185 Miles South
A hardcore punk podcast.
185 Miles South
257. Super 7 San Diego
We're back and talking hardcore. This week, we're diving deep into one of the greatest cities in America: San Diego, CA. It's a scene with deep roots that shaped punk and hardcore worldwide. It's also my current hometown. I'm joined by Dan Sant, Rob Moran, and Anthony Pappalardo to get into it.
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Intro track: Take Offense
Outro track: House of Suffering
BOS photo: @fugu_kapu
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SPEAKER_02:com smash that patreon
SPEAKER_05:button 185 miles south a hardcore punk rock podcast. What's up, everyone? We are back and talking hardcore. Helping out. You know him. You love him. He is the best-dressed man on the pod. He is Daniel Sant. What's up, Dan? It's on fire! Dude, San Diego Classic. Also helping out, it is Anthony Pappalardo. What's up, Pops?
SPEAKER_06:What's up, 185ers? Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_05:What up, what up? And back again, it's Rob Moran. What's up, dude? Hey guys, how
SPEAKER_00:are you? Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, so this time around we are doing a Super 7 on San Diego, California. Rob's hometown, my transplant town, Dan's landing ground for a minute before he abandoned us, and a town where Pops enjoys the music from. So Dan, overall thoughts, punk in San Diego.
SPEAKER_01:San Diego is low-key legendary on punk and hardcore. And the thing that is shocking about putting all this thought into your favorite San Diego songs is is the sad fact that there is so much good San Diego music that is not on Spotify. Generally, we like to pull from Spotify because then it gives the listener and ourselves a really good playlist to go back to. So I'm going to stick with the Spotify method, but I'm really sad that there's some really classic San Diego stuff that is not on the... Is it Swedish? Or is it Danish? The Swedish overlords have not acknowledged all the great San Diego stuff.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, but by no means is anyone tied to the corporate digital overlords. So you can pick anything you want. And we are going to do a Patreon episode where we will talk some of the other stuff that overflows out of here because San Diego is so important to us. Rob, thoughts? San Diego, punk and hardcore.
SPEAKER_00:Diverse. interesting, groundbreaking, political. It really is a true melting pot, I think, between military transplants, the military complex that surrounds the military transplants, being proximity to the border, being proximity to Los Angeles. I think that a lot of vital music came out of this city. And to Dan's point earlier, not a lot of it got a lot of attention. Some of it's not even on Spotify, but it is critical and crucial nonetheless. I mean, I think it's what makes the San Diego music scene so beautiful, especially for punk. Pops, thoughts on San Diego?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, San Diego's always been a scene I was super interested in. Probably a lot of folks... you know, entry points of like, whether it's skateboarding or later, like gravity records. But I think the thing that's really interesting to me as an outsider is that lack of documentation keeps me digging. And there's always like new nuggets that I keep picking up on or stuff that I'll hear mentioned in an interview and start looking up. And, and, um, there aren't, I mean, I'm sure you could say that for a lot of places, but I think that, you know, without there being like 27 books and dah, dah, dah, dah. Like I liked it. There's still stuff I can find out and kind of piece it together in the family tree of where it fits in. So, um, yeah, it just, just, um, just in its inspiring place. I think that the impact San Diego had in the early nineties specifically on me, like there was very few places where I, I was like, Oh, I want to see what that's like. I want to meet people from there based on their ideologies, their aesthetics. And yeah, that's my San Diego soliloquy.
SPEAKER_05:I love San Diego, obviously. I ended up here. Second best city in America. And I have a connection here very early in my hardcore run. So my first hardcore band, this band called Voice of Defiance, I was just chatting up some foo on AOL. And Like I convinced him to put out our record. Like he didn't really put it out. He gave me the money and just wanted half the record. So basically like, you know, my first hardcore seven inch came out because of that. And he lived in Solana beach and stuff. And, uh, he got us a show. Our first show down here was at the Soma side stage and we played to no one, but it was still great. And then the second time that we played was out on Coronado at some teen center. And we played with the setup and, uh, I believe that might have been when I met Don, and I don't know if I met you or not, Dan, but I started meeting the San Diego people. And then I started coming to shows down here often because I really liked straightforward hardcore when I got into it. And in the 90s in Southern California, it was kind of a barren desert for stuff that wasn't either metalcore or soaked in emo. And I loved the band Powerhouse. I loved Ignite. And I loved a band from San Diego called built to last. And we would drive down and see them. And, and, you know, sometimes I think that they played with good, clean fun once. And we drove down and just saw built to last and left. And like, when we got home, we were like, God damn, we just like sat in a car for six hours to see one band. Like, this is fucking wild. What are we doing? You know? But like, that's like being young and into hardcore and loving it, you know? So, uh, yeah, very important to me. And then of course, you know, built to last like the time, uh, kind of went away and then over my dead body came out and in control played a bunch of shows of over my dead body, which is Dan and Rob on this podcast. So, Hey, Hey, it all ties in. And, uh, it's nice that we're all friends and all that still. So very good. Dan, let everyone know what a super seven is and the order that we're picking in.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So a super seven is a way that we pick, uh, in a fantasy football style draft, uh, We go round by round, each selecting a song. The same band can be chosen, but the same song can't. So as soon as you've taken a song, that's off the table. And then by the time we get to the end, we have seven songs each, and then we put it up to the 185 listeners to vote for who they think had the best playlist. Okay, Dan, let's go to you for your favorite Unbroken song. Actually, I'm going to be strategic right now because having got the first pick, I'm going to go with, because there's only a couple of them on Spotify, and I said that for the listeners... For my people out there, I'm going to keep it Spotify so they can enjoy all these songs on the playlist. I'm going with Turn Away by Built to Last.
SPEAKER_05:Oh, a swoop. I had this. Oh, did you?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. It's off of the California Hardcore compilation. What label did that come out on?
SPEAKER_05:I want to say, wasn't this the Eric Ozine comp? This wasn't the California Hardcore comp. This was that Our Own Way record. Okay, yeah. I have the notes here because I was going to take this. It came out on the Our Own Way compilation in 1998, and that is on Blackout Records, actually. It wasn't Eric O'Zane's. He did a different one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. It's the Blackout comp that a bunch of California hardcore bands are on it, but it's not exclusively California hardcore bands. But the great thing about this version, like, Built to Last recorded this two times, I think, and this version just... it's the best they ever sounded. I feel like Bert's voice is just perfect on this song. And it's got that, it's got that thing that built to last and Ensign both did well, which is having playing like straightforward, hard, hardcore with a bit of melody. And it's, It's still building to a good breakdown, but being catchy riff-wise as well as vocally. Built to Last, for those like many... Hopefully only a few people listening that may not have known is Built to Last was an incredibly important hardcore band for the straightforward, like, you know, right down the lane, sick of it all style, hardcore, New York, hardcore tinged, especially on the demo. They were very NYHC, but they... they were, uh, the band for not just San Diego, like in Southern California, like them. And like, as Zach said before, ignite and then powerhouse, that was kind of like the, the three stops on the, the road down to California. If you wanted to play straightforward, hardcore, have pylons, have singalongs, like built to last, did it better than most. And, and, uh, Miss them greatly. And this is a great song.
SPEAKER_05:People might be familiar with them because they were on the 1999 version of Only the Strong as well. And I believe that these are the only two songs that are on streaming from them. So yeah, Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I agree with Dan. I mean, I think that in San Diego, there was this big lull for a couple of years. I mean, it was, you kind of had more of the locust kind of angel hair VSS, uh, at the drive-in kind of scene, but there wasn't really anything that was just straightforward, hardcore. And I think, you know, 97, 98 is when built to last came around and really brought back just straightforward meat and potatoes, hardcore. And they, and they did it really, really well. They were great live, nice people, uh, Yeah, and this is a great pick. The song is everything that you would want to hear in a great hardcore band. And I think they did it really well. So I think it's a good pick. Wouldn't be my first pick, but I do think that it's important to San Diego because they ignited kind of a whole spark of hardcore kind of coming back to San Diego. They were definitely the flag bearers around that 97, 98 timeframe.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Yeah. Just to talk to the song a little bit, because I took notes on it, like killer drum fill to open. And then you're in on like a guitar ring out over like a slow fast beat. And this is, this is actually a really cool beat. It's kind of like that integrity Clevo style fast beat. It's just got a vibe to it. And Dan and Rob have both said like these dudes, they're out of like the sick of it all like vein of, of New York hardcore and, and did it really well. The chorus on this nice built to last sick ass band. I love it. Great first pick. Okay. Dan, I am going to take my number one and... Jesus, Unbroken gets snubbed again. I'm going to take The Zero's Wild Weekend. Dude, this is the OG San Diego band. Technically out of Chula Vista, but the OG punk band out of San Diego. This is off their second 7-inch. The first 7-inch, Don't Push Me Around, is 1977 on Bomp. And this is 1978, also on Bomp. And... Dude, this one smokes the first one, in my opinion. It's just so much more up-tempo. And... Even their own write-up, they compare themselves to the Ramones, which I think is very apt. If you think about the up-tempo Ramones songs, it's like that. Although in the vocals, it reminds me a lot more of the Saints. So if you consider a conglomeration between the Ramones and the Saints, I think you land on the zeros. It's just a super early band, dude. It's so sick. And this song is so up-tempo. It's about as fast as you can be down-strumming. which is like my favorite tempo in punk. So I love their shit. What do you think, Dan?
SPEAKER_01:I love the zeros. I knew this was going first round. Maybe not. I thought maybe don't push me around, but either way, like I think that, I mean, legends, absolute legends. They were colloquially known as the Mexican Ramones, obviously due to sound and due to being proud of, you know, being Mexicana's fans. from Chula. Dan, Mexicanos. You just called them chicks. Did I say Mexicanos? I said Mexicanos. I heard Canas. Ay, ay, ay.
SPEAKER_04:Caramba.
SPEAKER_01:Straight up, the thing that's brilliant about them, you hear the Saints more. I hear Buzzcocks a little bit more. But either way, they're operating at the same time that those bands are operating in their own things. And they're only probably getting a tiny sprig of it to influence them. A lot of this is just coming out of just their own creativity and their own passion for great melody and hooks. It's just fantastic stuff.
SPEAKER_05:What do you think, Pops?
SPEAKER_06:I was going to ask more of a question being the... pod outsider on the topic. Like how, how are the zeros seen in, are they like San Diego royalty? Like, you know, I think they're probably like outside of that. Like, it's like kind of a killed by death, like rare thing to like, but like, how are they seen within like San Diego music history and celebrated?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, absolutely celebrated written about, talked about, I mean, I'm, I went to the same high school as those guys and not, obviously I think 20 years later, but you know, but I absolutely part of, of the punk lore, the music lore ground zero for a lot of things. I mean, you know, I, I, I have them on my list as well, but they, they were kicking around 75, 76 before that well before that bump EP, the first one even came out. So I, they were playing parties, like backyard parties and things like that. And they kind of got spotted by some folks, sent demos around, early demos. And songs like Don't Push Me Around, Beat Your Heart Out, that was written. Those were the first songs written before the band was even formed by one of the members of the band. And then once they got going, I mean, thinking about the fact that they got invited to L.A. to play with the germs and the weirdos, like that was their first out of town show. Like, imagine being from Chula Vista and someone says, hey, do you want to open for the germs and the weirdos? Like, that's wild. Right. So, I mean, I think they're they're they're absolutely critical, like ground zero. You know, I think. Every scene kind of has those bands. They were the ones that kind of ignited things. There was other bands around that time, too, that, you know, we'll probably talk about more on the Patreon. But, you know, I do think that they are well regarded as ground zero for independent, like San Diego punk music and rock. To think that they were around doing this stuff when the Ramones were barely putting out their first record. How did they even get on that wavelength? How did they get on that Saints and Buzzcocks wavelength when everything was just so new? It's pretty interesting. But yeah, they had a major impact here. And about two years ago, there was a big article that came out in a local magazine specifically about... chula vista and a big piece of it was about the zeros and what they did for san diego music so they're they're pretty well regarded and you know robert lopez aka elvez he's still around doing bands and you know see him around town all the times he's still actively involved in rock and roll and a bit of punk in san diego for sure the one thing that drives
SPEAKER_01:me a bit crazy though is you Lots of write-ups about this band historically have classified them as LA, and that drives me fucking crazy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, I think that's just because of Bomp and, you know, their first real exposure to punk was the LA scene, right? So there wasn't... really much of a punk scene in San Diego. When they first started, it was all Los Angeles. So I think that's why they've kind of been adopted as an LA band, but they're absolutely from Chula Vista national city.
