that was a heavy record. I wasn't into many popular bands at that point in junior high, 1980s pop wasn't for me. It wasn't until I started high school in 1985 that I was turned onto hardcore. A friend's older brother played us Black Flag's "Damaged," and various other Los Angeles hardcore bands, Fear, Circle Jerks, and Suicidal Tendencies. From that point on I forgot all about British "punk". I could relate more with the American hardcore bands, plus the sound was much louder, heavier, and faster, plus the bands were more about the music, not all about the funky hair and clothes.


Slap Shot at Metal Shop, North Tonawanda NY, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

How did photography tie in with your interest in live music? Did you shoot bands from the beginning?

Sadly, I wish I had started photographing at shows earlier than I did. I didn't really start actively taking a camera to shows until some point in 1987. My first hardcore show was Black Flag on their final tour in 1986 at Sun Ship studios on Main Street in Buffalo, my second show a few months later was the Circle Jerks at Buff State, and DRI/Dr. Know/Die Kreuzen at a Knights of Columbus hall in Cheektowaga, all were shows I really wish I had taken pictures at. At the time just being at the those shows blew me away.


An X'ed up Roger with Agnostic Front at Metal Shop, North Tonawanda NY, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

A friend and I started making a fanzine called "Pushed Too Far" for a short period of time in 1987-88, this was when I started taking pictures at many shows, SNFU, Agnostic Front, Dag Nasty, Slap Shot, DRI, among others. For the fanzine, my friend Mike did the interviews and I did all the photography. For whatever reason though, I wasn't shooting at all the shows; I guess I was just shooting bands that I really liked. The fanzine was the only place where my hardcore band photos saw the light of day until very recently when I started posting some online. While digging through old negatives I found shots I'd never even seen before. When doing the fanzine I'd just look at the negatives with a lamp and pick a couple to print. I never made proof sheets then, so I never had any idea what other shots I had until years later.

To this day I'm still amazed my film came out ok. I had no real training in photography, just a very basic explanation on how the camera and flash worked from my dad, who did photography and darkroom work as a hobby.


Steve Reddy with Wolf Pack at Metal Shop, North Tonawanda NY, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

What was the Buffalo scene like in the mid/late 80s? Where did you see shows, and what bands stood out both locally and as touring acts?

Many of the original hardcore bands were fading somewhat at the point when my friends and I came into it, it was the start of that second wave of hardcore bands starting. Don't get me wrong, the bands were still amazing and the shows were always a great time. We were considered the kiddies at the early shows, we were 14 at the time. The Buffalo scene was fairly small, so you knew almost everyone. From 1986-1988 shows were going on constantly. Hardcore was everything to us, finding new records and going to shows was all we wanted to do. The scene was tight then, the same people at every show, no one really got seriously hurt in the pit because you looked out for each other. Shows were where everyone would meet, we lived all over the city but the shows brought us together.

It was when metal dudes started coming to shows and thinking that it was ok to try to actually hurt people. It was in that time frame, 1988 or so when the term slam dancing turned into "Moshing." No more circle pit, and shows got rougher. I feel at this point was when you got more morons and meatheads turning up at shows causing problems. Sometimes you'd get skinheads coming down from Toronto for shows on occasion, these guys being the ultimate violent morons in my book. I feel the scene did split somewhat because Buffalo was heavily influenced by East Coast/NYC hardcore bands, as well as the straight edge movement preaching their holier than thou silliness.




Judge at The Pipe Dragon, Buffalo NY, Spring 1988, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

The bands from NYC were great, but it was a different mentality, more of a tough guy thing. I'm not a violent guy, I gravitated to more D.C. bands, Beefeater, Minor Threat, Soulside, Scream, Dag Nasty and one of my all time favorites Government Issue. Bands which were more about being yourself, thinking for yourself, or just having fun. But only a handful of those bands played Buffalo.

