The Kids Have Had Their Say

 

S.S. Decontrol's The Kids Will Have Their Say 12-inch is arguably the most important American hardcore record of the early '80s to never see a legitimate reissue...well, until now. Why it has remained out of print for the past 40-plus years is mostly due to guitarist & main cog Al Barile's well-founded distrust of the often-flaky punk rock business model as it pertains to being properly compensated for one's efforts. We often fly by the seats of our pants in our attempts to spread the punk rock gospel, not always keeping in mind how much our physical media actually costs despite wanting to keep prices as low as humanly possible. This idea of simply "breaking even" is a nice one, but how often does that really work out for our creative endeavors & how long can it be sustained until the business model collapses? Furthermore, what of the lives of the creators who certainly are putting in more of themselves economically than they would ever likely to see returned? Putting on killer shows & releasing great records is awesome, but so is being able to sustain Real Life after the show has ended. Our standards of living may vary, but it is depressing to see people who are considered founders, innovators & veterans of our subculture living marginal lives & passing away with nothing to show for a lifetime of contributions that bettered the lives of others.

I have to remind myself of these harsh realities when I think about how much punk rock forms of entertainment cost now & how those changes affect everyone involved on either side of the stage. That is why I ultimately accepted the fact that this reissue LP would cost nearly $30 even at a place like Thrillhouse Records where I got the last yellow vinyl copy just a couple of days ago. I thought about how Al Barile has his own health concerns like I do for myself & decided that it was worth every dollar to own the legit vinyl reissue of one of the most fierce-sounding straight edge hardcore records to ever exist. However, I do still wish that Trust Records had also issued a simple, no-frills black vinyl copy that could be most common to find for those of us who would simply be happy to own one. My bootleg copy of The Kids Will Have Their Say that I bought from Felix Havoc at a Burnt Ramen show 15 years ago is black as the night & plays perfectly fine. Unfortunately, buying bootlegs only puts money in the pocket of the bootlegger & not the rightful owners of the music. Still, I think about the line "How much art can you take?" & transpose it in regards to how many different colored vinyl pressings exist of this reissue—how many variants can you take?

Hearing SS Decontrol's The Kids Will Have Their Say for the very first time via an internet download in my early 20s was quite mindblowing & also refreshing. My general tolerance for what passed for sXe hardcore in the ensuing decades after bands like SSD, Minor Threat & the like was quite low & still is, but listening to The Kids Will Have Their Say put the movement back into its proper perspective. SSD sounded much angrier & more fierce than Minor Threat did, smashing their way through each song with a strangely militaristic bent that was intimidating. They were also unmistakably a hardcore punk band—not the youth crew or mosh metal abominations that plagued the sXe movement to where it bore little to no resemblance to its punk rock roots. Al Barile's guitar sound put SSD & Boston hardcore on the map, practically writing the blueprint with stun riffs that were loud & rudimentary while also betraying the slightest arena rock influence from the likes of an AC/DC or local boys Aerosmith. I was not in the least bit surprised that so many people loved SSD & that The Kids Will Have Their Say was such a sought-after record.

I don't know that I would go so far as to say that listening to this legitimate reissue is like hearing it for the very first time all over again, but it certainly beats bootlegs & MP3 downloads. Early '80s hardcore punk is not a particularly complicated genre of music where one can hear the subtle nuances & dynamics that are usually victims of digital compression, but this may also be the very first time that I really noticed Springa's heavy Boston accent as it is fully displayed on "How Much Art." Al Barile's guitar still sounds tough & hard as nails while maybe lacking some of the original LP's crisp, explosive quality. That's not exactly a complaint, mind you. Whatever remastering process The Kids Will Have Their Say has gone through after unearthing the original reels rusting away in the basement has been to its benefit. Long awaited & most certainly a welcome addition to this record collection & yours. Hopefully Al Barile & Trust Records choose to keep it in print on a steady basis with vinyl & CDs in stores right alongside those of Minor Threat, Negative Approach, Black Flag & the Dead Kennedys. Frankly, the idea of SSD maintaining their legacy, sharing their history & enjoying the income generated from doing so should've happened much sooner than now.

Click here for the S.S.D. page on the Trust Records Company site.

20 Years Ago Today at 924 Gilman Street

Someone else on the Gilman booking staff was doing a bad job putting this show together, so I stepped in about 2-3 weeks before it was to take place.  He was unhappy about me taking over, but it only took me five minutes of brainstorming to finish a show that he had done nothing with for the past two months. Unfortunately, this was probably the most violent show I did that entire year. Multiple fights happened outside the club. Several kids jumped future investigative reporter Shane Bauer in the bathroom for no reason. Some Nazi skinhead kid even tried to steal the keys to TOXIC NARCOTIC’s van during their set! However, the combined effort of myself and the local bands got approximately 250 people to come to a show that only had a few weeks of promotion, so that was cool. How does one have a difficult time setting up a TOXIC NARCOTIC show anyway?

20 Years Ago Today at 924 Gilman Street

This show is generally remembered for NO JUSTICE hopping on LIFE'S HALT's gear, in which the crowd went completely insane. RAW POWER was also very good that night, although people who saw them in their heyday were not to quick to agree. Whatever. I know I had a blast singing along to "State Oppression" like everyone else.

No Justice tearing it up at Gilman Street!

25 Years Ago at 924 Gilman Street

CANCER ALLEY didn't play and were replaced by LA grind freaks BAD ACID TRIP. I seem to recall that MAN IS THE BASTARD didn't play either and I definitely did not see ASSUCK this evening. They might have been a bit too death metal for my taste at the time anyway. However, this was my first time seeing CAPITALIST CASUALTIES live after listening to whatever records of theirs my bandmates and I could find all year long. Expectations were met, but this show belonged to Japanese hardcore thrashers ASSFORT. ASSFORT was amazing! They set the live standard for every other Japanese hardcore band to follow as I've seen them over the years. Check out Matt Average's cover photo for their 亞吸不汚吐 EP on

That's me in the Misfits shirt under Yoshio's leg.

