Dogtown

The Welcome To Venice Compilation

In a recent post I talked about how Black Flag and other SST bands rediscovered the music of the 70’s and began incorporating blues, jazz, prog, country, hard rock and heavy metal into their own music.  Black Flag’s music became ever more indebted to the sounds of heavy metal, particularly on their albums My War, Slip It In, Loose Nut, and In My Head. 

But they were not the only ones fusing punk with metal.  Throughout the 80’s punk bands everywhere were starting to incorporate aspects of heavy metal music into their sound.  Lyrically these bands remained resolutely punk, talking about political issues as well as things like jealousy, rage, alienation, nuclear war, and so forth instead of the usual heavy metal lyrical topics of girls/partying and fantasy/science fiction.  The resulting music became known as crossover or thrash (often called crossover/thrash).

Right up the coast from the South Bay communities where Black Flag formed, another group of musicians was also merging punk with metal.  Venice Beach, known by locals and skateboarding aficionados as Dogtown, developed a thriving punk/metal scene centered around the group Suicidal Tendencies.   ST formed in 1981 but reached popular acclaim upon the release of their self-titled first album in 1983, which contained the single “Institutionalized”.  I can still remember seeing the music video for this song that year, and how shocking it was.  Up to that point, my friends and I weren’t really into punk, we were into new wave, but to the extent that we WERE into punk we mostly liked goofball, comedy punk like the Dickies or Fear or even the Germs.  Punk was supposed to be FUNNY—punkers dressed strangely, danced strangely, and acted strangely, and everyone knows anything that is strange is funny.

“Institutionalized” was the first video to scare the shit out of me.  It was showing me a whole other side of punk, a whole other side of LIFE, one that was WAY different from my life in many ways.  First of all, this was punk that was truly ANGRY—“Institutionalized” is essentially a long, shouted rant by singer Mike Muir about how his parents decide to have him committed, and how angry he is about that.  Second, musically this was VERY new territory for me and a lot of folks:  the accompanying music is really just a repetitive, slow punk riff that occasionally gets sped up along with some VERY squirrelly metal noodling.  It sounds as much like Iron Maiden as it does the Germs, which was EXTREMELY unusual at that time.  Third of all, the video showed me and other suburban kids what life on the OTHER side of the tracks was like.  The guys in ST as well as their fans dressed like vatos, Hispanic gangbangers.  Their untucked flannel shirts, bandannas, chinos look was EXTREMELY different from anything back then.  Nowadays gang fashion has become almost commonplace, but nearly 30 years ago it was anything but. 

ST walked it like they talked it—they were authentic gangbangers from the ‘hood.  At this time, they represented a bizarre Venn diagram of Southern California lower class youth culture, a crazy amalgam of hardcore punk, heavy metal, gang culture, and skateboard culture.  This video forever changed my view of music and of punk and of Southern California.  SoCal wasn’t just a big new wave suburban beach community, there were (gasp!) poor people, angry people, gangs, etc. 

ST rapidly developed a reputation as being the most insane band around with the most insane fans around.  Their slam dancing (it wasn’t called moshing until 1986 or later) was so violent that their shows quickly were shut down by the police and they rarely were able to play in LA after about 1983 or 1984.  Still, I remember seeing flyers for gigs they would do with their stable of similar bands around LA in the mid-80’s. 

Another song off their debut album that I like is “I Shot The Devil”, which is faster and more like traditional hardcore than “Institutionalized”.  This music is obviously an outgrowth of the music of the Germs, but with metal guitar solos.

By the time ST released their second album, Join The Army, in 1987, crossover/thrash had become a dominant musical form.  “War Inside My Head” continues the metallic punk sound of “I Shot The Devil” and other songs on the first album and has a chugging rhythm that recalls “Runnin’ Free” by Iron Maiden.  “Possessed To Skate” was the single and video released from this album and it has a quiet, ominous, lurching structure that sort of recalls “Institutionalized”.  “Suicidal Maniac” incorporates a rap-like lyrical structure that also brings to mind some of the work of Anthrax.

