FSS Listening Party Series Vol. 4
T’s Take: It’s a Friday night in November 1994 and it’s cold as fuck out in Manhattan. As usual P and I aren’t dressed for the weather. We head into Generation Records with a clear mission and leave successful, both with a copy of The Bouncing Souls’ “The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle”. Like every record I’ve ever purchased I studied the hell out of the liner notes, cover, etc. Bottom left hand corner of the back of the jewel case says BYO Records. Fast-forward to the spring of ’95 and a friend picks up “Someone Got Their Head Kicked In”. Wrecking Crew is now the soundtrack to everything that would happen for the rest of 1995. Again, there’s this BYO Records logo, this time the words spelled out Better Youth Organization. Where do I sign up to join? Another friend picks up “Happy Hour” by Youth Brigade around this time. Again, BYO Records. The band is wearing ski masks and surrounded by molotov cocktails. The photo on the back of the album is pure chaos. Thirty or so kids on stage with the band as they play. It looks like a riot scene. I want to see them live. Immediately. Cut to LA summer of 2000 P and I are taking classes at USC and we head to the Troubadour to see the mighty Youth Brigade (I think I’d seen them twice before this in NYC), it was a highlight of an otherwise miserable summer. BYO has been a big part of the punk rock for me. And although I never signed anything I’d like to think I’m as much a part of their “organization” as the next guy.
If you’re like me and have a ton of records lying around with BYO written somewhere on them, this box set is a no-brainer. If you’re a fledgling punker looking for some direction, again… a no-brainer. I’d seriously recommend this set to anyone even vaguely interested in punk. The DVD that comes with it contains the documentary “Let Them Know”. It’s as good as if not better than “American Hardcore” (at least it has a happier ending). I think what makes it better though is that it’s focused on one label and primarily on one band. Youth Brigade. So there’s a ton of info, anecdotes, etc. And even where the documentary is lacking, the coffee table book makes up for it with even greater back-story of a true punk rock original. I’m not going to tell you their story. You’ll have to get this yourself. But it’s funny, inspiring, heartfelt, and filled with some great interviews from the likes of Ian MacKaye, Fat Mike, The Bouncing Souls, 7 Seconds, and the Stern Brothers themselves. In true Jersey fashion The Souls spend most of the time making fun of the Stern Brothers. What can I say it’s how we show affection in Jersey.
The tribute CD/LPs that accompany the set are take ‘em or leave ‘em. There’s some songs butchered. Some songs faithfully reproduced. And a few songs actually end up having new life breathed into them. Some of the standouts include, NOFX covering Battalion of Saints, Leatherface covering Dillinger Four, Bouncing Souls covering 7 Seconds, and my favorite track has to be The Ignorant covering Keep On by Hepcat and turning it from ska to punk. If anything the tribute CD is proof of how much BYO means to so many people. And rightfully so.
P’s Take: This is a pretty bad tribute, musically. Everybody has heard these songs, grew up with them, so I guess they belong to everybody equally. I just didn’t dig people’s takes on the old Youth Brigade classics. Leatherface’s cut was pretty good. But for the most part, I wanted to hear Youth Brigade do Youth Brigade. Their songs remind me of tooling around in our friend’s mom’s stolen car through the vast wasteland of New Jersey at odd hours of the morning. Good times. Sort of.
When Brother T said there was a documentary that went with it I was disgusted enough with the double LP that I wasn’t interested much in checking it out. I said I’d give it half an hour and ended up watching the whole fucking thing. It was good, moving.
I’m not gonna get into scene nostalgia. But it was genuinely interesting to watch how the Stern brothers worked together to form a movement, a band, and a label. It was good to have the old message reaffirmed, you know? You don’t have to win all the time. You don’t even have to win half. But you fucking absolutely have to let them know.
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