SPEAKER_05:I mean, think about the contemporaries in San Diego at the time, right? Like for instance, like the deals, like they cut out before they do their first records, you know, like they're just, I don't know if there was a lot in San Diego. There's two things I want to say on the zeros before we get past this. First of all, there is a great, LP, like compilation of their early stuff that's out that is kind of essential. It's called Don't Push Me Around. It's pretty easy to get. I still see it in the stores all the time. So I think that people should check that out. Also, it's interesting. They had a second life. So in the 90s, they started playing again and they put out a couple records, I believe on a Spanish label. and has some popularity like over in Europe so and those records are good too just kind of like up-tempo indie rock it's not that far of a departure from the early stuff because I mean the band is just basically stripped down rock and roll so yeah It's cool. They seem like nice guys. I've seen them in the last, I mean, last 10 years now, I guess. And they were great when I saw them. So they might have a weird thing going on with a name or maybe there's a dispute because they played Casbah this year and it was like the zeros of like their version of the zeros jam. You know what I mean? So I don't know what's going on with that, but hell yeah. Living legends, we should say. And okay, let's go to you pops for your number one.
SPEAKER_06:Cool. I'm going to stay in the zone and fast forward. several years and take amenity this is our struggle not down mix um just amenity was like i knew battalion of saints but amenity was sort of my introduction to san diego hardcore as a sound and they they toured so that like really if you toured back in the early 90s that was like a very like legit thing right like that legitimized your band more than like something you'd see in the bins. And then fast forward when we were, when Nathan and I were putting together radio silence, we kind of had a hard stop after all this time compiling things where we just needed to get the book done and the publisher wanted it done. And I got a call from this guy with a really gruff voice who I couldn't, he was talking a mile a minute and, you know, like a couple of minutes into it, I'm like, I guess I'm talking to Mike down. He didn't really say like, hi, this is Mike down. And he said he had all this stuff for the book. And that was like a very common, like people would come in really hot with like, I got all this stuff. And then he overnighted like a box of all the downside records and posters and flyers. And Mike just became a friend of mine when he moved to New York. So I, I was thinking about this and just how, like, I couldn't even pick like, one succinct story about being around that dude because they're all so ridiculous and elaborate but i just i had to pick that first and it's a great song it might not even be my favorite amenity song it's the most anthemic but the one the one thing i wanted to say that i wrote down was like amenity i know there's like different incarnations of the band but around like the 89 90 amenity i know they're getting the slower tempos from a bad brain influence but they they're groove innovators and there's like a lot of like heavy groove that I don't think they get credited for. And I say groove in a, in a cool way, not in like a funky way. But they, they have a bunch of songs that are slower tempos that I think are really cool and powerful and great lyrics. And yep, that's, that's my pick.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. I don't think that this is the best song, but I do think it's like the song that, Right. It is their classic. So it's a great one to take, especially if people have not heard Amenity before, it's going to be the one that grabs you. And Indecision just did a full discography. So everyone check that out. And it is available on streaming. So that rules. Hell yeah. Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Yeah. Amenity is my ground zero in San Diego, right? I lived, all those guys lived within a two, three block radius of me. When they originally started, the original singer Robin lived on the same street as I, and so did Barry, and Sergio and Tim lived a few blocks over. But those guys, along with Bob from Vano Communications, changed san diego forever forever i mean they put out their own music they put on their own shows they brought bands like soulside and verbal assault and reason to believe and hard stance and inside out they brought all these bands around to san diego and exposed a lot of us kids to a lot of great hardcore in the late 80s and early 90s and it was just amazing to me that you know growing up and first getting into punk and seeing it seemed so unattainable. And it's like, oh, there's these guys right on my street that are in a band and they just put out a 45. It was so inspiring. And without a doubt, without Amenity and Vinyl Communications, I wouldn't have been inspired to want to play an instrument. I wouldn't have been inspired to want to do bands. And yeah, without amenity, there's no one broken, like hands down. They are critical for me and I think critical for a lot of other people. And it opened the doors for a lot of other things like, you know, forced down and gravity records and all these different bands. And I think that Mike's energy and artistic vision drove a lot of of how Amenity feels. It wasn't just the music. Anthony's spot on. There was a heavy Bad Brains influence, a lot of eye against eye, quickness, groove to it. And I think that while Tim and Sergio and Barry had the music on lock, Mike was a visionary with how things looked aesthetically. So he made sure that when you got a record, it wasn't just a record. There was art. associated with it, hand-stamped, all these different things. And I think it was just as critical as the music, what Mike and those guys did.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, the Bad Brains love is super apparent, especially when you consider the band that Tim does after this, right? He does a band called House of Suffering, which is great as well. Dan, what do you think about this?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love that you all touch on the groove because that and the anthemic sound part of that groove. Like it is a different thing than just call and response hardcore. It is arguably, it comes over with even more gravitas and meaning in a lot of these amenity songs than some of that other quote unquote youth crew stuff that we absolutely adore. And Rob talking about like amenity music, Downside Records etc going on to like it's created a legacy all the way through San Diego lots of handmade pressings lots of you know 3-1-G carried it on and then other like all of us have done hand things because it is just part of the legacy the thing about this song in particular being chosen though the thing that's so important Zach and I always talk about this there's not enough anti-racist songs and there's not enough of that sentiment even though there can always be more there is lots of them but some of them just rise to the top of being so important and this song really you know It just gets that across. It's absolutely perfect. And, you know, OMDB interpolated it into one of our songs because we wanted to pay homage to this. And we basically did the This Is Our Struggle refrain at the end of one of our songs.
SPEAKER_05:Okay, let's go to you, Rob, for your number one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I am going to go and take a little bit of a different tact and move north into North County and take Antioch Arrow, Lightning Bolt. I think... that you know what we've talked about is very important but that first antioch arrow ep is absolutely critical to kind of picking up where heroin left off but pushing it in a direction that nobody saw coming you know and that song is just absolutely relentless like you know, they were wild live, super intense. You know, if you ran like Moss Icon and Fugazi on triple speed, that's kind of what you get out of Antioch Arrow. I think that there's a very bursting at the seams, DC franticness to everything that those first couple Antioch records do. Super off-kiltered vocal delivery like Moss Icon style. And I think, again, the handmade aesthetics carries through, right? I was there when they were spray painting the stencils for the record and I actually have the stencil itself for the first Antioch LP or 12-inch EP and That record is so important to me because it changed how I looked at music. I think heroin is important not to discount anything like that. You know, that was kind of the first go around at this type of stuff. But you can draw direct correlations from things like Antioch Arrow to bands like Orchid, you know, and some later dead and gone stuff. I don't know. I feel that this band, you know, is absolutely critical to San Diego. What do
SPEAKER_05:you think pops?
SPEAKER_06:They're kind of the OG mysterious guy band in the fucking best way. Like when they came to Massachusetts, they played one of the worst shows I've ever seen in my life. Like it was in the basement of something. I don't even know. It's like a weird warehouse and it was super low energy daylight, like just the worst environment for a show. And they just came in and played like, i would say like 15 to 20 minutes without stopping and none of the songs anyone knew which rules like i i miss kind of like going in with an expectation getting something different and then maybe recognizing the stuff later on on like the next record and being like oh i kind of know that um but i i think the thing about like stuff You know, like Antioch Arrow specifically and the stuff that came a little before, it felt like a reset through a modern lens. Like they were really emphasizing like a lot more of like a vibe than like, oh, we're trying to be like super syncopated, even though they, you know, it's not, it's, you know, the common word like chaotic, like it is all over the place, but it is cohesive. But I think it's more almost like going back to the germs or something where it feels like people are all doing this different thing, but they're in the same mind and it totally works. And it doesn't matter if the vocal drags a little bit or the guitar line is a little... Things don't have to be so perfect. And if you contrast that, and this isn't... slagging at all it's not being negative at all but if you contrast that with like snap case or earth crisis where like it's all about things being super syncopated and tight like it was really cool and also they looked cool like i think that's a i don't want to overemphasize the fashion aspect but a band that presents himself as a band is very cool to me so they were just like hugely influential and i definitely i had some uh Somewhere at my mom's house, there's a fucking parka with an Antioch arrow screen on the back. So maybe she can dig it out for me. I'll put it on the gram.
SPEAKER_05:Dude, that's so sick. What's your take, Dan?
SPEAKER_01:What I loved, before I even knew what they sounded like, I just heard the name. And I bought the 7-inches whenever I saw them, and I kept buying the same 7-inch again and again because they're all handmade, and they're all slightly different. They're all different spray paints, different watercolors on them, and it's cool. So I've got six of that 7-inch. But to me, they were striving to do something different, like striving to push this... This element of what we love a little bit further and a little bit into a different realm. And it sounded like it could fall apart at any moment. But like Anthony and both Rob said, it was incredibly influential to bands all over the world.
SPEAKER_05:All right, Dan, let's go back to you for your number two.
SPEAKER_01:okay well now we're getting into it because i i got strategic now i'm going end of a lifetime unbroken
SPEAKER_04:now
SPEAKER_01:i i i could select one of 15 unbroken songs easily but there's always been something about end of a lifetime that has always resonated with me both on the musical and lyrical aspect. We only get seven songs. I might be tempted to take Unbroken again later, but I'll try and get a bunch of other stuff on instead. But I may come knocking back at the Unbroken door. The thing about End of a Lifetime, it's talking about someone... Well, literally at the end of their life and the sadness that is associated with that, but also this element of acceptance, which it's incredibly visceral lyrically to me, you know, but I'm not dead yet, like that element of it, but Also musically, the... Like those builds and then the breaks into the other parts, like just to start the song, it's just so incredible. And the way the first line comes in, like stiff shoulders and cracking bones. Everything about it is so visceral and it has been the one unbroken song that... has probably been at the top of my list from the minute i heard it even though there's so many other incredible ones and this doesn't always come up on lots of other people's you know top two or three songs but it's always been the one for me um but god i you can throw a dart at the track listing on this lp and both seven inches and you're gonna have an absolute winner
SPEAKER_05:this is the first unbroken song that like peaked my ears when someone was playing the cd you know it's like oh what you know because like lyrically it can grab you like that so yeah not my favorite of the unbroken songs although very very good and uh a great pick because yeah this this was the one that grabbed me because like lyrically it's like what you know and then it's like oh the lyrics are sick so good way to write it because you know like we all love hip hop and it's like, you love storytelling and you don't get that a lot in hardcore songs. So like anytime that someone takes like a lyrical approach, it's a little different and it's not like too arty for me, you know, it's sick. So what do you think pops? I
SPEAKER_06:was just going to say like, as a, as a whole, I think there was a, there was sort of a period of time in the early nineties where there was a bunch of bands who kind of delivered on things that people wanted. Like, you know, cause you're coming from, you have all of the eighties and it's kind of like all these different ideas have happened. And then I wasn't in a hardcore in 1982. So I'm, I'm coming up in a different world and there's different things I like, whether it's metal or goth music or whatever, there's different sounds I like. And to hear that get incorporated in a really fresh, way is exciting and i think just by the reception of the band it spoke to people like i don't know it's hard to articulate when there's sort of something in the ether and and a group of people get together and nail it and it's like yeah that's that's what we wanted we wanted that heaviness we wanted that introspection we wanted it sounds corny to say we like i'm speaking for like uh congregation or something but it's like you know there's like this way to do like dark heavy music that is still rooted in hardcore that isn't spooky and and it's like there is something uplifting about that and so to me it was like really a band that uh reflected just this beautiful contrast and balance and that that's what that meant to me then and and still carries on when I go back to the records.