It was at the end of the 1980s that it felt like all the bands were starting to sound the same, all either NYC hardcore or bands playing that sound. Sick of it All, Agnostic Front, and Underdog stick out for me as the more memorable bands from NYC, there were other good bands, but it was all too similar for me. Shows were at many different places, Am vets in Riverside, various other Am vets and Knights of Columbus halls, Painters Hall on Elmwood, Mr. Goodbar, numerous great shows at the Metal Shop in North Tonawanda, the Turtle Indian museum in Niagara Falls (Corrosion of Conformity, Gang Green, and Uniform Choice I think), UB, Buff State, the Pipe Dragon had many great shows too, later, in 1988 the River Rock Café was probably the last place I went to hardcore shows in Buffalo. Bands/shows I will always remember: the Circle Jerks at Buff State, an absolutely insane show. We got to meet both Keith Morris and Greg Hetson before the show; I'm not sure why they came up to us, maybe being much younger than most of the people at the college run show. For whatever reason I remember Keith telling us he'd been living off of rice for months, he looked totally emaciated. I didn't know who this guy (Keith) talking to us was until Greg Hetson came up, we recognized him from photos. I recall them both being extremely nice and friendly, which was cool because we knew no one else at the show. Being clueless, my friends and I were standing right up front of the stage before the Circle Jerks came on. When the band hit the stage the crowd turned into a massive tidal wave of bodies. I ended up being pushed onstage, and then on top on a stage monitor, being stepped on by stage divers and the likes, Keith Morris pulled me up and probably saved me from cracking some ribs.


Dag Nasty at Metal Shop, North Tonawanda NY, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

Another fantastic show was SNFU at the Am vets in Riverside. The show was a blast, Chi Peg, the singer, doing flips and hitting donuts into the audience with a tennis racket. Just a great, fun band. Other great shows, any other SNFU show for that matter, the many times DRI played, the Accused, Agnostic Front, Gorilla Biscuits, Murphy's Law, Straight Ahead, Corrosion of Conformity, Dag Nasty, Verbal Assault, Underdog, Suicidal Tendencies, too many to remember.

The most popular local hardcore band had to be Third Man In, later known as New Balance, then finally as Zero Tolerance. Most other local acts played a couple shows and that was it, Pathetic Fallacy, D.I.E., and SAO to name a few. Sadly the Goo Goo Dolls opened for way too many hardcore shows, they were WAY better back then, but didn't really belong opening up for say, DRI. Hell, they even opened for Motorhead in North Tonawanda in 1988. I found that to be quite a joke.

I feel fortunate seeing all the bands I did, I'll always look back and remember what a good time in music that era was, and all the good times we had. It was something that could never repeat itself.


Porcell with Youth Of Today at The Pipe Dragon, Buffalo NY, Spring 1988, Photo: Geoff Nicholson

Another new band to check out

Peace - Baltimore, MD - Stephen / Vocals, Mike / Guitar, Andy / Bass, Dan / Drums
Peace

Porcell and Tim Brooks on the Pat Sajak show 1989

Two record collecting sites you should check out

Kyle's Minor Threat 7" collection

There's a lot of great hardcore blogs and websites out there and considering the fact they we've been doing DCXX for three years now and have accumulated a pretty solid following, I think it's important to shine a little light on the efforts of others. Here are two blogs that are well worth checking out and following. -Tim DCXX

Seeking The Simple is a killer site put together by Rivalry Records mastermind, Kyle Whitlow. Lots of cool content on this site, but the highlight material for me is the showcasing of Kyle's record collection. Kyle has a remarkable eye for detail and leaves no stones unturned when he breaks down each and every record. Kyle's Dischord and Revelation collection is just mind blowing and it's obvious that he's spent a great deal of time documenting everything. Check it out at: Seeking The Simple


Kyel's Warzone - "Lower East Side Crew" 7" collection

The second site I wanted to clue people in to is this very simple, but fun Revelation Records Vinyl Tumblr page. I happened to come across it a few weeks back and have been following it ever since. It's updated pretty much daily, so there's always something new popping up. All the images that have been posted have been collected off the internet, so it's pretty interesting that someone can put together an entire site based solely on Revelation Records vinyl images that they find or that are submitted. I happened to submit some images myself just yesterday, so if there are people reading this and have some Rev vinyl photos, submit away! Here's the link: Revelation Records Vinyl


This insane GB 7" collection photo was pulled off of the Revelation Records Vinyl site

Livewire / Double Cross shirt collaboration

Brand new Livewire / Double Cross collaboration shirt

It's summertime 2011 and what better time to drop a brand new Double Cross shirt? This design has been brewing for a while now and just finally came to fruition. Double Cross silent-partner and head honcho over at Livewire Records, Ed McKirdy, put this simple yet powerful design together all himself.

