For Against were one of the best new American bands of the late ’80s, but that’s a secret the US new music public never discovered, possibly because the trio hails from the unlikely mecca of Lincoln, Nebraska. Although obviously influenced by the UK post-Joy Division sound, For Against add their own distinct ripple; singer Jeffrey…
Just as the theatrically minded LA punk scene was beginning to give rise to such morbidly themed outfits as 45 Grave and the Flesh Eaters, an androgynous teenaged street performer named Rozz Williams (né Roger Painter) founded Christian Death, one of the most prolific, enduring and beloved gothic acts of all time. Few groups have…
Without True Sounds of Liberty (and Agent Orange, for that matter), it’s safe to assume there would be no Offspring. In its prime one of the top five or so punk outfits this country has ever produced, the pioneering California group degenerated from a tight, rippling hardcore quartet to a lame hair metal band with…
It’s hard to understand why this London quartet never found commercial success. At their best, the Sound’s excellent neo-pop bears favorable comparison to the Psychedelic Furs and Echo and the Bunnymen. Jeopardy has a stark, beautiful quality, with the material given direct exposure rather than a production bath. Adrian Borland’s vocals are sincere and gripping;…
Embodying the live-fast-die-young aesthetic of West Coast hardcore with lifestyles as reckless as their music, San Diego’s Battalion of Saints plugged through the first half of the Reagan era before falling victim to inevitable self-destruction. Assembled from San Diego’s Nutrons and Standbys, the band was led by vocalist George Anthony and guitarist Chris Smith, who…
History has unjustly relegated Lincoln, Nebraska’s Millions to a footnote in the annals of For Against, the quietly legendary band that defines obscurity in its own right. Harry Dingman III (guitar) and Gregory Hill (drums) formed the Millions after they exited For Against in the late ’80s, taking ingredients from that band’s eyes-to-the-sky post-punk to…