SPEAKER_05:Everyone, if for some chance you haven't checked it out, episode 203 of 185 Mile South, we do a whole episode on life, love, regret, and everyone from the band goes in and discusses every single song. So check that out. But Rob, for the lazy, what is your take?
SPEAKER_00:For the lazy? I mean, I think that you guys get it. I mean, we were all... between the ages of 17 and 22 and so that song particularly is about watching a family member or loved one pass on right and and and so i think that it's uh you know to anthony's point we were very much like we need to get away from the typical kind of youth crew anthems of, you know, you have a racism, a drug-free, a sexism. You know, you have all these isms of songs to speak about. And with Ritual, we kind of tackled all that. And Life Will Regret, like, was more pure emotion. Like, the band was... hanging on by a thread. If you go back and listen to that episode, um, you know, Eric had left the band and the tour in 93 in DC. And we, uh, Brian from mean season filled in on second guitar for the last two weeks of the tour. And we didn't know if we were going to be a band when we got home and we kind of got it together and, and went to go record the record, um, a few months after that tour. And so the band, um, You can tell the band was barely hanging on, I think, lyrically and musically. That kind of shines through on that record. And it's cool that that's what you guys picked up on, because that's exactly what it is. There's no mystery to it. It's just pure, raw emotion of kids dealing with loved ones dying. That's what that song's about.
SPEAKER_05:All right, I'm going to take my number two, and I am going... To take Battalion of Saints, the song Animal in Man, came out on their LP in 1984. They had previously put out their 12-inch EP in 82, and then in 83, they did a second 7-inch, or I guess their first 7-inch second EP. This song, dude, is so iconic to me, like just the way that the toms start and you know what's coming, right? And it's like the toms and then that– Kind of simple-ass guitar riff over the top of it, and then layering the vocals. And then when it kicks, it's fucking on point, dude. I mean, early 80s hardcore is my favorite shit there is. This is prime. This is one of the best bands. This LP rips. And the lyrics are great as well. As well as it being very catchy. The animals that run the world will make you, they all will die. You know, so fucking sick, dude. And the lyrics on that third verse are really good. Like that, if you want to be a god... look where it got him hanging on the cross. Only man could do such things. God damn, dude. And then you have that one, like refrain part too. That's like, man will be extinct. Man will be instinct. Man will be extinct. That's a weird part, dude, to tuck in the middle of like a straight, like early mid eighties, hardcore song. So sick, dude, this is excellent. And, you know, I think it's Canon for a lot of people that, uh, take the plunge into eighties hardcore, but there are definitely going to be some people listening to this that aren't big battalion of saints fans. And I would say peep this song. And I think you will fall in love with the band pops. What do you think?
SPEAKER_06:Great song, great name, great logo and a band that genuinely looked like bad people, which scores a lot of points for me, you know, like as a young person, I had a roommate who was like kind of a, like an earlier hardcore mentor, like a fill-in-the-cracks-er type dude. And I want to say this is probably like an early Curtis Casella, Tang poaching, like when they did that discography when Tang moved to San Diego, which is worth, that's my only connection, right? Boston to San Diego. But I remember just being really hyped that there was, like when things would come out on CD and getting like, What was it called? Death R Us CD or whatever. But yeah, it's a band that the more I go on seeing how important it is to other people whose music I really respect, from people in the punk and hardcore scene to people outside who cite that band, they're just a fascinating band to me. I think one thing that just puts it over the top is that the way the vocals will sort of... They have a lot of character and they break. And like you said, the layering, it's just a top shelf version. I would hate for people to write this band off because it's a top shelf early hardcore band to me.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. It's an A-tier hardcore band for sure. Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Absolute A-tier hardcore. I mean, it is... Everything you love about early 80s punk, it's angry, it's aggressive, it's political, it's anti-religious, kind of sounds like Discharge, kind of sounds like GBH. They're great. Chris Smith from Chula Vista, went to Chula Vista Junior in high school. He also moved to New York later to play in Kraut. I mean... you know, these guys have a lasting influence and legacy in punk. I mean, even when we just went to Europe, we did a Fighting Boys tribute shirt, right? Because I just love that band so much. Everyone in Unbroken does. I mean, they're ground zero for a lot of people. I mean, kind of like what the zeros were for the seventies, but Tynus Saints was for the eighties. I mean, they were part of that, another state of mind tour, you know, even though they weren't on film, they were part of that whole thing, you know, and it was interesting. They, I mean, they like, you know, The Damned, you know, had a million members. I mean, everyone from Mario Rubicava to Matt Anderson from Heroin has played in Battalion of Saints. They have a million people playing the band. But what was really cool is, you know, they were... Every now and again, get back together and play, and I've seen a few different iterations. They weren't that good, but in the early 2000s, Matt and Scott from Heroin were actually part of the backing band for Battalion of Saints, and they were playing a lot of shows in the early 2000s, and they were so fucking great. I never got to see them until, jeez, 89, 90, and by that point, it wasn't that great. So I never got to see that early... incarnation of battalion of saints but i what i saw in the early 2000s with those guys backing him definitely it was probably as close as it probably could have been because it just sounded so cool they have endless amounts of great songs on those first few records i mean absolutely critical to san diego
SPEAKER_05:just a quick historical correction they weren't on like the the youth brigade social detour they did a separate one with aggression around the same time period and it was also a bus tour and Because it was like kind of BYO related. The two get kind of mixed up. For clarification, everyone can jump in those archives again. Episode 220, I interview the Battalion of Saints, Rhodey Dick, who was on that tour. And we go into detail of all that. Now, one of my bands, maybe 10 years ago, we played with them at Ventura Theater. And... He was a wild man, dude. Hanging with him backstage was wild. He was literally like Rodney Dangerfield. That shit was fucking crazy. You know what I mean? Pound a beer, accidentally blow it on the roof, and then burp, and then pound another one. You know what I mean? That kind of weirdo, wacko shit. So I loved it. And they were killers. So obviously, I never saw them in their prime. But like... I don't know. These older bands, sometimes they can get a good backing group, kind of what Rob alluded to. It was all young dudes in the band. It was just sick to hear these songs live and get to see them, dude. Dan, what do you think?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love the lyrics to this song. I'm really glad you dissected them. They're a band that I can pick all my favorite songs out. And then, because I had this song and Bombs on my list. I mean, is there a back of a leather jacket look cooler than a Battalion of Saints back design? It's absolutely perfect.
SPEAKER_05:Pops, let's go to you for your number two.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, so for number two, I'm going to sort of build off the influence of Gravity Records and Antioch Arrow Records. but in a different way. It felt like there was this soup in the 90s of the presentation and chaos of Nation Ulysses and then this other band, Drive Like Jehu, who are so name-checked for that chaotic, discordant music. It's almost hard to pin down. I think they're an interesting band because there's this internal... push-pull, where half the band doesn't want to be very arty, and the other half of the band is pushing them for longer songs and more time signatures. And if you hear, especially interviews with Rick Froberg and John Rhys, they kind of just wanted to do what they ended up doing with Hot Snakes. But I'll pick the song Bullet Train to Vegas, one of their most up-tempo songs, and it kind of embodies this fast... sort of ramshackle shreddy vocals, but still in like a, like a, a punk context too. You know, like it's not, it's definitely not a hardcore song, but it's a, it's a amped up punk song. And I also liked that Rick's vocals, like his lyrics, you know, it could be a song like luau where you're not even really fucking sure what he's talking about. And then, but there's something about the delivery that resonates. Like I was listening to that song today and like, I believe the first line is failures in space and that kind of felt relevant. But it, yeah, just bullet train to Vegas, such a rad song. And, and something I learned later is like part of the guitar line is, is taken from a mission of Burma song that I believe is called. He said, she said, and it's really cool that they like reached that far back for an homage. So great EP, but I would check out all their stuff. If you're not familiar.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, Drive Like Jehu was on my list for sure. But maybe now that they've been mentioned, I'll try and get some other SD stuff on. But I absolutely love Jehu. I love Rocket from the Crypt too. So right around this time, I was discovering both because they were both going full blast at the time. And they were two sides of one coin, even though... know the only member they shared was john reese but they were the two flag bearers for san diego music that was like getting bigger at the time and they both were so incredible live but jehu like rick froberg's voice and the way jehu would be able to this sounds might sound cheesy but the way that they kind of would jam something out would be so atmospheric and so like powerful but the riffs are incredible i actually like the song i would have chose is do you compute i i love yank crime even more than the first record but i would say most people who are Jehu Stans love both but like the first one more but for some reason Yank Crime it just hit me at the right point of time in my life right when I was 18 and I absolutely love it I love the way Rick Froberg's voice sounds because it comes across aggressive and cuts through really well but is also extremely tuneful and doesn't sound like anyone else it's fantastic and someone who has gone far too soon. What's your take, Rob?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, great song. I had them on my list as well. Not this song, but yeah, this track is up-tempo. It's gritty. The lyrics are kind of funny, but the delivery of it it's just so critical and super influential for a lot of bands in san diego you know rocket definitely has a place in san diego for sure but i was definitely more of a jehu and pitchfork fan and um and for me you know jehu this song in particular really set a tone of like what you can kind of do with punk and punk adjacent and still be aggressive without being metal or being aggressive without being too in your face. I mean, it has a real, real angry vibe about it without being all razor blades and piss and vinegar. It's just a really good, angry rock and roll song. Super influential, especially the last couple of Broken 7 Inches were heavily influenced by Jehu and Pitchfork. And this song in particular was something that resonated with Steve and Eric. And yeah. not enough great things you can say about how good this band is. They were great live. They would play with interesting bands. I would see them with House of Suffering and Crash Worship, which is like a hippie noise industrial ensemble from around here. And so they would play mixed bills all the time. And it was cool. They weren't afraid to play hardcore shows and punk shows or noise shows. And they kind of fit into all those things. But yeah, great pick.