Totally inspired by the early 80's, Dischord / X-Claim era, this shirt looks like something you could have picked up at a 1983 Boston, Gallery East, SSD show or a Minor Threat show at the Wilson Center in DC. Shirt quality and print style are all intentionally combined for a vintage look and feel.

This first batch of shirts is limited to a run of 36. The plan is to see how this batch does and from there we'll decide on a second run and alternate color combo. If you like what you see and want to grab one of these, follow the link for more information and get your order in before they are all gone. Thanks for the support. -Tim DCXX

Livewire Double Cross Webstore


This particular Gallery East flyer was a huge inspiration to the design of these new DCXX shirts

Mark Holcomb - Undertow part III

John with an Undertow sing along at The Glasshouse, 2009, Photo: Tom Holcomb

At this point you're putting out records, and the lyrical content is getting really dark and heavy and emotional. I was just wondering what inspired this shift.

Both me and John probably split the lyrics in half. If there was a song that I wrote and I felt it should be sung a certain way, I was writing the lyrics. But I think both of us were just in a place where it seemed redundant to sing about . . . we were too young, I mean we're not going to sing about politics or the way the world should be. [As for] singing about straight edge - for everybody in Undertow it was a personal thing. In Seattle, outside of Murph, everybody I went to high school with, nobody was straight edge. Just me and him, and maybe a few other kids. But for us it was all a very personal thing. We sang about being vegetarian, but I think we realized kind of quickly, "Everybody's doing this. I'm just going to write about what's fucking bothering me. " All of us in the band didn't necessarily have the best upbringings, and probably listened to a lot of Rites of Spring (laughs).

What kind of upbringing are you talking about here? What kind of home lives did the members have?

I think I can say for me, Murph and Demian that there was sort of absentee parents. And we certainly found a connection with our friends, especially in the band, that we're doing something special, and we LOVE this and we're going to keep doing this. I don't want to say they were all bad, and you'd have to talk to those other guys about it, and my upbringing wasn't BAD. I could do whatever I want from the age of 15 on. You know, come home at midnight.

So you're like a latch-key kid.

Yeah, and so fortunately we found something pretty positive to be involved in. And then John's upbringing - I don't know. He actually lived about 45 minutes away from all of us, so we would see him at practice. We were just talking about personal experiences. And stuff that was like ex-girlfriends, and being in high school, and living on our own for the first time, and it's about family. That's what we could write. I couldn't make a speech like Ray could about, "Let's change the world," because I'm fucking 19, and I'm a fucking fuck-up. Ha.


Mark getting aggro at the Burning Fight show, 2009, Photo: Tom Holcomb

There are a few songs that I want to know specifically what they are about. What's the song "Control" about?

I wrote it, the lyrics to it. For me, and all the guys in Undertow knew this - I guess we felt like we were preaching to the choir. That we felt like we were doing this independent thing, but at that point we felt like everything had kind of shifted into being a clique - that it's all about having an X Swatch, and having the tour shirt, and all this and that, and we're singing songs on stage that people are psyched on and I guess getting from a message from, and we're part of the scene, but we're kind of just speaking out redundancies, you know, about preaching to the choir. And I realized at a certain point, well, I want to be in Indecision, I want to be in Boiling Point, I want to be in these fanzines, but I realized I wasn't really having independent thought, that everything I was doing was kind of based around what's going to elevate Undertow or what's going to make me look better, which is what we all do in cliques, but I realized straight edge at that time had become a clique, where everybody's wearing the same clothes. You can't say for the punk kids, "Look at them with their fucking studs, and jean jackets, and leather jackets," while WE are all wearing the same uniform. Everyone wants the coolest shirt. It just became apparent that this isn’t really independent thought that we're preaching about.

Control -
Follow your rules so I can be myself.
Listen to what you say so I can think for myself.
Everything I say has been said before.
Everything I think has been thought before.
who is in control?
All my beliefs have been traced out for me.
My fate has been laid out for me.
I look in the mirror and all I see is you.
I look at myself and all I see is you.
who is in control?
Ill fight you, Ill resist you.
You cant control me

How about the song "Cedar"?

That's our anti-God song. Nobody in the band is religious. We're all atheists. Some of us have religious upbringings. That [song] is a straight up "No God" [message].

