Since forming NEW MEXICAN DISASTER SQUAD in their home sweet hellhole of Orlando, FL in 1999, Sam Johnson (vocals, guitar), Brian Etherington (guitar), Alex Goldfarb (bass) and Richard Minino (drums) have spent the better part of the last seven years perfecting their volatile yet tightly wound concoction of lightning fast 80s hardcore guitar riffs and abrasively captivating vocals. While the band was originally started as a form of escapism from the members’ tourist-filled surroundings and pizza delivery jobs, their passion for the music they were creating soon exceeded their initial expectations.By no means does this mean that they’ve just been hiding out in a garage waiting for their time to come. The Orlando punk scene (or lack thereof) forced the band to adopt a zero tolerance policy on punk rock poseurdom very early on. Even though the local kids seemed to be able to get themselves down to the mall to buy all the right “punk rock†gear, they couldn’t figure out how to get out to the shows. So NEW MEXICAN DISASTER SQUAD fled the giant mouse-ear-shaped shadow they’d been living in and made their name by being a practically non-stop touring machine. Not only have they shredded just about every inch of the United States annually, but they’ve also left a trail of dropped jaws in over eleven countries.The hypocrisy of their hometown scene has also forced the members of the band to have an acute aversion to bullshit and the music they now create is no different. The fourteen songs on Don’t Believe, their third full-length and first for Jade Tree, clock in at an almost insanely compact twenty-eight minutes and not a second is wasted in the vast, yet highly focused, lyrical terrain that’s covered. Sam rages on feeling violated after being robbed on “The Piggy Bank’s Gone, Nick!â€: “Hard to let go of things I only feel and see I cannot realize all the things I really need are all the things that can’t be thieved.†On “The Killing Machine†he unloads on the recruiting practices of the American military and its war-lust, “Exporting our assets that we need the most. Exploiting our poor and tired from coast to coast. We work for the killing machine. Born into a systematic mass-machine, forever a part of culture breeding fear.†In addition to these pointed tirades, Sam covers tons of personal and political territory familiar to most young punks, including how to persevere through feelings of self-doubt, skepticism of mass media and consumerism, hating your job and losing your friends. Practically no stone is left unturned.In the lifespan of most revered hardcore punk bands, seven years is practically an eternity. Minor Threat only lasted three years. Dag Nasty (version 1.0) existed for four years. Black Flag’s nine-year tour of duty practically qualifies as a freakish anomaly. While NEW MEXICAN DISASTER SQUAD may be sonically following in the footsteps of their 80s hardcore idols, they won’t be aping their careers; they’re in it for the long haul. Don’t Believe is the scorching mission statement of a band entering it’s seventh year and still only just getting started.Get these NMDS shirts and more from ShirtKiller.com!
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