SPEAKER_05:All right. Let's go to you for your number two.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, to me for my number two. Okay. Let's see. I have Battalion of Saints. I had Amenity. I had some other stuff. So I'm going to pick something that hasn't really been talked about, and that is the infamous Gehenna. First Blood is a track that I'm going with. Absolutely raging, shredded hardcore from the East County of San Diego. Just ear-splitting live shows, super wild. You know, absolutely always going to be one of the most favorite bands of mine from San Diego. Drawing on influences from kind of like early Bathory, but then kind of sounding like a little bit of GBH and Motorhead. You know, just tons of EPs, singles and comps to choose from. But I think First Blood's just a really good introduction to the band Gehenna. And I, you know, not that they're the most popular band in the world. I mean, most bands from San Diego aren't. But I do think that they are absolutely critical for what they did and how... influential they were for the bands to come after. Dan,
SPEAKER_05:you're usually just big upping the demo. How do you feel about this? First song off a 2000 CD.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, this is an awesome track. Yes, I'm 100%, or should I say 83% in love with the demo. The demo is my thing, and it may get revisited shortly. We shall see. But this is an amazing song and the one thing that can't be said enough about Gehenna is they're known as the infamous Gehenna for a reason there is some serious infamy that goes on with this band and that's something that has come somewhat slipped away in hardcore for a bit you know these days you'll hear some things but you know with the internet and cell phones etc there's you know there's not that great telephone of stories but there were many great stories that would get telephoned around the scene about gehenna and i love that so i probably i'm going to revisit this to the demo
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Dan still believes that Mike cheese stabbed someone with a frozen hot dog. That's what he's getting at people. It's not true. And Mike, don't stab me, please. We should say like this band has had a long and awesome run because their LP that they put out in 2022 was so good, you know? So, and I know a lot of people like dabble in black metal these days or love it. And like, Gehenna does like tasteful black metal shit sometimes, but it's like mixed with like punk and hardcore. So like it's palatable for me. And generally the songs are pretty short. You know what I mean? Like, cause some black metal stuff is fucking painful because like, it's like lo-fi. It sounds good. Like they got that part, right. But then it's like a seven minute fucking song. And it's like, why am I listening to this music that is like this super stripped down thing? And your song is seven minutes, you know? So like, I think that, Gehenna should get credit for like taking a style and like applying brevity to it, which is like very important for my brain. But hell yeah. Great pick Rob. And let's go to you, Dan, for your number three.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. This has got to sort of piggyback off a, Anthony's pick because I was going to take Do You Compute by Drive Like Jehu, but while this song is still available, I'm going to take Plenty For All by Hot Snakes. This song has, I think, on a different Super 7, had been chosen for the year that we did, and I was really bummed out that Clevo swooped me on it because this is one of the best guitar riffs ever. This is so catchy. And also the way that Rick sings over this super, super catchy riff with the staccato catchy vocals that, like I said about his voice earlier, they just cut through, but they're so tuneful at the same time. It's a... an absolute fantastic song. And it just has this like just great driving beat running through it. This is a, this is an absolute, you know, it's the last song on the record and, you know, in true streaming era, like where bands are putting things out during like as streaming has been a thing. So like bands have recorded and stuff. lots of people front load the records, but back in the day, like you used to get like something really good to set it off. And then something in the middle of side one, something to start side B, something in the middle of side B, and then maybe the bands like all timer as the last song on the record, like in a strong structure, you know, a struck sequencing of LPs. And, um, This song is the best hot snake song for me and one of San Diego's best songs.
SPEAKER_05:Dan, is this the California song? Yeah. Yeah, okay. You picked it on something else and I never heard this. Oh, Clevo picked it on something. Yeah, so I'd never heard this. I listened to it on that playlist and yeah, this song kicks ass, dude. Killer song. Good to have it on here. What do you think, Pops?
SPEAKER_06:I think the... tourist commission should make commercials with this song for sure put some money in their pockets it's such a there's kind of like the wipery version of hot like the wipery hot snake songs which are rad and then they come up with stuff like this that's just totally different and amazing and that's not i like all all hot snakes but um yeah just the sometimes someone comes up with a riff and I could just imagine being in practice being like, play that again. And like how cool it must've felt to come up with that. I also think between like Hot Snakes, Rocket from the Crypt and Jehu, like all those bands kind of created people too. There's like a Rocket from the Crypt, like a Rocket from the Cryptian person, a Jehuian person and like a Hot Snaker. A Hot Snaker is a little more like a door guy. Like... You know what I mean? Like hot snake dude, we'll check your ID and like probably tell you where the barber is or something like that. But it's just, it's just cool that those bands were able to do that. And I don't know if we're going to talk about rocking from the crypt at all tonight, but I'm going to put out there that they're San Diego's Boston's fight me.
SPEAKER_05:I love it. I love it. Okay. Let's see here. What am I going to take? I am going to take the, the song internal by the band crossed out. We talk on the pod a lot. I am a poser of many genres and power violence is definitely one of them. I only like the best stuff of like that, you know, whatever the original five years, you know what I'm saying? Like I like this crossed out seven inch. I like infest. I like no comment. I like capitalist casualties and dude that I'm jumping off the train, but this seven inch is so sick. It's, And I think that it is better as the sum of all parts. It's hard to pull a song off it really, because I don't know, the whole thing just flows. And that's kind of how power violence is. Like even I think infest has like the biggest hits of all, like the power violence bands and even them, I think like the songs are best in the context of a full record. So, but I love this, like, uh, That little guitar, it's like that's the hook in the guitar. This song exemplifies their ability to go fast to slow, although I guess this isn't that slow. It's fast to bounce. Really quick. That's kind of what this band does. It's like their lane of power violence, I guess. Going... Opposed to Infest, which is just kind of like sped up, straight up hardcore songs. So I fucking love this dude. And I would like the 7-inch. If anybody has it, I would enjoy it. And Kevin Hare needs one too. So two crossed out 7-inches, please. Pops, what do you think?
SPEAKER_06:just ripper band. Like again, like another, another band that took things back to like this super like caveman, brutal blown out sound. Like all the recordings sound like just better than what you make in a practice space in the best way. And yeah, I mean, I have that, I have crossed out on my list and it's like, I kind of, you just listen to all the songs in a stream kind of, right? Like you just want to get, you want to get beaten up. You want to bounce. You want to get beaten up. You want to bounce, bounce, blast, beat up, like killer band. My, my introduction, I think the first time I ever heard them was that split five inch, which is just a wild format. Like my record player wouldn't even play the whole thing. It just, it would cut off like, cause the arm was automatic and I would, I didn't even have, I had to tape it to listen to the whole thing. But yeah, just, fucking awesome. Not, not overrated, not, and not name checked enough.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And to clarify for everyone, this is the first song of the seven inch. So sometimes if you can't decide a song, dude, you're kind of just voting for that needle drop. And unfortunately for me, I'm just, it's that, uh, iPhone play for the fuck. Cause I don't have the record, you know what I mean? But this was a staple on my, uh, iPod for, for many years. So there's that Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think they were a great band. They're from North County on Slappaham. And I think the Five Inches, that Dead and Gone split seven inch, I have that too. Same thing. Couldn't listen to the whole thing. My tone arm would stop. So bi-coastal fuckery. But that's like Slappaham, you know, like Chris Dodge and Sticky and all that stuff. It had a sense of humor about what they were doing. I only ever got to see Crossed Out once. It was maybe a 15, 20 minute set. And I remember it being pretty damn good, super fast and aggressive. But yeah, it's a great song. It has a great intro. But yeah, this band, I agree, they don't get name checked enough. I think maybe because they're not still around at all, like Infest. you know, for as far in Neanderthal, that type of stuff that was around for like the power violence, like, you know, that wave, you know, they kind of disappeared and, you know, infest used to play all the time and there'd be like 20 people 50 people watching them and you know and then they kind of disappeared into obscurity and kind of got popularized again and unfortunately for crossed out it seemed like it never really happened for them i don't think it's kind of like people just go to infest and just stop when there's all these other really cool bands especially on slap a ham records i mean there's a lot of great stuff in the power violence vein that and crossed out one of those bands that i think people should go back and check out they have a lot of great songs
SPEAKER_05:i don't know if they're underrated at all i think that anyone that like dabbles in power violence like this is a a top five band that gets name checked um and then also you don't think so i
SPEAKER_00:don't see them on lists i mean even like anthony said i mean i don't i mean people kind of talk about them but i never hear everyone anyone raving about them i don't maybe i don't read enough wild weekend scenes maybe
SPEAKER_05:that's right but i i will say this like So when Ceremony put out that first LP and it was like the hottest shit going, they were power violence-y. If I was going to relate them to an original power violence band, they're the most crossed out opposed to the other power violence bands. So I think that they got name checked then a lot. Am I tripping on this?
SPEAKER_00:I don't know. I mean, maybe, you know, Ross or Anthony or someone can kind of kind of speak more on that with the name check. I'm not saying they, they didn't know about crossed out, but you know, I,
SPEAKER_05:but that was more of the style, like the slow to fast instead of like the, the infest just being like wild. So I don't know. Anyway. Um, let's go to you pops for your number three.
SPEAKER_06:I'll do another needle drop. Um, I'll take off the second heroine seven inch, AKA the paper bag, seven inch, the song leave. I love the whole thing, but to me, this is like, you know, time capsule quintessential, you know, building off 80 late eighties, hardcore and doing something totally different, doing something different aesthetically, you know, looking at the, just as like an object, like not really knowing at first what's on the cover. I think that the lyrics are actually pretty simple in a good way, like for how sort of spastic and noisy the music can be. But I think of like all those bands, like Heroin definitely always sounded the most hardcore to me for obvious reasons. And I think this is like absolute classic and I'm stoked that it was what Southern Lord that did the discography and put everything out properly again. But yeah, just, uh, it's one of my favorite seven inches. It's a very like time and place to song leave.
SPEAKER_05:Pops. You love it because it's the heroin song that sounds the most like a slap shot. No friend of mine.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, exactly. That's of course, everything goes back to, uh, meathead Boston, um, working class music for me.
SPEAKER_05:That's right. Uh, Rob, what do you think about this?
UNKNOWN:Um,
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, it is a, it is a great song. And, and, and again, it's one of those things like similar to downside records, you know, Matt was doing a lot of interesting things with like silkscreen paper bags as covers and silkscreen jackets and stickers. And, you know, that was part of that aesthetic that was coming out of San Diego was that whole handmade way of doing things. It was kind of a, an artistic layer of the DIY of, of, of putting out records. And yeah, it's a great song. Great band. I just love that there's a straight edge band called Heroin. How cool is that? But they were great live. Got to see them so many times and played with them a couple of times when we were first starting. And always a great live show. Very intense. Matt's voice is so good. And, uh, yeah, leave is a fantastic track. So good. Hey Rob, quick
SPEAKER_06:question. Did you, I only saw heroin. I think I only saw them once, but they sounded so different live to me in a good way. And I don't know if you had like any thoughts on that, like their recorded output versus how they were live.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. To me, they sounded faster. And I think it was like a little more chaotic and, and, um, kind of bursting at the seams than recorded. I think recording, like you get a little bit of that for sure, but it seemed way more controlled. And then when they got out of the studio, it was just like this unbridled energy. I mean, you know, guitars flying, Aaron's drumming is just like wild, you know, and Matt, It was kind of like stoic but angry vocal delivery. I always thought they were way more wild than the records let on. At least that was my experience.