Cedar -
Born into it, taught to believe.
Told to find him inside of me.
Set me free.
Engraved messages, directed to follow. Conditioned path, forced to swallow.
Set me free.
You tell me to kneel, bow down to his grace and plea forgiveness.
If what I've done is wrong in his eyes then let my own spirit be my guide.
Forced to swallow your lies.
I cannot swallow your lies.

You mentioned that your mother is Catholic. Did you have a Catholic upbringing?

Yeah. My mom almost became a nun before she met my dad. I didn't go to Catholic school. It's not as bad as some other people have it. It's pretty mild. I went to First Communion, and did the whole thing up until I was like 13. My mom was like, "I'm tired of dragging you to this shit. If you don't want to go, don't go." I think I've been to church once [since then], on Christmas Eve FOR my mom.

She wasn't heartbroken that you didn't stick with the religion?

She still is to this day! I wouldn't say she thinks I'm going to Hell, but she's scared for me. I guess there's that. Disappointed, I would say. Me and her have talked about this, and she will say, "Well yeah. I'm disappointed, I'm scared. Maybe God won't let you into Heaven."


Murph with Undertow at Burning Fight, 2009, Photo: Tom Holcomb

What did you think of the religious messages in a lot of hardcore lyrics at the time, examples being the whole Krishna-core thing?

I always felt like they had a right to say what they wanted to say, because that to me is the idea about punk rock. And you don't have to listen to it, or you can. It was a little weird, well a lot weird that the guy from Youth of Today became a Hare Krishna, and I know the guys from Cro-Mags. There was this movement going on and people were kind of like, "Oh I love Shelter." But you're singing about being Hare Krishna. I always thought that there's always going to be a balance with bands like Undertow and what's that fucking band that Kent McClard put out? Downcast. There are going to be other bands within the scene saying, "No no, this is fucking stupid," but I always felt like I hated being at shows when people were telling people to shut up on stage. Maybe it's my own personal thing, but I always thought, "Well we're going to get up and say the exact opposite." We're punk rock. Everybody should be entitled to say what they want. Although, in retrospect, I don't think religion has a place in punk rock at all.

Why is that?

Conformity. To me punk rock is about being who you want to be. It doesn't necessarily mean you need have to have a fucking mohawk. It's an ideal that, "I'm independent. I don't need to follow anything." And religion - the whole concept is believing in one thing. Does that make sense?

Yep, it does.

I gotta say I love 108. Everything Vic Dicara does is fucking sick as shit. And I love Rob Fish's voice. It's hard not to like that stuff. Undertow did a bunch of shows with Shelter, and they're all fucking really nice guys, and there are parts of Krishna . . . I'm still vegetarian. So the animal rights movement and kind of being at peace. I think Buddhism is okay in a sense, in that it's more personal thought than it is . . . I don't like religion as a movement, but if you find personal peace in it then I guess I'm okay with that.

What's the song "Everything" about?

I wrote that song too, the lyrics. It's about a specific person, and not in a bad way. It was kind of along the same lines as "Control" in that we realized we were doing things to impress the people that we thought we needed to impress.

Everything -
Tell me how you feel. Your opinion means everything to me. I can't make up my mind. Open my eyes to what you see. Tell me what you're thinking. I need to know. Without knowing what you think, I feel so alone. Why do I let you make the call. Why do I let you decide it all. My world is decided by what you think. Without your voice I sink. Hanging on your every word. Deciding what's right or wrong. The strength that your words bring, make me feel like I belong. Holding you so high. Your thoughts become my religion. Everything you say clouds my own decisions.

It's about a girl right?

No. It's about a dude. It's about a friend. It's just kind of a heart-felt thing that I realized that, wow, I'm trying to impress this person. It was about, "I'm trying to impress these people." Everything I do is . . . I'm trying to remember the lyrics.


Demian with Undertow in 2009, Photo: Tom Holcomb

Who was it about?

I don't want to say. It's kind of embarrassing. (laughs) It's a good friend, I'm still friends with him. He knows the song is about him. If there's a fifth member to Undertow, he might be it. Good friend of everybody's, still hangs out and shit. I think we realized . . . we became self-aware of what we were doing to impress other people. It wasn't just about, "I want to write a great riff." It was, "I want to write this great riff so that I can impress this person who will then influence all these other people." It just kind of became self-aware. I mean there are PLENTY of songs about girls. (laughter)

You just haven't named them yet!

We have like five or six songs about heartbreak.

Were there females that kind of rolled with your posse, so to speak?

