Here’s the abridged version: It is three-piece Socalish hardcore, bent at a responsible socio-politico-psycho angle; message- maybe; mosh- probably; noncandyass protest music with an ounce of humor, a pinch of chaos and a pound of adrenaline; pointed but not preachy, relentless without the mess while entertaining ourselves as well as whoever dares to show up, and everyone is invited. There’s always a quick comparison to the Dead Kennedys- not a bad category to be lumped into, we’ll take it....but there’s definitely a little something extra...a little more beef and estrogen in the bass, a taste of metal without the excess hair and wanking in the guitar, an odd amalgam of Mighty Mouse, Waits and Pavarotti in the vocal neighborhood, don’t try this at home, kids- better yet, do! We’ve shared the stage with quite a numerous and varied measure of musical misfits: NOFX, Naked Aggression, UK Subs, Lazy Cowgirls, DRI, Dropkick Murphys, SNFU, Voodoo Glowskulls, Los Crudos, Supersuckers, Flipper, Dwarves, OneWordSolution, Das Klown, Guttermouth, Citizen Fish, L7, Bouncing Souls, Stitches, Fleas and Lice, Final Conflict, JFA, Vandals, Union 13, Germs, La Fraction, Stratford Mercenaries, Adrenaline OD, Leatherface, hell even Green Day and the Offspring, and Blue Cheer for christsakes, on and on and too many forgotten, you get the picture but best of all are all our fellow rugged, underknown, underrated, unsung heroes and brethren of local bands with whom we’ve shared food, floors, equipment, cash, blood, sweat and pain as well as some very well worn stages- sure, you never heard of them, but you shoulda been there that night; Salute! Twenty three years means we’ve hit most every possible gig ever invented, from dive to damn this place is big; and a hearty thank you to many of you brave bookers out there (can you in L.A. say Toast- you should) noteable locals are the Roxy, the Whisky, Knitting Factory, Troubador, others that didn’t survive- but the ones that can’t be beat are the old former jails, boxing gyms, bowling alleys, river barges, youth centers, world war II bunkers, unsuspecting coffeehouses, abandoned warehouses, bankrupt churches, basements, collectives, squats, and all the Al’s Bars of the future; we’ll see you there, bring your earplugs and sturdy shoes. HISTORY- should be left in the past:
Formed in 1982-83 in Hee Haw Indiana as a last chance musical alternative to the Camaro, cocaine, cowboy hits of that locality and era; we knew not what we were doing...played fucked up psychotic, sacrilegious and often amphetaminized versions of some of your parents revered fave hits of the 50’s 60’s and even the 80’s, along with a few of our own original abominations...it wasn’t until much later that we were informed that we were indeed punk rock, by those whose calling it is to determine such things...necessity not fashion drove our Salvation Army lifestyles...hated, ignored and freezing, we made the move to sunny southern California for the fame, fortune and thousands of new ways to lie and hype, welcome... hated, ignored, sweating and choking, Kevin, Mike and Roger, with brother Otis steering the managerial ship self-released “Dangerous Music“ full-length 1986, gigging regionally and relentlessly, pushing ever forward and not quite surrendering to any of the accepted identities, punk or other....surviving member changes and political unrest, Lee and English John signed up and rocked on and we self-released “Defect“ full-length 1991, gaining momentum with lotsa shows and U.S touring and even underground/college airplay and decent punk press and reviews and interviews, moving from unknown to relative obscurity to “oh yeah I know those guys, with the maniacal rubberfaced singing monkey drummer and the leaping guitar guy and the head bobbing craziness, go see em dude, solid“; the live show became the thing, and it was a three man tag team of punk rock proportion....Otis exited the land of quakes and flakes to return to teaching, a million thank-yous to him, more member changes, but earned some outside support and released “Entartete Kunst“ 7“ on House o’Pain of Nashville 1993 (thanks Donnie and all) and “Screw the World 7“ on Know Records Long Beach 1994 (big thanks Albert)... ushering in the Heidi on bass era, a more solid speedy sound and an even livelier live show... rereleased first two albums on one CD, “Dangerous Music Defect“, with Know records Long Beach and Friendly Cow in Germany (thanks Rockbert, Ralph, Robo)...released our definitive album “Devils Playground“ 1996 on Alternative Tentacles records (props to Jello B- and thanks for singlehandedly battling the entire US Govt for all musicianhood, etc); 100% our true Kevin musical controlled mayhem sound, rooted with the addition of Sparky Kevin on guitar... continued touring and began European tours and gaining momentum with some crazy legbreaking, neckspraining, sweat and spit slinging pitwarning good time shows- we believe in making it worth the price of admission, music, message and all...more member changes, Eric “G“ slingin some guitar, but we move on with “One Crisis Short of Chaos“ 1999 on Know Records U.S.(more Albert thanx) and Gate to Hell/Subway/Cargo in Europe, with the “Kid “ Jan giving us a needed youthful boost on guitar, the beat goes on....more touring, but sadly members changed again with Heidi’s retirement from action, big empty combat boots to fill, miss ya... 2000 saw the release of “Forward“ EP by Gate to Hell in Germany (a thanks to Robert/Tanya), Doctor Tim Smith signed up on guitar and we recruited Jim J for bass and did one slammin last Europe tour...member changes, creative blocks, bad economic planning and black clouds slowed the band to a halt...was this the end, was it all over for the kids? oh hell no, not as long as there are assholes in the world and those who don’t wanna take it from em, slowed but unbowed, reformed and retooled again, this brings us to the present, back in action and ready for business, email for bookings! 2006 has us with Kevin drumming and screaming as usual, stubborn old fucker; Jim J properly strangling the guitar; and Sindy showing the bass a thing or two, too- we’re at your service thank you very much. The history is as best I can remember under a few too many new grey hairs; particular thank-yous go to Kylie and Dan of Doghouse recording; Chris Julian for his engineering magic; Donnell at Westbeach for salvaging Defect; also OneWordSolution, Vince/the Mormons, Frank/Voodoo Glowskulls, Paul and Mark Humiliation, Kirsten/Naked Agression, AJ/Das Klown, Seizure Salad gang, Giovanni and the Ugenes crew, Lucy in Oregon, Jasper, Gilman St., Nutcase in Germany, unwavering supporters in Leipzig, Homberg, Braunschweig, Dresden, Karlsruhe, Hannover, Bremen, Dortmund/Bochum, Hamburg, Ludwigsfelde, hell, all over Germany, etc., many more“ professionally“; personal thank yous to Claire, Jeremy, Margaret, Steffi-above and beyond , friends and family; millions of specific thank yous are due, stated or not -the member family tree is abbreviated and I could hardly capture and record each and every wonderful and horrible moment, you shoulda been there; I have little use for the past and prefer what lies ahead. More shows and new material are always in the works, and once again, everyone is invited, join in.... Kvn
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