ST’s third album, How Can I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today moved them even further from hardcore and punk and into an even more metal direction.  This can be seen most noticeably in the single “Trip at the Brain”, which has a rhythm guitar line that sounds like the work of Metallica off Kill ‘Em All and a noodling lead.  “Surf and Slam” is somewhat less overtly speed metal in its structure but ironically perhaps is more melodic, and thus sounds even less punk .  Its minimal lyrics and soaring structure remind me of “Fade To Black off Metallica’s Ride The Lightning album.

ST continued to release albums through the 90’s and beyond.  I particularly like “Cyco Vision” and “Hippie Killer” off their 1999 album Freedumb; these recapture some of the more equitable punk-metal proportioning of the first ST album. 

Like Greg Ginn of Black Flag, ST leader Mike Muir also assembled side projects and allied bands who created a mini-scene of similar acts.    One such act was No Mercy, who recorded several songs for a compilation known as Welcome To Venice that was released in 1985.  Three of No Mercy’s songs off this compilation as well as some more recent songs are posted on YouTube.  “No Mercy” starts with a chugging guitar intro and vocals that sound like moans and groans but then launches into a speed-of-light assault with hoarsely shouted lyrics.  The solo here is pure metal.  Slightly more melodic is “Die Or Be Killed” but again the song has a speedmetal tempo that is familiar to fans of Kreator and Nuclear Assault.  “Widespread Bloodshed” has a beginning that evokes “No God” by the Germs but then settles down into some chugging metal similar to “Creeping Death” by Metallica.  It’s one of my favorite tracks by this under-rated band.  Several cuts off their 1987 album of the same name are available on YouTube but by this time Mike Muir had taken over vocals for this band too, and I preferred original vocalist Kevin Guercio.

Another Dogtown band was Los Cycos (the Dogtown spelling of ‘psychos’).  Again, nothing is available on iTunes but “It’s Not Easy”, also from the Welcome To Venice comp, is posted on YouTube.  This song starts with a crunchy, catchy rhythm guitar, which is joined by the noodling lead guitar; the song pauses then launches into a superspeedy blitzkrieg of sound, but occasionally slows for ominous vocals and squirrelly guitar solos.  An interesting track that makes me wish more was available.

Another early Dogtown band was the Brood.  Formed in 1984, their primary influences were Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Motorhead.  Again, there is nothing on iTunes but YouTube has several songs posted, including “Good vs. Evil”, with its slow, catchy riff and clear vocals.  “Going Out Of Style” has a strange, rhythmic intro but then launches into a full-out assault of metal guitar.  This band would morph into Uncle Slam, who would go on to some acclaim in the thrash arena.

Excel were even heavier and more metallic.  Vocalist Dan Clements had a voice very similar to that of ST’s Mike Muir.  “Your Life, My Life” has a very schizophrenic rhythm, lurching between rapid blasts and slow, chugging portions in a way that reminds me again of Anthrax’s complex rhythms.  Anyone who likes “Institutionalized” era Suicidal Tendencies will love this song, and its angry chorus of “This is MY life, not YOUR life!”  “Split Image” has a funky metal rhythm and another catchy, shouted chorus but otherwise can get mired in its metal sludginess.

Finally, Beowulf mined similar sonic territory as Excel and ST themselves.  Formed in 1983 they too contributed a couple of tracks to the Welcome to Venice compilation, including “Taste The Steel”, which is very similar to “Hit The Lights” by Metallica off Kill ‘Em All.  “Unicorn” has a bludgeoning assault that evokes classic Motorhead, like on “Ace of Spades”.    In addition, several songs off their album self titled debut album and off their second album, 1987’s Lost My Head are available on YouTube for your listening pleasure.  “Tool the Jewel” is fast-paced with a high pitched guitar line that mimics the sound of “God Saved The Queen” by the Exploited to me; “Drink, Fight, Fuck” sounds a little closer to classic hardcore such as “Limpwristed” by G.B.H.