SPEAKER_05:Dan, what's your take?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, this is a great track choice because it's got probably some of the most melody in the things with it being– really good speed and aggression. Heroin, I feel like, I mean, to anyone out there that dabbles in this and enjoys this, get that discography that came out a couple years ago. It is so fantastic and it's got a really great written stuff on it too. What Heroin were for me... But beyond being enjoyed in their own right and really loving it, they were kind of like a gateway band for me to go into things like Fingerprint and Anasarka and a lot of that, IG88 and things that... They were the... what seemed like from maybe my limited understanding of a very influential band that started a lot of what would technically be called Screamo later on but Heroin was like what everyone wanted to be like and it started all of these bands that went off in interesting ways where they would incorporate really pretty riffs but with absolute emotion-filled screaming, and I feel Heroin, even though they were, like Rob says, a straight-edge band that was doing something different, they kind of kick-started this thing, or maybe that's just the way I experienced it all, but I love Heroin. Don't clip that soundbite. I love Heroin. I love Heroin.
SPEAKER_02:I love Heroin. I love heroin I love heroin
SPEAKER_00:No, you're spot on, Daniel. I mean, I definitely would say that those pretty screamy parts, I think, were super influential. I mean, you could hear some of that on bands like Thursday and early Thursday records and stuff like that. I mean, I think that...
SPEAKER_05:Let's not insult heroin. Let's not insult heroin here. Jeez. jesus christ
SPEAKER_00:no but i'm just saying like i i do think that daniel is is pretty spot on i mean i i would say that like heroin is is part of that early incarnation of of screamo but they were very punk it wasn't pop you know with with just pretty parts they would have these jangly parts that would just get real angry and real fast and um i don't know i i think daniel is is is right that I do think that they influenced a lot of that screamo stuff that was to come a few years later.
SPEAKER_05:Rob, let's go to you for number three.
SPEAKER_00:I'm going with a band much like Built to Last that kind of did a lot for hardcore in the late 90s. This band, Run for Your Fucking Life, did a lot for punk in San Diego in the late 90s and really brought back that punk... basement show, ask a punk to get to the show vibe. So the song is Hold Your Breath by Run For Your Fucking Life. I think that they are critical to San Diego. 3-1-G did a discography on them recently. I mean, they to me they kind of sound like dead and gone meets the verrukers it's just like the perfect blend like you can get a little bit of that uk 82 83 punk but then you get that like real dark dirgy punk like dead and gone um you know i i don't know i live jason was so intense live um you know I don't even know how many times I saw this band, but they were milling around the same time built to last was. And, and I feel that they were kind of adjacent in for what they did for their respective genres. What, what built to last did for hardcore, I think run for your fucking life did a lot to kickstart punk again in San Diego in the late, you know, mid to late nineties, you know, bands like find him and kill him and, and, and other locals, I think thrived off of what these guys started. So very important band of San Diego.
SPEAKER_05:Dan, what's your take?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean, if you want to know what hardcore punk sounds like, like shoot a run for your fucking life record into space, um, this is punk as fuck, but also channeling, um, things as as far as you know the germs discharge etc it's all in there and it is so aggressive and it was so real because you know to be completely honest like you know there was definite like heroin problems and stuff that had gone on with these guys in this band and them taking that on and singing about it and and and because for me i was going to take the song the straw that broke the camel's back but when this record came out like they did the seven inch but when the um lp came out it it leveled san diego like they were an incredibly amazing band live incredibly generous too they'd play with anyone they'd put you on when Rob sold his record shop Jeff the drummer from this band kind of took it over at the Empire Club and would be doing shows there all the time too and the best thing about Run For Your Fucking Life is the same thing that like was kind of mentioned about Drive Like Jehu earlier they'd play with any style of band And they'd just be fucking down because they cared about San Diego punk and San Diego hardcore. I mean, they were the instigators or they were part of the instigating crew that would do the shows in the, um, sewers, um, take a generator down and play in a storm drain in the sewer. And, um, I mean, can it get more punk than that? Run For Your Fucking Life, incredibly important San Diego band. And Jason is someone we lost too soon too. This is really sad talking about like San Diego bands and then saying like, you know, all of these great singers are gone. Because if you ever went to Pokies and were like, it was an absolute treat to be served by and chat to Jason for the time being. eating those delicious tofu fajitas.
SPEAKER_05:Just don't order fajitas. If it's Dan's birthday, that would be rude. Yeah, this is, this is great. And everyone, there's a playlist for every episode, 185 miles south.com. Click that playlist link at the top of the page, or just find us on Spotify. If you haven't heard any of this stuff, there is a playlist and it is all about the music. So check it out. This rules, this LP rules. It's pretty easy to get. I mean, abolition had it. up to, I think a few years ago for like five bucks still. So this is kind of a no brainer to just have in your collection. So hell yeah. Okay. Let's go back to you, Dan, for your number four.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. For number four, I'm going to go with, I'm going to go with kill holiday meant to let you down. Now this is, I, I enjoy the entire discography of kill holiday and, quite considerably. And I love that from the first release to the LP, there is an absolute evolution of their sound. And every step along the way, I enjoy it all. But Meant to Let You Down, it is just the catchiest punk song song it's unbelievable it's in the era of the band where I think Todd had then started playing bass and I think Barry was still in the band but Oscar had left and it is just like Steve had obviously written this just amazing song and it is It's definitely, you know, just like they can't get away from it, but there is a little bit of Morrissey-esque channeling when writing these lyrics and bringing that in a punk way is really great. Like, meant to let you down and I'll probably do it again, essentially, is what this is saying. And I love that kind of honesty. It's... paired with an absolute classic riff. This riff is almost as good as that Hot Snakes riff. They're both so fucking great guitar-wise. And still to this day, Steve Miller is one hell of a musician. Just plays... writes great riffs all through my record collection. So, um, I absolutely love this song and it's criminal that there was just a kill holiday, um, compilation put out on indecision and this song wasn't on it. And I, I shake my head at that.
SPEAKER_05:Uh, probably not Dave's fault, dude, because he is the King of the, uh, the anthology. He does a great job. So who knows, Rob,
SPEAKER_00:is
SPEAKER_05:this
SPEAKER_00:still your era
SPEAKER_05:right here?
SPEAKER_00:No, I only played on the first 7-inch, so this was after me. There was a few records in between this one, a split with Dempsey, a record on Simba, I believe, and then this came out in a contract.
SPEAKER_01:This is the one on Simba, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So, no, but, you know, if I let you down, my friend, well, I know I'll let you down again is how it goes. But, yeah, this... This is one of those songs where it's like Steve really shines as a songwriter. He very much, you know, Rocket, Jehu, meets like Teenage Fan Club and The Smiths. I mean, he's... channeling all these different influences, some from San Diego, some from abroad, and he's able to put that into a digestible, catchy riff. He's such a great songwriter. Lyrically, it's a really strong song. This is one of the songs that I wish I would have stuck around to be a part of. That and the LP on Rev were the two things that I always tell him I wish I would have stayed in the band for that LP and a couple other songs that came after I left. After the first EP, because I felt that that's when Steve became a, you know, a good songwriter to a great songwriter. And this is absolutely one of those songs and, you know, is worth talking about and worth exploring. Yeah, I don't know why it's not on the comp either. So I don't know. You have to ask Dave and Oscar about that.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and for the people that don't understand what we're talking about here, so this is Kill Holiday. This is a post-Unbroken band, and initially they have three of the dudes from Unbroken in it. And on this, there's still two of the guys from Unbroken because Rob's not in the band anymore. So that's interesting for the Unbroken lovers out there. This is the dudes taking more of a– I don't know. What do you want to say? Indie rock-ish, emo-ish type band. Pops, what do you
SPEAKER_06:think? I think all the– the kill holiday stuff was really ambitious and it's cool to see like a band have space to evolve and, and just learn how to stretch out, write songs. I like all this stuff. I think I, I really want to say that I, the first time I ever talked to Steve was like, it's like, uh, I was sound checking at a show and, probably playing like a swizz riff or something and then we just talked about that like he's something about like playing swizz riffs or something like that and it was just such an organic like kind of nothing conversation and then he he was in new york for like cmj at the same time i was and it was just cool to hear him like really talk about songwriting and just be so like obsessed with his band and and he would send me tapes and stuff like that and I don't know. I think it's just like a really ambitious band that probably there wasn't much. I think even at that time, there was sort of like these tiers of bands where I don't think there was a lot of other peers to Kill Holiday where it was like, oh, you just slide in and play with this. Because to me, sonically, where they fit in was more in the teenage fan club realm. Indies or not the teenage fan club was an indie band at the time, but like this other circuit that was, that felt so far from hardcore. And now like, it's almost like with the festification and, and streaming of everything that things are a lot closer together. And I'm almost like surprise. There isn't like a kill holiday resurgence because of that. Cause it's great stuff.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Great point pops. Like the people that are into like the alt hardcore, the hardcore adjacent bands, like they could really, get down with this stuff and, and really all that nineties rev stuff. You know, I'm surprised that it hasn't like had like a big resurgence as well. Okay. I'm going to take, uh, The song Walks of Life by Take Offense came out initially on their Peace and Death 7-inch from 2008. It was also re-recorded on their 2011 LP Tables Will Turn. That is going to be the version on the playlist because Peace and Death is not on streaming. I'm choosing this because I think this is the first great Take Offense song. So they start, they're like your basic teenage, fast, hardcore band played a lot of shows and really, you know, in the time after, when the body went away, like how they were talking about, like there was a lull before built to last, like there was kind of a lull here, I think too. Right. And, and it, it sounds weird to say this now, but like that band PC death squad really was like a, a catalyst for a lot of things like fortunately or unfortunately, but like, they played shows in fun places and brought a lot of kids out. And they were kind of the one that influenced take offense. And Guzman was in that band too, who was kind of a already, you know, probably in his early twenties, like a scene elder to all these teenagers. And so like, they kind of went in that crossover direction. They did a split seven inch with PC does squad. And then on this seven inch piece and death, they kind of come into their own. And this song is, is so sick dude like out the gate like that first riff you know what it is and then like it comes in on kind of like a slow beat and for them to be so young and to be not in a hurry to like get to the next part it just it sounds like very mature for like what is like a hardcore punk or a this is kind of their their entry in like their crossover stage but Everything about this is so sick. It picks up to a mid tempo. It's got great gang vocals. And then the solo on this is beautiful. It's pretty amazing to me because like, you know, when you're young, the years are a lot, You know, and so you think about like them putting out the seven inch in 2008 when they rerecord the song in 2011, like most bands, like that three year gap, they would like fuck up the song, right? Like they're tired of playing it or whatever. They got to try to like fancy it up, you know, but like it's almost exactly the same. And that kind of like just goes to show how dope it was in the first place. Yeah. their 2011 lp tables will turn is probably the lp that people know them for the most and dude crossover like took off since then right like take offense and power trip like these were bands that kind of like pushed it forward and you know really paved the way for maybe a band like mind force that's around today like just killing it you know i mean so yeah you got to give them their due and and If you ask me, this is where it all started. 2008, the Peace and Death 7-inch, and this song,
SPEAKER_00:Walks of Life.