Prank; that is me in the MISFITS shirt narrowly avoiding a collision with vocalist Yoshio as he breaks Gilman Street's no-stagediving rule. There was also a huge fight right after that photo was taken when a couple burly jock dudes materialized and started laying people out. Seemed like every punk rocker in the club suddenly pounced on them and sent them packing. I was told that they both had lost their shoes in the fracas and had to run in their socks through a mess of broken bottles to escape!

I had a difficult time leaving this show. This was one of those nights where I didn't want to go home ever again. Home was a small, boring house in the suburbs with my unemployed single mom. How could I think about living under her roof or starting my senior year of high school in a few weeks after the things I saw tonight? This was where I belonged. Getting back here and staying here was my only focus now. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Disco's Out...Murder's In!

I have always found it interesting that stories regarding the early ‘80s Los Angeles punk rock scene usually end with the rise of gang violence at shows. Some of the gangs evolved out of band followers, with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES being the best-known example. Vocalist Mike Muir cultivated a massive crew—the Suicidals—that eventually outgrew the band’s influence. Apparently, the gang turned on Mike when he began decrying their violent dance floor behavior, resulting in a brutal group beatdown. CIRCLE ONE and FIGHT FOR FREEDOM (F.F.F.) were two other bands/gangs on the scene that are frequently mentioned in the historical retrospectives. Even BAD RELIGION had affiliations with a Hollywood punk gang called the LADS, or Los Angeles Death Squad. However, the narrative generally downplays the gangs’ presence and thus ends the story of ‘80s hardcore punk in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Disco’s Out…Murder’s In attempts to fill in the blanks, chronicling the formation of a punk gang and its role in turning the LA punk scene into a war zone. Some find it hard to believe, but punk rockers took a potentially serious risk simply walking down the street in those days. They could expect frequent attacks by, well, anybody for simply looking different from the established norm. Hell, even stoned-out peacenik hippies would try to pick fights with punks! One could say that punk rock was slowly beat into becoming hardcore. Gangs formed to fight back and let society know that punk rockers were no longer their punching bags.

 

LADS (Los Angeles Death Squad) gang photo, 1984.

L.M.P. (La Mirada Punks) was one such gang with a Clockwork Orange-style saga relived

through the eyes of one Frank the Shank. Frank befriends L.M.P. members as a 13-year-old upstart and quickly immerses himself in their life of chaos, violence, and murder. Memorable shows become backdrops for mayhem as the gangs lose focus on fighting society and begin battling each other for scene supremacy. Attending a MISFITS gig is less about seeing the band and more about an ex-con L.M.P. member’s newfound talent for relieving kids of their leather jackets. L.M.P. seems to find new victims to stab with each turn of the page and it blows my mind when I remember that

teenage kids are committing these ultraviolent acts! Frank is barely eighteen years old when a brutal encounter with followers of the band PIG CHILDREN leads to his arrest and subsequent “come to Jesus” moment. He is able to make his departure from punk rock gang life and tell the tale. Most of his crazy cohorts were not so lucky.

I cannot say for sure how much of Frank’s voice actually resides in Disco’s Out…Murder’s In, but his tale helps put things into perspective. Sometimes we need an ugly reminder of where this punk rock stuff comes from, which does include its darker elements whether we like it or not. Disco’s Out…Murder’s In serves that purpose nicely.

20 Years Ago Today at Mission Records

Look at that lineup! Imagine those three bands on a hot summer afternoon in a tiny room like Mission Records! I don't think I need to tell you that this show was amazing! This was one of LUDICRA's earliest shows.

20 Years Ago Today at 924 Gilman Street

This is quite a solid lineup on paper. Unfortunately, every band canceled except for DAMAD and BRAINBLOODVOLUME. GOOD CLEAN FUN was the most infuriating cancellation. They dropped off the show at the last minute, opting to play in San Francisco with CAVE IN and the NERVE AGENTS that night instead. Of course, this took place after they had made a big deal out of begging Gilman Street and Ken Sanderson to be included on the show. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? and CRISPUS ATTUCKS wound up filling in and that was fine, but how great would this show have been had everyone come through?

20 Years Ago Today at Mission Records

This show was the conclusion of a weekend dedicated to BENUMB vocalist Pete Ponitkoff’s birthday. LANA DAGALES opened, but was not included on the flyer. Also notable for being PLUTOCRACY’s first reunion show and probably the best that I personally witnessed. Stocking masks, blunts, and a set that was just pure violence from start to finish.

20 Years Ago Today at 924 Gilman Street

DYSTOPIA did a one-time reunion with their original vocalist Dan Kaufman (who was also in SHIVA), playing a bunch of songs off their split LP with EMBITTERED. LIKE FLIES ON FLESH were amazing. Their name is screwed up on the flyer because the guy who booked the show insisted that "Likes Flies on Flesh" was the correct name. The show almost got shut down by the Berkeley PD when a huge fight broke out between the cops and random drunk crustys.

20 Years Ago Today at 379 40th Street

Gotta love the flyer poking fun at the Y2K hysteria that never panned out. I don't think I was at this show, but who remembers the epic metal monstrosity that was LIKE FLIES ON FLESH? They damn near blew DYSTOPIA off the stage at Gilman a couple nights later! Who was INDEX FOR POTENTIAL SUICIDE? Good name, if nothing else. JENNY PICCOLO was decent emo-gone-grind; some people used to say that they sounded like what would happen if the LOCUST were nice people. Ouch!