Another band worth mentioning here is Hirax.  Though they hailed from Cypress (south and east of the Venice/Palms scene) and were really a first-run speedmetal band,  the rawness of their sound often got them lumped in with the more metallic elements in the Dogtown scene.  I can recall seeing posters for No Mercy, Excel, and Hirax shows in the 80’s so I’m pretty sure they played together.  Aside from the operatic metal vocals of Katon W. De Pena (one of the few African-American speedmetal artists), their sound isn’t too terribly different from that of No Mercy or Los Cycos.  “Destroy” has a similarly bouncy rhythm that erupts into a supersonic tempo punctuated by Pena’s soaring vocals.  “Blitzkrieg Air Attack” has a raw guitar sound and is even faster than “Destroy”; this is music for people who thought Kill ‘Em All was too polished and slow.  “The Gauntlet” starts with a guitar riff straight from “Whiplash” and maintains that song’s tempo as well.  “Bombs of Death” is yet another short fast blast of rough-edged speedmetal that also erupts into a slow, chugging riff midway through.  Amazingly, several Hirax albums are available on iTunes:  Not Dead Yet combines their first album with the follow-up EP into one nice package.

By the late 80’s crossover/thrash was a worldwide phenomenon.  English hardcore punk bands like G.B.H., Broken Bones, and Discharge as well as NWOBHM bands like Venom were moving closer to a shared musical vision (even if lyrically they remained fairly far apart).  I can still remember how iconic G.B.H. (also known as Charged G.B.H.) were in the post-punk, post-hardcore 80’s; literally every mowhawked punker in Southern California had “G.B.H.” written on their leather jacket.  I can still remember seeing their albums, City Baby Attacked By Rats and City Baby’s Revenge in indie record stores, along with their classic summary of the hardcore look, Leather, Bristles, Studs, and Acne.   My first G.B.H. album though was 1986’s Midnight Madness and Beyond; “Limpwristed” is still my favorite song, though I do like “City Baby Attacked By Rats” and “Slut”.  I bought Broken Bones’ 1985 album Bonecrusher in late 1986 at a grungy record store on Hollywood Blvd.; “Decapitated” and “Seeing Through My Eyes” were my favorite tracks.  I love the rumbling bass and awful, despairing guitar riff that starts the latter.  In latter years I discovered Discharge; “The End”, “Society’s Victim” and “Protest and Survive” are all good but I still love “Free Speech For the Dumb” (as well as Metallica’s cover of it) the best.

 In America the rise of speedmetal due to the work of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax (as well as followers like Kreator and Nuclear Assault) merged with the post-hardcore metal musings of bands like D.R.I., Crumbsuckers, Corrosion of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter and S.O.D. (Stormtroopers of Death).  I first got into Metallica around 1986 or so, primarily because I’d heard that they were influenced by G.B.H. and the Exploited.  But when I bought my first album of theirs, Ride The Lightning, I just did not hear any punk/hardcore influences.  Eventually I grew to like Metallica for what it was, and “Fight Fire With Fire”, “Ride the Lightning”, “Creeping Death”, “Trapped Under Ice”, and “For Whom The Bell Tolls” are classics in the genre of speedmetal.  Only later, around 1988 or so, did I buy their first album (well after I bought Master Of Puppets and And Justice For All), 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, and only then did I finally see the punk influences.  This remains my favorite Metallica album; “Whiplash”, “Seek and Destroy”, “Hit the Lights”, “Jump In the Fire”, “Motorbreath”, and “Metal Militia” are my all-time faves of theirs.  I also love early Slayer; I bought South of Heaven in 1988 (the title track remains my favorite Slayer song) when it came out and quickly bought their first album, Reign In Blood, after I heard the sample of “Angel of Death” on Public Enemy’s “She Watch Channel Zero” (which is still my favorite PE song of all time). 

It was only comparatively recently that I got into all of the other crossover/thrash bands.  My favorite songs there are “Ghetto War”, “Extreme Aggression”, and “Violent Revolution” by Kreator; “After the Holocaust”, “The Plague” and “Rise From the Ashes” by Nuclear Assault; “Mine Are the Eyes of God”, “Minds Are Controlled”, and “Intervention” by Corrosion of Conformity;  “Lowlife” and “Money Talks” by Cryptic Slaughter; “Life of Dreams” by Crumbsuckers; “God Is Broke”, “I Don’t Need Society”, and “Think For Yourself” by D.R.I.; “Inner Conflict” and “Race War” by Carnivore;   and “Speak English Or Die” by S.O.D.

But in the early 80’s, the fusion of punk, metal, and vato gangbanger culture that Suicidal Tendencies created was one of the first to mix these disparate elements.