An old friend of mine reached out to me from out of the blue last week. We were tight back in the EAT POOP! San Jose 80s-90s but had kinda lost touch after I relocated to Sacramento. Now that I'm living in Penns Woods I figured we'd never really get together.
Turns out he's now living in East Orange, New Jersey. That's about 400 miles from my new abode. I just got back from a few day visit with him. It was extremely kool. Traveling to New Jersey stirred up a lot of old good memories. I decided to showcaes a few of the bands from the New York City / New Jersey area that I listened to a great deal back in the 90s with said old friend.
Decided to start with Born Against.
Side-story: I mentioned Born Against's Nine Patrioric Hymns for Children in a comment over at my friend Jonder's blog. It turned out that neither he nor his cohort Stinky were all that familiar with Born Against. Jonder is a fount of musical knowledge & is someone I usually turn to for obscure musicalia. If he wasn't that familiar with Born Against, then I guess there are many others out in the blogshere that are not, as well. Sam McPheeters & Born Against were deeply influencial to my EAT POOP! days mindset. I have decided to start with them. It just so happens that one of the pivotal shows in their early career was at WFMU Studios which is located in, you guessed it, East Orange, New Jersey.
In every social movement there is always a contrarian within the counterculture; a dissident amongst the naysayers & a critical rebel inside the rebellion. Born Against played this role to the hilt during the early '90s hardcore scene, leaving behind a trail of righteous indignation, visceral protest, & bruised egos. It certainly helped matters that their music was on par with anything the originators of this genre ever produced, simultaneously echoing while updating the sonic fury of their forebears. Their artfully constructed, acerbic visual missives, in the guise of show flyers went against the grain in a supposedly non-conformist subculture. Some of these flyers drew the ire of people within the scene, based solely on the images & accompanying text, so much so that one needn't have heard a single note from the band in order to be in favor or against the band.
Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York City, active between 1989–1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a do-it-yourself message while contantly challenging the in-fighting they perceived as problematic within the underground hardcore punk community of their time.
The group was founded in early 1989 by guitarist Adam Nathanson & bassist Neil Burke (both formerly of the New York hardcore band Life's Blood) along with vocalist Sam McPheeters & drummer John Guzman, who was replaced in early rehearsals by a drummer named George. George's tenure was also brief. He was replaced after a single show by drummer Nigel Schreiber in July 1989. This lineup recorded a demo cassette as well as a track for the Murderers Among Us 7" compilation released on McPheeters' Vermiform Records label before Burke & Schreiber departed. The band would continue to be plagued by rhythm section fluctuation throughout its career.
Six months later, the band re-emerged with bassist Javier Villegas & drummer Darryl Kahan, the latter from the popular New York hardcore band Citizen's Arrest. This incarnation of the band released the Eulogy single (whose anti-religious title track was controversially dedicated to Steve Reddy of Equal Vision Records upon his conversion to a Hare Krishna lifestyle), & a self-titled 7" EP, along with several compilation tracks.
Late in 1990, Kahan was replaced by drummer John Hiltz, ushering in the longest lasting incarnation of the band. The group toured extensively. They released a debut LP, 1991s Nine Patriotic Hymns for Children, on Vermiform. Bassist Javier Villegas left the group in late 1991 & was replaced by Bret Blue.
With Hiltz & Blue on board, Born Against continued its extensive touring, including a trip to Europe. By this point, the band's political message, sometimes seen as overly aggressive & critique of their contemporaries had sparked much controversy within the hardcore scene. They began work on a new record, which was stalled in July 1992 when Hiltz left the group. The final sessions that produced the resultant 10" record, Battle Hymns of the Race War, featured Melissa York (later in Team Dresch) on drums, although York never performed live with the group.
By early 1993, Nathanson & McPheeters had relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey. There they begun a new version of the band with bassist Tonie Joy & drummer Brooks Headley (of Universal Order of Armageddon). Born Against's radical leftist stance became increasingly drenched in cynicism, which slowly threatened to overtake their message. The group played its final show in July 1993.
After the group's demise, members would continue to collaborate in future bands. Men's Recovery Project, McPheeters & Burke's absurdist noise rock outfit, featured occasional guest appearances by Headley, Joy, & Nathanson. Young Pioneers, Nathanson's proto-folk punk band, also saw membership from Headley & Burke. Joy's group The Great Unraveling contained Headley in its final incarnation. McPheeters & Headley reunited in the Wrangler Brutes.