Yeah. They used to be called the Underho's. (laughter) Yeah, and I would say there was some cross-pollenization going on.

You mean girls who dated multiple members?

There was one girl who dated three of us that I almost dated, and fooled around with while she was dating John.


John and Mark deliver Undertow to the Burning Fight crowd, Photo: Tom Holcomb

Did you guys get mad at each other for that kind of stuff?

No . . . well yeah. I think Murph and Seth had issues. Me personally, I think I probably screwed up a few situations. I was like, "Well, oh well." I was so involved with music that I didn't really think about girls that much. There were two that kind of broke up the band, made things real hard. But we were all so young. There were some girls that . . . yeah. Were . . . yeah. (laughter) One of them I think is fucking awesome to this day, and one of them, I love hearing that shit's bad for her. And she's dating I don't want to say who, and I don't want to name names, but she's dating a guy in a HUGE band and from what I hear, it's just awful. (laughter) He just cheats on her, and they have a kid together, and she's a fucking mess. The other one was just innocent. Just having fun. "I like this guy so I'm going to like him." The other one I think maybe manipulated shit and really caused a lot of friction.

Moving onto lighter topics . . .

I like talking about all that shit. (laughs)

Tell me about the Seattle-San Diego connection and what kind of influence you had on bands like Unbroken.

I like to think it was mutual. We became friends with them. Ron and Dave used to get us tours. This is the second generation of Undertow where Joel is still singing and Seth . . . well Seth was from San Diego and that was another big connection. So it was really easy for us to come down on spring break and get us shows. You just had to say you were a straight edge band. Seth knew all the guys in Unbroken. I think him and Rob [Moran] grew up together and we became fast friends with those guys. We were all the same age, and those guys treated us SO well. It was our home away from home, and even as years progressed, we were all starting bands, and both Steve [Miller] and Eric [Allen] could fucking play their brains out when they were fucking 16, and Steve could fucking shred. But I think we were all kind of figuring out our bands, and there was a friendly competition between us and Unbroken. And I think for everybody in Undertow, we liked Unbroken more than we liked anybody else in the scene, not just because we knew the dudes, but . . . I mean we loved Integrity, we loved Burn, there are some more examples, but it was really easy for us to go down to play California, and when we did, we stayed in San Diego. Everybody was in Chula Vista, and they called it the Chula Vista Lench Mob. I swear to God it was like 20 dudes deep. And when Undertow came to town, and I'm sure it wasn't just because of us, but when we were in town and there was a show going on, it would be 20 dudes deep, and you knew them all, and it felt like your cousins that you hadn't seen in a while. Everybody just fucking hung out and we broke into swimming pools. It was the best time in our life. As each band got better there was friendly competition. I wanted to impress the guys in Unbroken. Hopefully they wanted to impress us. I think there was mutual respect. There was no real competition. We were just really good friends coming up at the same time, all the same age. Everybody got along amazingly. There was definitely a bond there. To this day, I'd rather play with Unbroken than anybody else.


Mark with Undertow and the sleeveless Slayer shirt, Photo: Tom Holcomb

When you first played in San Diego, you were playing through a specific type of guitar and a specific type of amp, and that influenced the Unbroken guys to buy the exact same equipment. What was that?

It was a Fender M-80. Solid state. MASSIVE gain, but no balls. And then I used to play a BC Rich, because I was trying to rip off Vic [Dicara], but that broke super fast, and I ended up just buying what I could find. It's called The Paul, but I think they're also called Firebrand. It's a woodgrain Les Paul copy, like a Les Paul Jr. It's like thin and . . .

Made by Gibson though.

Yeah. They were like 400 bucks, and I heard now they're going for like 2 grand. I WISH I still had one. Yeah, that quickly became kind of a west coast sound.

Right, because dudes in Unbroken started playing them.

Twice I got phone calls. One dude I know, and one dude I don't. And I don't want to say who it is, but I got calls from people asking me how I got my sound. And at 18, you're like, "Fuck yeah, dude. (laughter) People want to know about MY sound? Hell yeah." The Fender M-80s were like dirt cheap. They were like 300 bucks or something, and durable as hell. But you listen to them now, and it just hurts my ears.

And then there was also a riff from an Undertow song that Unbroken "borrowed" so to speak. (Mark laughs) What two songs were they?

