It Came From California!

Last month’s mixtape was a bit of everything, this time I’ve got some sort of a concept thing going since all bands represented here are old bands from California. This is the kind of hardcore I first got in contact with, through bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise, and it’s still a style I’m totally into.

Get it here: http://rapidshare.com/files/61865586/07VACALIFORNIA.rar

Bad Religion’s always been my favorite band; they started out way back in 1980 when they were 16. Greg once said that the best advice he ever got was when someone told him not to break up his band and just keep going. Which they did, despite a small hiatus and a dodgy record in the mid eighties, and with the help of Circle Jerk Hetson they sticked together were most other bands quit and when Brett came out of rehab they recorded ‘Suffer’, quite possibly the best punk/hardcore album ever made. Now in 2007, they’re still going strong, having just delivered another great record. Be sure to check them out live somewhere.

The Adolescents are another one of my faves, with the infectious punk classic ‘Amoeba’ from their classic self titled ’81 record. Which is probably my favorite album from the early eighties. They released some stuff after that but that wasn’t so good. They did however release a decent comeback album in 2005 called ‘OC Confidential’

Another well known classic band was TSOL who released the classic ‘Dance With Me’ with the funny shock punk song ‘Code Blue’ (a song about sneaking into the mortuarium at night to fiddle with the dead). Just like The Adolescents they did some sketchy stuff after the early eighties and they came back to form in the 21st century. They released a couple of new albums on Nitro records, which are not bad but aren’t nearly as awesome as the old stuff.

Everybody knows NOFX, but not everybody seems to know these guys have been around since 1983. Their story is kind of the opposite of the above 2. NOFX started out with a bunch of shitty albums and it wasn’t until 1992 they released the classic ‘White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean” album. They continue to this day to release cool albums and they have a second live album planned for November 2007 called They've Actually Gotten Worse Live!, the sequal to I Heard They Suck Live . The song here is from their 1985 debut 7” on Mystic. Rated 8 on the suck-o-meter by themselves.

Surf’s up with Agent Orange; classic surf punk from California. The song here is the original version of Bloodstains (there’s at least 3 versions, if not more). Their mix between SoCal hardcore & surf still sounds fresh today, so if you don’t already have ‘Living In Darkness’ you should get it asap! They also did a second album called ‘This is the Voice’ which is surprisingly not crap, in fact it’s even really good although quite different from ‘Living in Darkness’. They also never really quit playing I think since they’re actually on tour right now and I missed them a couple of years ago when they played here, but their only new record since the eighties is a 1996 record that I never heard, but it’s supposedly more power pop/surf orientated. Later they also did an album on which they rerecorded some old favorites and in 2003 they released a disc containing some old stuff from the late eighties.

Social Distortion’s one of longer living bands from the classic era of California hardcore and like Agent Orange, they incorporated elements from different music in their style. No surf however for these guys but old time rock ’n roll & rockabilly. With later albums they’d move more and more into that direction and they had some mainstream succes in the nineties. A new album is rumored to come out in 2008.

I already mentioned Circle Jerks, who are most wel known for their classic debut ‘Group Sex’ but unlike many others they released more than one good album, in fact they released a whole bunch of good records before they split up in 1989 when Hetson left to play with Bad Religion full time. By that time Rogerson and Lehrer had already left. They did a comeback album in the midnineties and today they still occasionally play shows when Bad Religion isn’t touring. A new album is rumored to be released in 2008 and a new and totally awesome new song is posted on their myspace.

Some lesser known heroes were the The Plugz. Formed in 1978 they were probably the first Latin punk band and also the first LA band releasing their records on their own label. They released two great full lengths before calling it quits, appeared on the soundtrack of cult movie ‘Repo Man’ and they even did some stuff together with Bob Dylan in 1984. Featured here is a cover of Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba. After they broke up members went on to forms bands like Los Cruzados, The Psychotic Aztecs and Tito and the Tarantulas. The latter you’ve seen in the Robert Rodriguez move, From Dusk Till Dawn as the band playing in the Titty Twister and are still playing today. Vocalist Tito Larriva is also seen playing small parts and cameo’s in other Rodriguez movies such as Desperado, Once Upon A Time In Mexico & Grindhouse.

The Weirdos broke up in 1981, but not before releasing some great classic stuff. Their song ‘We got the neutron bomb’ is a true early LA punk classic and is featured here. They did a comeback album in 1990 but I’ve never heard it so I’m not sure if it’s any good. They’ve haven’t been unaffected with the recent trend of reunions so they’ve been playing shows again since 2004 with Circle Jerks bassist Schloss.

One of the first hardcore bands was Black Flag. Greg Ginn had formed the band in 1976 under the moniker Panic, a name they later changed to Black Flag in 1978 because there already was a band named Panic. I don’t think there are any recordings with Panic, but it was supposed to sound like The Ramones. The song here is called wasted from the first Black Flag 7” ‘Nervous Breakdown’ from 1978. Singer Morris would quit the band in 1979 and would go and form the Circle Jerks with Red Cross guitar player Greg Hetson. He would be replaced with State of Alert singer Henry Rollins and they’d record the milestone record ‘Damaged’

The Northern part of California also had it’s slew of famous bands, most notable perhaps The Dead Kennedys from Frisco. The song here is the classic ‘California Über Alles’, Which accuses then Californian Senator Jerry Brown of being a fascist who got mad with power. Dead Kennedys were (in)famous for their sarcastic razor sharp lyrics and provocating art work. Not to anyone surprise, lawsuits followed and eventually they broke up in 1986 after releasing a whole bunch of great records with even better lyrics.

One of the most aggressive bands of that time were Battalion of Saints from San Diego. The song here is ‘The Second Coming’. The band released few records before breaking up in 1985, mostly because all band members were dead. Guitarist Chris Smith overdosed and drowned, bassist Barry Farwell died of drug related health problems, Dave Astor blew his brains out, and Don Diaz died of AIDS. Singer George Anthony resurrected the band in the mid nineties but apart from that I don’t have any info. So if anyone knows anything more, feel free to fill me in.

Ill Repute are a so-called Nardcore band from Oxnard, California. They’re still around today although they haven’t released anything new since 1998. The also never got the attention they deserved because they put out a bunch of great records. The track here is from their first 7” which kind of sounds like a thrashy Circle Jerks. They broke up in 2004, but got back together in 2006, broke up again and got back together. So it’s not really clear what’s up today.

Another nardcore band were Stäläg 13, I don’t have many info on them except they release an album called In Control in 1984 which is really good. They have a website, but it doesn’t have much info except some old tour dates from 2003. Anyway, the song here is called Conditioned and it’s damn good skatepunk song.

Last song on this side is from The Seeing Eye Gods, a side project from Bad Religion guitarist & Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz who at the time did a lot a drugs. TSEG play psychedelic pop that kind of sounds like the Beatles when they were on acid. It kinda reminds me of Bad Religion’s Into The Unknown, only better. It’s not bad, but I’m sure happy Mr. Brett got into rehab and Bad Religion got back on track.

Check back soon for SIDE B with some more obscure stuff.