MOVING UPWARDS: SANTA CRUZ'S " BL'AST! "

When thinking of Santa Cruz, I can't deny Skate Punk carved out a full space for itself in the Bay Area, outside its epicenter down in L.A. A large skaters community built up around the figures of Steve Olson, Tony Alva and Duane Peters. 

Possibly encouraged by the vicinity of genre pioneers The Faction, legendary Punk Rock band BL'AST! took its place in the city.

BL'AST! was one really amazing discovery for me; their sound is pleasently massive and heavy, no wonder then if they played many shows with trash mates Corrosion Of Conformity and Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. 

Early produced releases It's In My Blood and The Power Of Expression are sheer masterpieces. Recently last year, the band joined Dave Grohl in the studio revising past material from SST era. 

Santa Cruz Skateboards Comp: "A Reason For Living" on Youtube

Check this out. It's brilliant!!

AMENITY: SAN DIEGO FINEST

Among the numerous punk scenes which spawned in Cali from North to South (Oxnard, Fresno, S. Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Orange County are surely the most renowned), San Diego was a very particular one back in the 80s. And I wanna take the first steps from it.

Violence and Straight Edge were the main features of early Hardcore bands like Exploited-driven Battalion Of Saints (their EP/Album "Second Coming" is just epic), but I personally think that the most interesting phase came out at the end of the decade, with the influential Amenity. 

I see the similarity with Chain Of Strength, Insted and Zack De La Rocha's Inside Out is very close and clear, they also paved the way for a new generation of Noise music in the 90s, whose eclectic punkster Justin Pearson is doubtlessly the king (he comes from the same background as Amenity, nonetheless his first hardcore debut was Struggle).

King's Rd Cafe and Che Cafe stood as the most notable venues in which played the hardcore daddies Social Distortion, Minor Threat, Husker Du, D.O.A., Middle Class and so on, in the famous row of shows called "Dead Or Alive".

I once discovered Amenity by a pure chance in Youtube (didn't know nothing about them before), when I been searching for a punk song containing the word "hate". Then I stumbled upon "So Much Hate", a beautiful, melodic track of theirs featured in Forward Into The Past album.  Although, I love their early works too, such as this EP uploaded by me and other footage I've found I'll be putting up for you.... Enjoy.

XXO, Valery.

A special thanks goes to Ché Underground San Diego Blog

for having provided these great flyers.

FIRST OFF WITH A LITTLE INTRODUCTION..

Hello Folks. 

I started this out yesterday as a nice spin-off to my Facebook page (1981-1986: Hardcore's the Only Way for Punk). Here I will be talking more in-depth about the good old days of Punk in California, trying to cover up all the scenes that grew out of this beautiful land. It's not easy task - you'll figure - , but for a music history geek :) like me, it has been my strong point many years now. 

Putting it personal, I began listening to 90s Punk since I was a teenager, when discovered late Green Day for the 1st time and then became such interested in this kind of music that I obsessively went backwards to the roots of it all. Until that moment, I haven't realized I was unconsciously drawn by it. Shortly after, I ended up loving the Eighties as well, expertising at Old-School Underground bands.

I hope you'll dig my posts and every rarity I'll find out just for you.


Cheers


Valery