It is "Taken" from Undertow, and I can't recall what song it is from Unbroken. (laughs)

It's on Life. Love. Regret. I can look it up. [the song is "End of a Life Time" - Ben]

I've heard a bunch of different versions of what happened. I've heard that it happened on accident. The other version that I've heard was that, "I heard it and I liked it so much that I wanted to borrow it." I don't know which one is genuine. I like to think that it was borrowed, because it makes me think that the original riff was good enough that somebody liked it so much. I can appreciate that. Because if you listen to some of the Undertow stuff, I'm straight up ripping off Burn and Integrity. I can play you riff for riff a Swiz riff. "Cutting Away" - it's a Swiz riff.

What Swiz song?

It's the very last song on the first LP. [the song is "Frame" - Ben] And it's all music, but at the very last thing they're doing kind of like fills to fill that last "DUN!" And they do it three different ways, but one of them goes, "DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUUUUN . . . DUN DUN." (laughs) I straight up ripped that off. I'm okay with it. It's kind of been an ongoing joke [between Undertow and Unbroken], because there was a friendly competition. Undertow recorded "Taken" and "Cedar" to test out the studio, before Unbroken went into the studio. So I can verify that. (laughs)


Demian drops the bass, Photo: Tom Holcomb

4 new bands to check out

Step Aside - Tucson, Arizona - Josh / Vocals, David / Guitar, Ryan / Guitar, Chris / Bass, Riley / Drums
Step Aside


The Last Stand - Brooklyn, New York - Michael / Vocals, Stephen / Guitar, Dion / Bass, Jimmy / Drums
The Last Stand


Alert - Western Massachusetts - Mike / Vocals, Kyle / Guitar, Keith / Bass, Jake / Drums
Alert


My Rifle - New York and Georgia - Jason / Vocals, Hobi / Guitar, Lewis / Bass, Andy / Drums
My Rifle

Outburst do it The Hardway

The Outburst boys hangin' at the beach, Photo: BJ Papas

Months back, Outburst drummer Miles To Joe, sent us a a handful of old Outburst photos that he had dug up, all taken by legendary NYHC photographer, BJ Papas. A couple live shots, but most of them just hang out shots. We held back from posting them, thinking that we needed some sort of commentary to go along with them, but honestly, sometimes photos tell the story themselves.

The only thing Joe had to say about the photos was this following quote… "Catch your magic moment and do it right here and now...it means everything." -Van Halen

Thanks to Joe for sending the photos in, now do yourself a favor and go listen to the Outburst tracks off the Where The Wild Things Are comp. -Tim DCXX


Outburst at CBGB, NYC, Photo: BJ Papas


Outburst in the middle of a game of hoops, NYC style, Photo: BJ Papas


Outburst at The Right Track Inn, Photo: BJ Papas


Outburst frontman, Brian Donohoe, shows off his ball handling skills, Photo: BJ Papas

Bad Flag - Black Brains

Not sure of the origins or the story behind this photo, but it started circulating today and it was the first I had ever seen or heard of it. It's obviously HR and Rollins, in what I would assume was a Bad Brains set that Henry came up and did guest vocals for. Pretty damn cool either way. If you've got any info on this, feel free to leave it in the comments section. -Tim DCXX

1990 Revelation Records mock record covers

In 1990 Revelation ran a series of ads promoting a number of records that were slated to be released that year. Various ads had mocked up cover art prior to the release of the records. The majority of of these mocked covers ended up being pretty similar to what the final versions were, but there were some slight differences on a few that I always found to be interesting. Here's a handful of these alternate covers. -Tim DCXX


Rev: 19, Inside Out - 7"
Slightly different cropping of the cover photo here for the Inside Out 7", plus the photo is full bleed. The biggest difference in my eyes is the font choice and placement for Inside Out. Personally I think I prefer this font choice because it's more in line with the typewriter style font that Inside Out used on their shirts.


Rev: 20, Judge - "The Storm" 7"
Different lightning shot here on the Judge "The Storm" 7" cover. Looks to be a church steeple or castle, which I think ads a bit of a creepy/darker factor. Also, no title on the mock as opposed to "There Will Be Quite…" which appears of the actual press.


Rev: 21, Supertouch - "The Earth Is Flat" LP
I always liked this mock up cover for Supertouch's, "The Earth Is Flat". Still very similar to the actual release, but a totally different photo of Mark and Joe, which looks to be taken back stage somewhere. All these ads were black and white, but I thought this cover looked particularly cool in black and white. Like the Judge 7" above, this mocked version had a darker vibe than what appeared on the actual cover and I think I actually prefer it for this one.