SPEAKER_05:What do you think, Rob?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, Greg is a prolific musician, prolific songwriter. very talented multi-instrumentalists. And yeah, to your point, a re-recorded version that just somehow sounds even better than the original and it's not fucked up is a testament to his vision as a musician. I think Take Offense came in at a really interesting time. It was like the mid-2000s, kind of the over-ended body, no reply, built to last era. um you know all these socal bands that were a lot of times playing in san diego um you know in control etc that era had kind of started to end and these guys came in and they were like kind of the new new wave of chula vista kids starting bands and you know to me you know i think this is a great song but um um power in our hands is absolutely um my favorite Take Offense song. I think that's on their best record. Yeah, they pushed the envelope for Crossover in a very tasteful way, much like Power Trip did and opened the doors for a lot of people. You know, there's direct lines to some of the stuff they've done, whether it's the early stuff or later stuff, you know, to like Dispersed and Hereditary and Sumo, all this new wave of San Diego bands. You know, some of that stuff, you know, is directly connected inspired by, or at least adjacent to a scene that, that take offense helped kickstart again, right. And breathe new life into, into the Chula Vista scene. And a lot of bands came out of the South Bay, um, because of what these guys started. So I take offense is a very important band. I have them on my list as well. Um, very, very important band to San Diego.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. And not just for the music, but like the heart of the scene, like shifted and they were doing a lot of shows in Chula Vista as well as bringing in like lots of national bands. So yeah, super sick. And then, you know, when they started touring, like basically full time, um, That was kind of another shift for the scene, right? It's like Take Offense had carried it on their back for several years and now they're off on tour all the time. What's going on? And then it kind of shifted over to Lemon Grove for a while with a new crop of kids again. Dan, what's your take on this?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to piggyback off what you were just saying, Take Offense went around the world and sang out San Diego's name, you know, all over and gave people a new perspective on what San Diego sounded like. And this song in particular, it's my second favorite Take Offense song. I was going to take, and I might still, I don't know how this is all going to stack up, but I was going to go T.O. Zone just because It's just so epic. And for me, normally I wouldn't like that vocal style that much, but I love it on that song. But this, the part of the song where it, like after when it breaks and he goes like, and then it goes into the, part where it sounds so af the way he's singing with the backups going
SPEAKER_03:walked off live
SPEAKER_01:it sounds like you know af crossover af like done perfectly i i mean take offense get so much respect from me um because of the longevity of their band and like zach said they put on for many other bands and brought in lots of touring bands and would like support like their friends who they played with in their town they would return the favor in San Diego and really make sure that the show would be really great for their friends bands who were touring and coming through San Diego and um you know they're all around and all legit like great Coleman.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's not past tense either because Greg and Ricky still do a lot of the big shows around here. So much respect.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I just want to add something. I mean, I think that what you both are saying about putting on for bands, I mean, that's that tradition that started so long ago, right? In the 80s and 90s, bands that went to tour brought other bands, helped put on bands, put locals on. Take Offense did that from day one. They would go out Give new bands a chance. Bring in touring acts. They went on the road. I mean, those guys have a lot to be proud of. Did a lot for San Diego in the last 10, 15 years and still do, you know, putting on shows. And that's one thing that I love so much about those guys is they never forgot how important it is to give new bands a chance and do your best to try to get, you know, bigger bands to come through town. So they definitely are important part of the San Diego legacy.
SPEAKER_05:Hell yeah. Okay, Pops, let's go to you for number four.
SPEAKER_06:Okay, I'm going to do this. This song is almost like known in skateboarding the way big star is known by normies from watching that 70 show. It's this on a lot less by sub society. There's a couple of versions. There's one on the Iceman seven inch, which has become pretty collectible in the past few years. But it's like, if you were a late eighties watching VHS skate videos in the late eighties and you you skated, you probably like Matt Hensley and he skated to the song and Hocus Pocus in the H street video. It's kind of weird. Like it's almost, it's, I guess I would call it pop punk, but it's not totally pop punk. A lot of their songs aren't in that sort of like simple three-chordy way. Like even the song's main riff, it has like a, like a pull-off riff to it. It's not totally straightforward, but it is a pretty simple song. And it, it almost like, It actually sounds like a bit of an outlier for 1990 when it came out. It doesn't sound of the time. But then the one thing I just want to say real quick is that the singer, was it Michael Steinman? He had gone on to this band that I think is fantastic, at least their first two records, Inch. And if you haven't heard Stressor or... uh, dot class C, which Rick Froberg did the artwork for dot class C. Those are really cool post hardcore records, but yeah, this, this song, it's just like a, I would just call it like a skate rock classic. And if you hear it once, you've heard it. If you never heard it, as soon as you hear it, it's like in your head, it's just like one of those little, you know, punky earworm songs.
SPEAKER_05:I love it. Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:I love this band. I love this song. Um, Yeah, Stymie, rest in peace, was a really nice guy, very talented songwriter, really good vocalist. And Sub Society, like other San Diego bands, played all kinds of different shows. I saw them play for chemical people and all, but then they would play with Amenity and Heart's Dance or play with Soulcide. I mean, they kind of played everything. all over open to open to all kinds of music and this song is by far their greatest song you know a lot of us were introduced a lot of people were introduced you know like like Pop said, to do the 8th Street videos, but locally it was just because they were playing punk and hardcore shows. This song in particular is just a perfect example of classic skate rock. I would give anything to see them one more time, which will never happen, but... They were so great live, super fun, just great pop punk, you know, kind of in the vein of like all Descendants style stuff, but very, very good band.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's not on streaming, everyone, but we'll play it on the Patreon if we remember. And yeah, it's on the 7-inch called Iceman. You can try to track it down. but good luck. I think it's going for a fair amount of money now. Yeah. Five copies starting at 150 bucks and the median value has been 75. So this song, like I'd never heard of this band before pops brought them up in the group chat. And it sounds like dated in like the best way. You know, like where you hear it, it's like, oh, this is sick. And like, there is no way you could ever replicate this. Like a band could like sit in a studio for a year trying to like do this. And it's like, nope, it'll never happen again, dude. It's just, it's a time and a place. And like, you know, everyone that listens to this pod is like a pretty extreme music lover, I think. And so like, you just got to appreciate when like you come across songs like that, that are just like, damn, this is something. So there's that. Okay. Let's go to you, Rob, for year number four.
SPEAKER_00:The flag is soaked in bullshit and lies in the decrement of a million dead. Welcome to America. You have the right to be beaten. I'm going with struggle. Red, White, and You. While I don't think Struggle is by any means JP's best band, I prefer The Locust and Swing Kids and stuff like that, I do feel Struggle is very important to San Diego. Again, another band, basement shows, DIY artwork, you know, hand-screened shirts themselves, you know, playing in basements and backyards and... you know, created an entire movement of politics in San Diego, you know, did a split seven inch with Undertow. I mean, this band is very important to San Diego. And I do think they deserve to be on this list for what they brought, I think, aesthetically, politically, lyrically, and musically. They did a lot in the early 90s and were very influential to us as a band. I mean, we shared a band member at one point. So, you know, but I do think That sometimes they get overlooked because people kind of go more for the Locust or Swing Kids when it comes to kind of the JP era bands. But, you know, during this era, but I think Struggle's importance cannot be understated for San Diego at this time. You know, again, much like Amenity and Heroin, you know, there was visionary aesthetics there. There was a look about them. There was a vibe about them. It wasn't just music. There was a lot of art involved. And it definitely was kind of DC, like a heavier, you know, DC kind of vibe. Probably not 1.5, but maybe just before that to them. And I think they had a very... good slant to their music i don't know there's a lot of things i can say i don't want this to run too long because i know we have other things to talk about but i i do think struggle is very important to san diego and they deserve to be on this list
SPEAKER_05:what do you think
SPEAKER_01:dan this is this was my first my first experience with a band that was so this is you know right as i'm getting into like I'm listening to lots of punk, but this is like... My first Chase show ever was Struggles Last Show. And this is the first band that was slapping me in the face with upfront politics. And I didn't even necessarily... I went along with my soon-to-be girlfriend and her then-boyfriend at the time to this show. And I was floored by... This is taking the transition from like being someone who listens to lots of pop punk and lots of like 77 punk and stuff like that. And then going into this kind of space and seeing this raw, not just them, but especially them, like the raw politics and the way Rob said, like, welcome to America, you have the right to be beaten. Like that line is, We'll sometimes use that in a funny sense because it does stand out so much. But if you actually really think about it, the way that line and the following line go, it's so clever and it is so catchy and it stands out so much. And Struggle were really, really bringing... an extreme political conscience to aggressive music from San Diego and they have their place in the SD Hall of Fame.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, and to me it sounds like a continuation too of the back end of the amenity catalog, very bouncy, but has fast parts kind of like the earlier amenity. This is my favorite Justin Pearson stuff probably by far. In fact, it might be the only stuff I like, but I enjoy this a lot. So, and it's, it's easy to get too. So people grab the records. What do you think pops?
SPEAKER_06:I got this record at a show. Me and my friend both bought it and I called him and was like, dude, I fucking love that record. And you know, it's, I don't want to sound oldie timey, but it, there was something like cool about the ephemeral nature of like all the inserts and, you know, like Kent McClard would write something and it's not even like, his music, you know what I mean? Like adding his own commentary to records and just having so much to like go over. It felt like you're certainly getting your$2 and 50 cents worth. But I remember telling my friend how much I liked it and he was like, yeah, I don't know. And I went to his house like later that week and there was something, we're getting into record player follies again. There was something wrong with the tracking on his record player. So he's playing it too slow. But then I actually was like, fuck this record sounds really sick on a slower speed too. And it's like, I taped it. I had it in my car, the full seven inch on two different speeds. That's how much I liked it. So there's like the melt. I like like the Melvin's version too.
SPEAKER_05:So
SPEAKER_06:sick. So I don't know. Maybe I'll upload it to YouTube or something, but yeah, just awesome. Another like a time capsule of, of early nineties that I think was like really important to, again, aesthetically. The other thing, too, is a lot of people, if you were late teens or in your teens, you probably weren't that well-versed on a lot of the punk before. Maybe it was your first time seeing that kind of layout that maybe was more akin to crass or something. I think that it works in two really cool ways because it might make you interested in you know, political music that comes with or even just like personally political ideas and expression. And then it might make you dig back to look with, you know, how people express themselves beforehand and have an appreciation for something that you might not have as well. So, yeah, I kind of think like if you're going to experience it, you should experience the whole thing as it was because you'll get more out of it.
SPEAKER_05:I love it. Okay, we are to the speed rounds. Dan, what is your number five? And a couple sentences only on it.
SPEAKER_01:Since they've already been mentioned, I'll take them in the speed round. But I am going to say The Bottom Line by Gehenna. Oh my God, this is off the demo. I've just got to say, this band sounds, on this demo, sounds like Chain of Strength. If they... were recorded at mars studio with satan at the board draw back the hammer to write your name in hell straight edge i win again
SPEAKER_05:i'm gonna take the neighbor's song sometimes this came out of the punk sucks compilation in 1995 and i'm taking this just because when you get into you know I mean, I guess I'd been into it for like a couple of years at this point. And it's like, there comes a time when you decide, are you going to be like a surface listener? Are you going to dig deeper? And like CDs were kind of expensive and teenagers don't have money, you know? And so like these CD compilations kind of meant a lot. I mean, this was a record that had like 30 songs on it. I think there was a funeral oration song on it that I hadn't heard before. So that's probably why I bought it. And like most punk comps in the nineties, um, Most of it sucks, dude. But this song by The Neighbors is so sick, dude. We talk about YOLO on the pod. Well, here it is. Check out this solo. Check out how it goes fast on the solo. And then when it goes fast, it's just fucking out of control. So that wasn't very speedy of me. But yeah, The Neighbors, sometimes. Everyone check it out on the playlist. Pops, let's go to you for your number five.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, I'll go with Battalion of Saints, right or wrong. And... As I said before, I thought of Battalion of Saints as bad people. I think this is a very positive song. You know, like it's everything you want to hear as a young person, like the sort of like self-help lyrics that are so important before the manosphere existed and ruined self-help. And so... It's just, it's just awesome. And I just love a song with a little swing and power and then an unhinged vocal. Like that's my ultimate combo.
