Here Comes The Judge (Letter J)

This is a no-brainer. 

I will accept no arguments, no denials. No matter how well-versed or "cool" you or your pick are. 

Hardcore is was and always will be Judge. The New York Crew 7" and the Bringin' It Down LP both slay, and stand alone. The LP so much so that even the rejected mix is a masterpiece that has its own merits (and has become the Honus Wagner of record collecting). 

Choose your favorite and you'll be right. 

And doesn't it feel great to be right?

Don't fight it.

Don't deny it.

Just go out and listen to it again.

And again. 

Anger & sincerity. Fast & slow, melodic mosh. Chain waving stomp parts. Metal screaming solos and enough punk wherewithal to tear down the proverbial walls. JUDGE took everything great about hardcore before it, perfected it, and set the bar for everything to come.

There's maybe only 3 records in my life that said to me "Shave your head, John. Don't fight it. It's the right thing to do."

You might even say it's the RIGHT IDEA.

Bonus points for being the ONLY band shirt I let my daughter wear. I dare say Ragan Rose will be all the better for being exposed to JUDGE early and often.

I know I was.

Starting February 2nd

I will only answer to the surname "Rural Juror."

BOOBIES

It's Time To React (Dot Com)

Not this Dot Com, but this one:

Go here to check it out.

I hear it'll be up soon.

Or later. Whatever.



Oh yeah, Aram is Ebay'ing a shit-ton of TEST PRESSES (Right Idea 12"es included). Go here to peep that.

Get With It

Don't even know what to say. Change. Hope. A new direction. It's all cliched and you've heard it all before. Just saying take the time in the next few hours to reflect on the last 8 years and to take in the promise of the next 4 . . .

Go here. Or here. Or even here to listen and watch.

Set your DVR.

Tell your grandkids you were a part of this, even if you weren't.

I Got The TIckets

. . . and stop saying "totally."

7 Inches of Repress

Jeff from Bottled Up announced yesterday that the Right Idea 12" EP Our World is heading back into press as a 7" with Bottled Up. Thanks to Jeff and Jeff and Aram at React! for putting the wheels in motion, and word is -- everyone is stoked. Expect it sometime in the next few months. Also -- don't forget -- the label is also putting out a 7" of out-takes from the TFS What We Know sessions . . .  Here's excerpts from the announcement post from LWB:

Author: Jeff Lasich (---.pitbpa.east.verizon.net)
Email: starttodayzine@hotmail.com
Date: 01-09-09 14:42

I am now taking orders for THE FIRST STEP- What We Knows Sessions 7”. These songs were recorded in December of 2003, as the band was in the process of reforming after their breakup in May 2003. These are the original recordings of songs that eventually found their way to the What We Know lp on Rivalry Records. There weren’t many copies of this demo floating around, and many people never got a chance to hear these songs. Some prefer these versions to the lp tracks. There will be a couple NC themed colors. The record is at the plant now, but I do not expect this to be ready until March. Order now, because they are going to sell out quickly. There will be 500 in the first press, with MAYBE another 500 if there is a demand for them.

After this record, be on the lookout for a 7” from Cleveland’s RIGHT IDEA. This record is just a repress of the 12” REACT! Records put out last year. REACT! will only do 1 run of 1000 records and Aram likes it so much he wanted to see it still available. I was honored when asked to keep this record in print. Expect more info on that sometime in February.

HAVE HEART- Demo 2003 is still available for order. The pressing info is as follows (I never get the numbers I actually order from the plant):
100 black, hand numbered
145 clear purple
177 solid orange
234 solid purple

Read the entire thing here.

We'll pass along more information as we have it (ordering, numbers, etc).

Go!

And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

Hahahahahaha.

An enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least for one day. Suck it, Trebek.

Chelsea sits idle while LFC gains a point on the road: Prem Table. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you United fan -- 2 games in hand, and at home nonetheless, I get it.

But Rafa's right -- you Devils get all the breaks.

And Liverpool will still be the ones with silver come season's end.

Jeff Grey, Photo Pass

Our good friend Jeff Grey took some pictures again of our show this past weekend at the Tower with Mindset.

Go to this link to view the slideshow.