Rev: 22, Burn - 7"
The differences on the cover of the Burn 7" are pretty minimal when compared to the actual release, but still there are a couple differences. The mock up has the Burn logo on top as opposed to on the bottom and I definitely think the logo placement made a significant improvement. Those heads in the crowd down there kinda ruin the photo, so covering them up with a Burn logo really turned your attention away from them. The photo cropping was slightly different from this to the release, again making an improvement. I don't know how many bands could use a video screen grab for their record cover and make it look cool, but Rev/Burn definitely made it work for this.

The Way It Is poll wrap up with Ray Cappo

Ray Cappo and Raybeez break it down at a CB's matinee, Photo: Boiling Point

YOT's "Together" took the win in the most recent poll where we asked you what your favorite track was off of the NYC Hardcore The Way It Is comp. This was also the song Tim and I voted for, although there are at least a dozen other stiff contenders on what might be the best comp of all time. Although I'm personally partial to the version of "Together" that appeared previously on the Together seven inch comp (Tim is vehemently more partial to The Way It Is version) , the Way It Is version still beats out anything else on the record for me.

We figured we would go to the guy who wrote this song, fronted YOT, and put out this comp in 1988 to pick his brain a little. Take it away, Ray... - Gordo DCXX


Ray and Walter with Youth Of Today in Boston, Photo: Unknown

When I wrote the lyrics to "Together" for the Together seven inch compilation, the scene was all over the place as far as idealogies, styles, sounds etc. But, we had one thing in common: we were all misfits from our suburban youth culture. Despite all our differences we were like a family of outcasts in a sense and we all had a mutual respect. This is also what Break Down The Walls the song was about. Straight Edge was for self betterment - not a "better than you" mentality. What was once was inspired for self-edification (this was recognized by the end of the Can't Close My Eyes era of YOT) was now turning very elitist and causing more walls than before.

The reason for doing The Way It Is as an LP that expanded off of the Together seven inch was because we realized there was so much more to offer and that the world at this point was interested. So we doubled up tracks and brought in new material. I remember wanting to get Altercation, I liked those guys. I was also happy to showcase BOLD as opposed to the defunct Crippled Youth name. Nausea were roomates and I was tight with them. Hell, we were tight with everyone back then, even YDL.

But, Together...I didn't write the music to this song and I'm not sure who actually wrote it. Believe it or not, it wasn't my favorite song of ours, as the pace was mid tempo and it was copying bands like Cro-Mags and Bad Brains...thus I felt I couldn't sing it so well. But I wrote the words. Some YOT songs definitely mean so much more to me than others. Off the top of my head, Flame Still Burns, Can't Close My Eyes, Make A Change, What Goes Around, Modern Love Story, I Have Faith, Slow Down, the list goes on. Together would be 65 out of 100 if I had to rate it. Sorry...my opinion only :) - Ray Cappo


Walter with Youth Of Today in Boston, Photo: Unknown

Growing up with kids
I can truly call my friends
there from the beginning
and they'll be there until the end
Together we've built this
and all done our part
together we've stood here
right from the start
With all these great experiences
I know I won't forget
all the places that we've traveled
and the people that we've fucking met
Together we've built this
and all done our part
together we've stood here
right from the start
I will never forget
all that we've done
all that it's meant
There's a youth culture rising
In front of your eyes
take pieces of you in my memory
until the day I die
Together we've built this
and all done our part
together we've stood here
right from the start

Youth Of Today - Together - 86
Supertouch - Searchin' For The Light - 77
Breakdown - Sick People - 57
Warzone - As One - 48
Gorilla Biscuits - Better Than You - 23
Side By Side - Time Is Now - 23
Youth Defense League - Blue Pride - 23
Bold - Wise Up - 22
Gorilla Biscuits - Forgotten - 18
Youth Of Today - Understand - 17
Nausea - Fallout Of Our Being - 16
Warzone - Escape From Your Society - 12
Sick Of It All - Pete's Sake - 11
Side By Side - Dead Serious - 11
Trip 6 - Back With A Vengeance - 8
Sick Of It All - Politics - 8
Krakdown - Ignornace - 4


Classic Cappo taking flight, Photo: Unknown