SPEAKER_05:Dude, I almost took this because it's the BOS Posse song. This is like their seven second song. So respect. Rob, number five.
SPEAKER_00:All the waste I see, all the waste I'll never be. Follow by Amenity. It's perfect. My favorite Amenity song kind of has that early Verbal Assault vibe. It was fun to sing along to live, and I know they've already been picked. We pontificated on Amenity, so I'm not going to go too deep on this, but just incredible track, incredible song, fantastic lyrics, really good songwriting. So yeah, that's my number five. I love it. Dan, number six.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, God, I wasn't prepared for you to come back to me. I'm going to go with a band that we talked about a lot in 2023. They made a lot of the end of the year lists, but I'm going with a song of theirs from the earlier 2000s, a song called Mirrors by the band Crocodiles. This is like absolutely apex power pop music. And this has a long intro that lasts almost like two minutes. So Zach is going to shoot me in the head for this. But the intro is so atmospheric and so building. And then it launches into one of the catchiest songs about music criticism that is telling people to go fuck themselves because all they do is write about it and they don't feel it. Mirrors by Crocodiles, a brilliant song. I love
SPEAKER_05:it. I'm taking the setup by Unbroken, my favorite Unbroken song. The way it builds up to the scissor beat parts is out of this world. It just, it sounds like it was written in the room, which is like a rarity these days when everything is written remote or, you know, the songwriter in the band is able to like kind of track everything at home. I just think, you know, we talked about that sub-society song that you lock someone in a room for a year, they can't like recreate it. Like, the life of regret record is, is definitely that. And I think if you locked all the same people in the room, they couldn't recreate it. Right. I mean, even if they did, did it a month after they recorded, you couldn't do it. It was like, it was a special time and like it bleeds through. It's like one of the rarities where like, you know, it really captured a band on record. So unbroken the setup, let's go to you pops. Number six.
SPEAKER_06:I'm going to go with another hand stamped record. From the region, I'm going with the song Tap and Die by Forced Down. Again, as an outsider, Forced Down was another band that I highly associated with San Diego. And this song, there's this style of guitar playing. It's progressive, hardcore, but not in a King Crimson way or something. It's like... When guitar players just add a little sauce to the riff, I'm a sucker for it and the vocals go perfectly with it. So I just wanted to give Force Down a little shine because I love them. Rob, number six.
SPEAKER_00:Number six, I'm going with another Batayna Saints song. I'm going with Fighting Boys. Great riff. I love the vocal pattern. I love the solo. Great mid-tempo stomper. It's catchy as fuck. I am... Yeah, I love this song so much. Right or Wrong is my favorite, but it was already picked. But Fighting Boys was my number two. So I'm going with that.
SPEAKER_05:All right. We are to the heartbreak round. And Dan, I have to present something to you. But first, dude, so this is wild. You said Battalion of Saints, the song Bombs, almost made your list. I was like, what song is that, dude? And so I've been... I don't have that much time to look because I'm juggling all this stuff right now, but it took me this long. Apparently, that came out on a 7-inch from 2015. Apparently, they still got it.
SPEAKER_01:That song is so good. Check it out. It's really good.
SPEAKER_05:I can't wait to hear it. I was like, what? They got their whole discography up online, so that's super sick. To our next conundrum, my heartbreak round was either going to be Tilt Wheel, the song off the Cinema Beer Goggles comp, or Over my Dead Body. So if you want me to take Over my Dead Body, that means you got to take Tilt Wheel. So here's the situation you're in, Dan.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you know what? We're going to have a San Diego– lists that omdb doesn't get taken and that because rob won't take it and i know pops was was uh probably has something else in mind dude
SPEAKER_05:i'm begging you for the chance to take over my body here in number seven i had it all set up but we got to get beer goggles on here
SPEAKER_00:This is like the total reversal of not picking Minor Threat and the Straight Edge Challenge. You've got to pick yourself. That's
SPEAKER_01:ridiculous. I'm not going to be able to do it, but I do have a lot of great things that didn't make the list that I'm going to happily read off in the things, but I've got to come back to Unbroken, and I've got to choose Absentee Debate. I've got to... You know, the fact that this song is not on the best of San Diego would be criminal for it to not be there. So, you know, Zach, you wanted me to take other things so your conscience could be clear. But you know what? I got to give you three words that I will say. I love. don't care although i will be bummed that omdp is not on the sd list but you know there's lots of great bands so it's okay and cinema beer goggles is you know is uh is quite pod lore-ish this song and the repetition of the riff is channeling both rocket from the crypt drive light jehu and swizz all at once and it then is encapsulated by Unbroken doing it to a higher level than all of those, in my opinion. This is the perfect when everything falls apart at the end of a set. When you've seen Unbroken in recent years, that generally is happening. People are losing their minds and their lunch and their emotions and maybe even check a few people's undies. They may have lost their lunch that way too and then did a stage nap. Do a stage dive like the shit Bomber Deer did on Rob's head at Chain Reaction, that we should ask him for that story when it gets around to his thing at a seven-second show. But what I will say is this song is incredible. It has a very long outro that is planned and done to perfection, but the rest of the song is very, to use a Zack word, exemplifies brevity perfectly. and has incredible drumming and the... Like the way it starts is just so rocking. I know that word sounds terrible, but I've got to use it in this sense. This song is perfect. It's absolutely perfect. And I'm really bummed that Fall on Proverbs is not on this list by anyone. But, you know, you take what you can get.
SPEAKER_05:This is great. It has to be on the San Diego Super 7, right? It's... I mean, it might be the Unbroken song, although it's a weird thing about Unbroken's catalog, right? Everyone agrees that Life, Love, Regret is the album, but then this might be the hit. So strange. I love this song too, although it's one of those things where I love it, but anything that tries to sound like it, I pretty much hate, you know, like kind of the same with like sublime and Pennywise, right? Like I love these bands, but anyone that tries to sound like them are fucking terrible, you know? So, but this is a, it's a great pick. It had to be here. Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, it's, it's why we always play it last. It's, it's the hit. It's everything falls apart, uh, emotionally, musically. I mean, it, yeah, that, that song has an emotional weight that I don't think we, uh, thought about when it was recorded and it was interesting to see the reaction that song got you know years later when people kind of latched on to it you know even though yeah most people prefer a life full of regret but there's other people where the last two seven inches are what they prefer but that one song in particular is is you know i i agree with with dan it makes All of us in the band and including people watching it kind of just melt down. And I think that's the kind of the intention, you know.
SPEAKER_05:So there's a band called Tilt Wheel from here and they're still around and still active and all that. So much respect. Again, kind of like the Neighbors. you know, it was like in that era when like, it's like, okay, am I only going to like bad religion Pennywise or am I going to like figure out some other stuff? And so like you get compilations and you find your new favorite bands often. Right. And cinema beer goggles have some bands that like, became some of my favorite bands at the time. Funeral Ration, 80 Fingers Louie, 10 Foot Pole, Bullwheels, No Use for a Name. I loved it. So while the in effect VHS might be the best hardcore VHS, dude, I got to put Cinema Pyrotechnics there. It's one of my personal favorites. You know what I mean? And this Tilt Wheel song was one of my favorites too, because it was the most budget video on there. They probably just made it with a normal ass camcorder, right? It had a stupid storyline, like a dude finds a 40 in a It's got woes. It starts out kind of like emo-ish or like singer-songwriter style. And then it kicks fast and then has nice woes, which I loved at the time and all that. And then also the very first punk show that I ever booked was Friday, October 4th, 1996. And that was Tilt Wheel, F.A.Y., My Band Against All Odds, Last Chance, Old Todd Jones Band, and a band called Unknown Truth, also a Jones band with him on drums. So yeah, like very important. But I'll tell you what, Tilt Wheel, no show, dude. So I'm not taking them. I'm taking Overrated Body, Be There. So that is my choice. It's over my dead body seven seconds esque song really no runner seven inch very good especially side a you pull anything off that there's the Nazi fight song there's like the straight edge anthem and there's be there which is the seven seconds you won it's what I'm taking Dan don't cry you never know showed a show that I booked so much respect what do you think you made the list how do you feel
SPEAKER_01:oh I feel like Susan Lucci finally won her Emmy
SPEAKER_05:yeah Good.
SPEAKER_01:The great thing about this song is it's a song about friendship wrote by two friends who are still best friends to this day. Rob and I wrote this song. The When I Saw You part was written by Rob because he was channeling Lost by Morrissey and bringing that into this. And it's really cool that you say, you know, Cause it was intentionally, we need to do something very seven seconds ish. So it does have a line in it that I cringe to this day, which I put as a placeholder and then never replaced. And it's just in there is the, you are the definition of friendship and unity. It was like the placeholder line that just got recorded. And, you know, people don't notice that it's cheesy as much as the, person who wrote it like i uh my skin crawls at that but other than that you know i love the fact that people had throughout our time would pile on each other to sing along to this song and those are some of the best times of my entire
SPEAKER_00:life yeah it's a really fun song um i i love how it just goes right in super fast and then just breaks down into into classic mosh beat um super fun i mean the way this song came about too we were writing the ep and we were aaron and i were talking about writing music and you know when we were starting to put stuff together for the seven inch and i said oh you know one of the things that i that i like to do is is see if i can write a song with one riff the entire way through but change it change the tempo or you know um and so that's what be there is it is literally one set of chords played over and over and even the mosh part is the same riff played so it's one riff played the entire way through just at different speeds and after it was done and we kind of demoed it at the practice space he was like holy shit you can actually do that he was tripped out by it you know and I think Daniel's delivery is fantastic on it it's like was made for singing along and made for fun and pylons and yeah I love this song this will always be one of my favorite OMDB songs
SPEAKER_05:had he never heard young till I die
SPEAKER_00:A
SPEAKER_05:semi-famous song that also does that.
SPEAKER_00:It probably has one riff the whole way through.
SPEAKER_05:Exactly. Yeah. Okay. Let's go to you, Pops, for your heartbreak round. Number seven.
SPEAKER_06:I'm going to go with a song from the album Waikiki by Fluff called The Gift Of. It actually has a... A riff that's more grungy, but it's actually kind of a similar pattern to Plenty for All by Hot Snakes. But Fluff is like another band that had that like skate connection due to Otis Bartholomew. But I think they're like a really, they have a lot of like uptempo, more generically like Husker Du sounding songs, but they kind of do some interesting tunings. And they're just like a great underrated band. And I wanted to put them in there.
SPEAKER_05:I love it. Dan, what do you think?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so, I mean, we've just touched on a few different San Diego singers that are gone too soon, and it is tragic. And O being gone is too soon. Unbelievable. Like, when you think about San Diego music scene, that is the person through music and through the skate connection knew everyone. now when i first started going to shows and fluff were on the shows i'd be like oh my god this band is playing forever i'm so sick of this you know and then through my time going to shows like year after year after year i started to really appreciate them a lot more and um And also just loved seeing him at shows and having a chat with him all the time because it's one of the nicest people and one of the best knowledgeable, really cool people. uh, San Diego Star Wars. Like, I mean, if you think in San Diego music Rushmore of like actual people, he definitely be one of them.