Now with BONUS GOODIES!!!! The set also includes a few pics of us doing the Committed song "Stand and Deliver" as performed with Casey Kulas himself (minus one instrument and two stop parts -- Chuck buy a new bass).

Thanks again, Casey!

Word!

Police & Thieves

Police & Thieves are another in a line of bands when I first heard of 'em, I was like "they better be fucking great with a name like that" (also see In My Eyes, Spanish Bombs, Right Brigade, Right Idea, etc). Basically, it's super ballsy in my opinion to try and redefine a few words from being the title for a kick-ass song into being the name of a kick-ass band. But, not unlike Sweet Pete and Pops or Standhard and Clevo: P&T have entered the "mission accomplished" zone.

Extra props to Carlos for being a cool cat, and letting Worn Thin play a show or 2 every once in a while. Oh, and for having short hair in the you tube video above.

No Mistake . . .

We just got alerted to the fact that our friend Alex at Grave Mistake still has a couple copies of the 12" available through his web store. You can go here to order up that jazz, or word has it that RevHQ still has a few copies left as well -- if you're into paying a dollar more.

Either way, you best but be quick with that ordering, because the record won't be around (in this version / format) much longer.

More news on all that eventually.


We only have a few left ourselves. I swear.

In My (Letter) Eyes-tro

So something happened in 1995, 1996 -- hell even 1997 and 1998. Hardcore was BACK, man. I mean, sure -- we all always had it in our hearts, and there was always a SOIA record or a Lost and Found CD release of a classic '88 record or some shit -- but there just was too much "whoot-whoot chug-chug-chug bleh" happening in the scene for most of the mid-nineties. All talk, all monch, and pomp.

I mean, a true edgeman can only take so much of the political rhetoric of white middle-class suburbia being tossed around like so-much confetti once had been. "PC" was an understatement, and there were just a couple of small groups of kids doing things "right." I remember the first time someone handed me this demo -- it was a cassette (obv), and I was simply told "ex-members of Ten Yard Fight" -- and I was kinda taken aback: I mean, TYF had only been around for a little bit, and they've already got an "ex-members of" band going? WTF? It didn't take long to learn it was Pops with CRUCIAL DUDE Sweet Pete on vocals. I remember thinking Pete was an elder statesman of the edge, even then -- and wondering why he had never been in a band up until then . . . especially once I took the demo for a spin.

My reaction: "HOLY SHIT."

Exactly.

And I can't think of anyone else who didn't think the same. It was the youth of today, doing YOUTH OF TODAY as good as Porcell and Cappo once had themselves! All the Edge and urgency and none of the religion and guilty consciousness! Fuck, yeah! My friend Juan (RIP) said simply "you have to hear this band," as he handed me the cassette a few months later -- and I was like, "NO SHIT!"

It wasn't much later that we heard IME got swooped up by Revelation Records, and it was if the prophecy was coming true. It really was the second coming. EVR had FLOORPUNCH and TYF, Rev was pushing out IME and promised more of the same, and we were as happy as pigs in shit.



So the LP finally dropped, and we were convinced this is how things should be, and might ALWAYS BE. The Difference Between contained a bunch of the demo songs, but wait a second -- everything sounded, um, different. And the voices. Not only Sweet Pete's -- but what happened to the GANG VOCALS? Oh, man.

All in all a great record, and a sure sign of things to come (and that were), TDB stands up today to me as the record that said Straightedge Hardcore was a major force again in independent music.




PS: for a follow up, In My Eyes released Nothing To Hide -- a great LP that really stands on its own. I'm sure at least half of the members of RIGHT IDEA would prefer that record to the demo and/or The Difference Between, and I can't say I fault them. Go here to download alternate takes of a select few songs from NTH with POPS on vocals. You can prolly go to iTunes to download the LPs.

Word!

Last Night

(Twenty Years Past)



(Twenty Hours Past)



I guess you could say 'The more things change . . .'





But you'd be wrong.

VIDEOS and Ohhhhhhh Shit!

Go here to access our set from Sunday afternoon at the Championship in Lemoyne, PA. Thanks again to Mindset for inviting us out to wreck that shit!

War Good Hair, Agnostic Front Covers, American Flag T-Shirts, Guatemala, and Mark DeRosa.

Thanks again Sunny Singh from Hate Five Six!

See you all this weekend!