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I'll start with the November 11, 1990 WFMU sessions. The first nine tracks were aired on WFMU. The rest of the tracks were recorded at WFMU Studios May 16, 1991. All tracks were recorded live on Pat Duncan's show for WFMU. This is not released on any label.
Nine Years Later
Xmas Eve
Good Father
Halfmast
Born Again
Witness to a Rape
Mary & Child
Eulogy
Organ of Hope
Test Pattern
Jock Gestapo
Shroud
Xmas Eve
Alive with Pleasure
Mary & Child
Witness to a Rape
Born Again
Well Fed Fuck
Nine Patriotic Hymns was recorded in Wharton Tiers' basement facilities, New York City, the last week in March 1991.
Born Against - Nine Patriotic Hyms for Children, Vermiform VMFM 06, 1991.
Side A -
Mount the Pavement
Shroud
By the Throat
Nine Years Later
Test Pattern
Side B -
Mary & Child
Jock Gestapo
Organ of Hope
Well Fed Fuck
Battle Hymn was recorded between July & December 1992 at Fun City, NYC.
Born Against - Battle Hymn of the Race War 10", Vermiform VMFM 12, 1993.
Side 1 -
Murder the Sons of Bitches
Mt. Dew
Footbound & Hobbled
This Trash Should've Been Free
Poland
Side 2 -
Sendero
Set Your AM Dial for White Empowerment
The Intermission
Born Against are Fucking Dead
A Whopper of a Tale
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Sam "Bland" McPheeters & Neil Burke went on to form Men's Recovery Project. They released the Frank Talk 45 track CD in 1995, Resist in 1999, & the album Bolides Over Basra with the help of Rick Pelletier & John Ryan of Six Finger Satellite in 2000.
Men's Recovery Project - Frank Talk about Humans, Vinyl Communications VC 070, 1995.
Clark In My Car
Homo?
Slap on Some Pants
They Found My Naked Body by the River
All Music is Shit to God
Frank Talk about Mutants
Problem?
Domestic Phone Call
Explanation of Head Troubles
Smokin' That Magic Rock
Eating Contest
Ugly Interracial Couple
Frank Talk about Mutants, Also
Frank Talk about Mutants (Carl Cullins remix)
Smokin' That Magic Rock (Zionist remix)
Explanation of Head Troubles (Empirically Verifiable Science remix)
All Music is Shit to God (Ed Powers Tribal remix)
Homo? (Neighborhood Plumbing remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Exhausted Engineer remix)
Explanation of Head Troubles (Children's Problem remix)
Eating Contest (Parisian remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Plastic Fruit Cups remix)
Problem? (Owner's remix)
Slap on Some Pants (Trail Mix remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Special remix)
All Music is Shit to God (Fuck You remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Artificial Leg remix)
Frank Talk about Mutants (Marshall Glickman remix)
Smokin' That Magic Rock (John Wilcox remix)
All Music is Shit to God (DNA Sequencer Failure remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Inflatable remix)
Slap on Some Pants (Halftime remix)
Eating Contest (Emergency remix)
Explanation of Head Troubles (Empowerment Pants remix)
Encompass
Slap on Some Pants (Trouble remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Cookout Fluid remix)
Homo? ("They ain't Suing Nobody" remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Negro remix)
Frank Talk about Mutants (Arnold Clausen remix)
Domestic Phone Call (Wankle-Rotary Engine remix)
All Music is Shit to God (Monoroid remix)
Explanation of Head Troubles (Malfunction remix)
Slap on Some Pants (Waste of Resources remix)
Older Men
Men's Recovery Project - Resist the New Way, Vermiform VMFM 53, 1999.
Side A -
Frank & Judy
Vote Fraud on the Moon Base
New Men
New Tubes
400 Story Building
Driving by Smell
Oops
Side B -
The New Way
Resist the New Way
Unknown Object
New Talking Sausage
The Awful People in the Empty City
Men's Recovery Project - Bolides over Bosra, Load Records Load 020, 2000.
Working for the Mossad
In the Eunich's Wine Cellar
In Khartoum
New Year's Party in a Sweltering Apartment
The Olive Salesman
Boums to Zanzibar
Wreckage in the Empty Quarter
Egyptian Assassin
Black Albino
Sephardic Secrets
Aboard a Doomed Tunisian Frigate
Joy of the Drunk Tank
Rabble, Wretches & Lepers
3am on the Sunken Highway To Riyadh
Next will be Jersey City's Rye Coalition.
Enjoy,
NØ