SPEAKER_05:Oh yeah. Rob, what do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I, I agree. They, he was a prolific person in San Diego from photography, skating, music, um, just was everywhere, everywhere, all at once. I mean, he, I, I, you would go, sometimes I'd go to a couple of different shows in one night and you would see him, you know, He'd be at the Shea taking photos, and you'd see him later that night at the Casbah taking photos. I mean, he was just everywhere, always taking photos, supporting new bands, catching up with old bands, That aside, yes, Fluff is a great band, very much in that Mission of Burma, Husker Du, early Husker Du vibe, even kind of Jawbreakery. They were great lives, super loud, super fun. Yeah, they would play a long time, sometimes a good 45 minutes sometimes, I remember. But that being said, I mean, they were great and absolutely critical to kind of that, like, punk post-punk adjacent stuff that was like starting to go on with like, you know, Jehu and rock in that early cargo, um, rounds, you know, of, of bands. Um, yeah, they were great live and really good bands. Great people.
SPEAKER_05:All right, Rob, let's go to you for the final pick of the night. A
SPEAKER_00:lot of choices. Some bands haven't been picked, but I'll probably going to save them for my honorables. I, I, I would be, um, I missed if I didn't pick another Zeros track because to me this is quintessential 70s punk, especially very early days of Ground Zero stuff. So I'm going with Beat Your Heart Out. Again, we talked a lot about them earlier. I don't want to go too much more into it, but to me, this was always my favorite Zero song. I love how catchy it is. It gives that kind of New York Dolls, Ramones. And this song was kind of written before the band fully developed, and that's what's so interesting to me, is that they couldn't really channel the Ramones, because the Ramones weren't really doing anything, so it was probably more like you know, MC five, New York dolls, you know, maybe Johnny thunders kind of stuff going on, but it was, I don't know. I love this song. I love how catchy it is to me. This is perfect. Perfect. Apex seventies punk. This song.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. This is the other side of the song that I picked. I love this song too. So the wild weekend song is kind of like the song that kicks ass. And then this one is like early catchy rock and roll. It's very melodic and poppy, and it's great. It's like the perfect B-side for the other one. So I love this. This is a great pick. Okay, Dan, we will give you longer than 30 seconds, even though you were coming at me aggressively in the chat room. But we'll let it slide at San Diego. Let it rip, dude. Honorable mentions.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Identity Crisis by Klikatat Ikatawi, Ditch Digger and Savoir Faire by Rocket from the Crypt, Do You Compute, Drive Like Jehu, Fall on Proverb, Unbroken, Impel, Amenity, The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back, Run for Your Fucking Life, Woodmaker and 83% by Gehenna, You Can't Fuck with the Kids by Find Him and Kill Him, I Wanna Kill Tonight, Crocodiles. Now this song, I'm really surprised didn't make my seven. 43 Seconds by Swing Kids. Just another kid on the beat. That song is so good. Indecision by Heroin. Dead 80s, Mrs. Magician. Dead Alive and Drug-Free Adult, OMDB. Deceptor, Cold Stare. Social Spit, Social Spit. Don't Push Me Around and Hungry by The Zeros. I Hate You by Ever Ready. Failure by Therapy. Bright Side and Extinction by the Muslims that then became the Soft Pack, but I really loved them when they were the Muslims. T.O. Zone, Take Offense, Smoking at the Pump, Somali Pirates. Now that is a fucking pop banger.
SPEAKER_05:What up?
SPEAKER_01:Red White and You, Struggle, Moth-Eating Deerhead, The Locust. This has a riff in it that is played on keyboard, which might be the best mosh part ever. Smart Probes, Rat's Eyes. Rat City Riot by Rat City Riot. Red Alert and San Diego's Burning by Agent 51. Of course you know I've got to have Anthem Part 2, Reckless Abandon, and Dick Lips by Blink-182. And don't get at me, I love them. Candy Flip by Violencia, Eutanasia by Violencia, Digital Death, Crashing Forward, False Pride, Cheap Sex, and then Chaos Kids by Swindle. The fact that Swindle is not on Spotify is absolutely criminal. Someone make it happen.
SPEAKER_05:Pops, honorable mentions.
SPEAKER_06:Sure. I'll go with a band I sent a little slander towards earlier. I'll go Rocket from the Crypt, Short Lip, Fuser, and French Guy, as well as Sturdy Wrist, Pitchfork, Burn Pigs Burn, and Thin Ice, End of the Line, Burning Down, and Trapped. Anything from Blood Lake you can find. Just jam... All the candle material you could find. I mentioned Inch earlier, that Space Horse. Space Horse, I think it's a cassette and a 12-inch EP. And underrated Hot Snakes track because I think it's only on a live record and a Swami comp. U.S. Mint, unfortunately, another angry song with lyrics that shouldn't still be relevant. But yeah, that's what I got.
SPEAKER_05:Rob, honorable mentions.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I just got a few. Jehu, Do You Compute, Crocodile Sunday, Find Him and Kill Him, 60 Second Class Reunion, Take Offense, Power in Our Hands, and Force Down Fucking Texas. That's what I have for my honorable mentions.
SPEAKER_05:All right, Dan, get your finger off that nuclear button. So if you don't know the passcode, you can't blow me up. This is going to be a minute, so everyone hang on.
SPEAKER_01:I need two keys. That's right.
SPEAKER_05:The two keys and Posse Chris has the other one. So unfortunately, you can't blow me up. All right. 5051. The song El Salvador. What's up? Old school San Diego. Abstain. Bleeding through your eyes. Agonista. Gray and dry. All beat up. Shattered man. Amenity. Breathe. The autistics. 15 minutes. Bayonet. Death acceptance. Bent blue. Commodified existence. Big attitude. Pray for me. The cardiac kids. Get out. Claude Coma and the IVs. Be a bum. Respect. Cold path. Hard look. Cold stare. Away from me. Crashing forward. No rights. Crime desire. Beyond the void. Crossed out. Crown of thorns was my backup. Dispersed. Sick as a dog. Drug control. Building bridges. The executives. Fashion. First offense. broken home. This is a, a pre Jehu band, a punk rock on mystic records. So people check it out. Gehenna, no war, no peace. Dude, from the latest record, what's up? Get Pieced, B.I.G. Mode, Headcount, Good Citizen, Heat, The Myth, Hereditary, Can't Stop This, Heroine, Undertaking, The Hitmakers, I Found Her. That band is right after The Zeros. So I think that's about as old as it gets. I could be wrong. Rob, what do you know about that?
SPEAKER_00:I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_05:Okay. I think they're 78, maybe 77, 77, 78. So old, old. Hong Kong, Fuck You, Kill a Skinhead, House of Suffering, Draw the Line. No shout out to POD for just straight jacking that song and putting on one of the records. What the fuck? Human Resources, Ungovernable, Impulse, Lame, The Injections, Prison Walls, Insulates, Riot, Intercom, Pressurized, Intermission, New Fire, Life or Death, Day of the Rope, Mad Cow Disease, 66619. Dude, ska punk is not dead. What's up? Madrigado, Hypnosis, Manifest destiny mother god and country one of the early lps i got on mystic sent me down that dark ass path kill me meat wagon calling all cars also san diego on mystic what's up that song is psycho dude what is going on here meth breath stay clean ministry of truth spitting out misery burn mongrel off the leash negative blast trauma bond neighborhood watch corporate cola we're going to talk that on the patreon so stay tuned to that smash that patreon button no luck street dog the no-no's. Call it A doom is a day. Nowhere safe, so what? The Penetrators, I5, Project Sellout, Clock Out, Rod of Correction, Cyrogenic Demise. Hopefully I said that right. Should have probably chosen another song so I don't sound like a fucking dumbass. Sangre, Estamos Jodidos, Servende, The Sad Part, Sleepwalk, Frostbite, Social Spit, Drugs, Soldiers of Fortune, Tell You Straight, Soul Power, Chain Drop, The Standbys, Withdraw, Struggle, Envy, Sumo, Pride, Honor, Discipline, Sumo, Swing Kids, Clean Shade of Dirty, The Plagues, Action, Therapy, Void, The Tokios, Daddy Says I Should Be Rich, Dude, The Tokios, that's punk as fuck. They had a song called Cop Killer in 1979, so what's up? Tourist, Elsewhere California, Violencia, Nuda Vida, World of Pain, their song world of pain and Indian with the exterminators, microwave radiation, San Diego fucking rules. Final thoughts, Dan.
SPEAKER_01:I think it's probably cryogenic.
SPEAKER_05:There you go.
SPEAKER_01:On that crime desire. But yeah, San Diego does rule, you know, shout out the Che cafe, shout out lemon Grove, shout out. Shout out Cafe Mesopotamia. Shout out, you know, all of these amazing venues and amazing times that we've had in our lives. And I love that San Diego music has gone all over the world and influenced so many. And even the San Diego look, it went everywhere. A couple different San Diego looks, that is. And, you know, shout out Tony Gwynn. Shout out the San Diego chicken. We love San Diego.
SPEAKER_06:Pops, final thoughts, San Diego? San Diego rules. I've got you covered so much. What more could I add? Rob, final thoughts.
SPEAKER_00:You know, your list, you know, hearing some of those names and, you know, some of them I plan on talking about on the Patreon, you know, bands like, you know, the executives, you know, and, and things like that, neighborhood watch and just really cool to hear this laundry list of stuff that started back in, you know, mid to late seventies and, and, hearing bands that are of the now, you know, the venues of, you know, Print Shop, The Shays, The Sewers, all these other spots. I think it's incredible. that this lineage that san diego has of great punk and hardcore and that it's not stopping it's still thriving and there's a lot of great stuff going on i am so proud to be from here and i love our scene very much
SPEAKER_05:dan i didn't hear you shout out to uh soma or canes is that a a miss site is that a word well this is help me out as my editor is that a word what
SPEAKER_06:the fuck if you're a copywriter you can make it up yeah that
SPEAKER_05:qualifies there you go oh dan was there oversight on that
SPEAKER_01:No, this is an official SOMA broadcast. This has been approved by Len Paul. So, you know, shout out to Len Paul. He's
SPEAKER_05:going to call the fire marshal on this podcast, dude. What the fuck?
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, yeah. Everyone, I did a scene report on the 185 miles south sub stack last year. So you can dig that up. And also I did a fanzine. called Wild Weekend, which is... dedicated the name you know to uh to the zeros you know and i it was a whole it was like a yearbook to 2024 san diego so it's uh there's it's gonna be gone by the time this airs so you missed out dude bummer for you uh dan where can where can the people find you
SPEAKER_01:you can find me sat outside hard work coffee with my nose in a wild weekend zine just making you jealous you can also find me on on uh instagram at southport instagrammer
SPEAKER_05:uh pop Where can the people find you?
SPEAKER_06:Just add a.com to my name and everything's
SPEAKER_05:there. Rob, where can the people find you?
SPEAKER_00:Here and there, to and fro.
SPEAKER_05:Don't get at Rob is what he's saying.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, I'm around. I
SPEAKER_05:love it. I love it. I'm out there. I'm out there. That's right. Everyone, get at me, 185milesouth at gmail.com. I respond to everyone, except those bizarro-ass press releases that come from nowhere. What the fuck? But yeah, and also we're on all the socials, 185milesouth. And I'm on Substack sometimes, dude. And if you want to keep this podcast alive, smash that Patreon button. A lot of work goes into this shit. And we appreciate you all, but the Patreons do keep this thing alive. We will talk to you again next Monday there behind the dreaded paywall.
SPEAKER_03:Peace.
UNKNOWN:Thank God for you.