BACK COMES FIRST: SICK PLEASURE/ CODE OF HONOR DISTINCTIVENESS.

I intentionally skipped over but not dismissed those acts which marked the beginning of a very particular branch within the realms of Frisco Hardcore, not so long after its fortunate outburst with epitomes like Dead Kennedys or Avengers. 

It is interesting to notice that these two bands, Sick Pleasure and Code Of Honor, might have had a different way of feeling the "Punk Formula", soaking it with psychological or emotional features whilst others dwelled into the same boring themes as violence or false patriotism.

Concerning Sick Pleasure, they would eventually get started by Niki Siki's nihilistic outlooks and amorality, destructive fury in lyrics and attitude, yet they were indeed laying the foundation for the Second Punk Wave in the Bay Area. There ain't much releases by them, apart from the 7'' 1983 self-titled and the LP split with the later Code Of Honor that's actually named Dolls Under Control. 
It's important to linger a little bit more upon Sick Pleasure, because some members, especially Dave Chavez, would go on to form the next C.O.H. or even Verbal Abuse; I don't like V.A. at all, I think they have an unpleasant voice setting-out. Instead, I really love Code of Honor.

Let's switch on them now. Managed to rise from the ranks of a mere underground band, they've taken right place into the Maximum Rock N Roll comp Not So Quiet On The Western Front with What Price Will You Pay?, a beautiful, heartfelt tune from their first 1982 7'' What Are We Gonna Do?
Code of Honor are peculiar indeed; what makes 'em stand out to me is Jonithin Christ's pathetic, howling sing that gives lotta weight to every song, and this is even clearer in the second and last record Beware The Savage Jaw, where a post-punk turn in music shows the will of becoming poetical, evocative, yet harrowing.

"FRISCO" LYNCHPINS: INFAMOUS SLEEPERS, FLIPPER AND NEGATIVE TREND

Hello again my fans & followers.

Today I'm gonna handle a threesome of bands that are interconnected and made the day back in S. Francisco Underground. I'm obviously referring to ones in the title.

We can say it all began with The Sleepers, one of the most popular alternative acts in SF along with The Offs, centered around pivotal names as Ricky Williams (also called "Ricky Tractor" when he was still active as drummer in Crime and much later Toiling Midgets) and Micheal Belfer, guitarist for Tuxedomoon. Sleepers combine the elements of Crime and Tuxedomoon, but maybe Ricky didn't know yet he was laying the ground for what it would have been the best act coming out....Flipper. He was a wasted guy yet creative-minded. It was him to give Flipper their name, although he's been soon fired out for the messing behaviour he had within the band. Infact, the core of Flipper was rather composed of Will Shatter and Bruce Loose doing vox/bass, Ted Falconi on guitar and Stephen DePace on drums. After a bunch of early released EPs (Love Canal/Ha Ha Ha, Sex Bomb/Brainwash), wormed their way into the punkstream with the epic, ever-remember yellow LP Generic Flipper. 

The sound of original Flipper was indeed rough, powerful, noisy, heavy, forerunning to the next arrival of Grunge, Noise Rock, and Sludge, so much that they got mentioned and covered many times by Melvins, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, Unsane....

F. payed a lot of attention to environmental problems and nature abuse issues, like immotivate animals death. That's why they adopted the "Dead Fish" as definitive logo.

You can't go wrong with Flipper, they're pleasure guarantee.

Meanwhile, even dating back to '77, a linking offshoot between Offs and Flipper has been already established in the shape of Grand Mal, short-living band featuring Shatter, Craig Gray, Don Vinil from Offs, Search&Destroy's Val Vale, and Todd Robertson. This was supposed the first incarnation of what would later become the more great Negative Trend.

NT changed vocalist members quite often, along a total of 4 lineups; first was Rozz Rezabek, then later came Mikal Waters, and possibly the most appreciated 3rd one with F-Word flagship Rik L Rik and even the occasional replacement of the same Ricky Williams. NT had also been started to implement members from Toiling Midgets, Sleepers and Flipper, such as Tim Mooney and DePace, playing a big amount of shows at Mabuhay Gardens and Whisky A Go-Go, the most relevant punk venues in SF. They released just one self-titled LP in 1978. 

Well, connection is very tight, as you just can see.

Credits:

James Stark for Sleepers photograph.
Negativetrend.net

THRASHING POWER: VENICE BEACH CROSSOVER

I was being pretty undecided today, between touching on the more important S.F. and L.A. Punk scenes, or keep standing within the minus ones. I will be rather going for the second option still, because the others have really many outfits that I want to possibly expose one by one.

Well, let's crack on Venice, then!!

A very cool scene has brought on there by the end of '85. The true essence of Hardcore had already went off into its own "violence blindness" and the best turn that it could take was only to get back to a vigorous Metal sound.

But in some cases, that might have led to an unexpected, good result. That's what actually happened with the arise of Crossover Thrash. Its most blatant expression was without doubt represented by Suicidal Tendencies, great underground quartet captained by the ruling figure of ever-present character Mike Muir, that got through several lineup splits and formations (Los Cycos, Infectious Grooves, Cyco Miko,) all over the years. Their musical style is so broad and varied: they started as a simple, disregarded hardcore band involved in gangs but soon became a key Skatepunk and Metal influence to bands such as Excel, Aversion, Beowulf, No Mercy, Neighbourhood Watch, Cryptic Slaughter.

Self-Titled 1983 1st album was pivotal in so many ways, inspiring movies like Repo Man and Suburbia, getting acclaimed reception from Anthrax and Slayer nonetheless. 

Other incredibly good albums in my opinion are How Will I Laugh Tomorrow If I Can't Even Smile Today and Lights, Camera, Revolution, a must-listen.

Nice thanks to 80's Venice Punk Rock Facebook Page for related material.