History
Even Worse was formed in April 1980 by Summit, New Jersey punk rockers, Rabid and Stein, along with bassist Marden, as the direct result of the Stimulators needing an opening band for their May 1980 show at New York City club Tier 3. With singer Berry (later of the Young Aborigines and Beastie Boys), the teenage quartet performed at various Manhattan clubs, opening for the likes of Bad Brains. Eventually, Marden left to join the Stimulators and Berry and Stein likewise departed.
Rabid recruited vocalist Korbet, bassist Keil and guitarist Weeks. This 1981-82 lineup of Even Worse performed at prominent New York City punk concerts and made their recorded debut with two songs on New York Thrash , a legendary document of the early '80s New York City punk and hardcore scene issued only on cassette by ROIR. The tape also featured their contemporaries the Stimulators, Bad Brains, the Undead, Heart Attack and Kraut. Even Worse also recorded an entire studio album in November 1981, which went unreleased until 2002. This most well-known version of the band broke up in early 1982, leaving Rabid to put together another totally different lineup including Tempkin, Waxman, journalist/DJ Sommer and Moore (the latter played guitar in the band during 1982-1983 while concurrently in Sonic Youth).
Their first 7" single, "Mouse or Rat?", recorded live in August 1982 at City Gardens in Trenton, featured the Rabid/Moore/Sommer/Waxman/Tempkin lineup, but was not issued (on their own Worse than You!?! label) until 1984. A second single from this period, "Leaving", released in 1988, featured Rabid (on drums and vocals), Sommer and Stein on the A-side, with Rabid, Sommer, Moore and Tempkin on B-side "One Night Stand".
After his 1982-84 stint in Even Worse, Sommer went on to found Hugo Largo, and later served as a host for MTV and VH1 and as an Atlantic Records A&R representative.
Rabid later formed post-punk trio Springhouse (who released two albums on Caroline Records, 1991's Land Falls and 1993's Postcards from the Arctic) and Last Burning Embers. Springhouse reunited to record a third album, From Now to OK, issued in 2008 by Independent Project Records.
The "classic" 1981-82 Even Worse lineup of Rabid, Korbet, Weeks and Keil reunited in 2002 to perform at the New York Thrash reunion concert at CBGB, coinciding with the Grand Theft Audio CD release of You've Ruined Everything. The disc contained the entire 13-song unreleased album recorded in 1981, as well as a live set recorded in August 1981 at Max's Kansas City (the infamous "We Suck" from this recording appeared on several 1980s Mystic Records compilation albums).
DNA was an American no wave band formed in 1977 by guitarist Arto Lindsay and keyboardist Robin Crutchfield, and later joined by drummer Ikue Mori and bassist Tim Wright. They were associated with the late 1970s New York no wave scene, and were featured on the 1978 compilation No New York.
The Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal.
Bush Tetras are an American post-punk No Wave band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals". Although they did not achieve mainstream success, the Bush Tetras were influential and popular in the Manhattan club scene and college radio in the early 1980s. New York's post-punk revival of the 2000s was accompanied by a resurgence of interest in the genre, with the Tetras' influence heard in many of that scene's bands.
Polly Wog Stew is the first recorded release by Beastie Boys, released as an EP in 1982 on the independent record label Rat Cage. Now out of print in its original form, all eight songs saw reissue on the 1989 punk rock compilation Killed by Death #1 but were removed from the record's subsequent releases when the band repackaged the entire EP, along with the Cooky Puss 12", as the compilation album Some Old Bullshit.
Bad Brains is the debut studio album recorded by American hardcore punk/reggae band Bad Brains. Recorded in 1981 and released on the cassette-only label ROIR on February 5, 1982, many fans refer to it as "The Yellow Tape" because of its yellow packaging, much in the way that the Beatles' self-titled record is often called "The White Album". Though Bad Brains had recorded the 16 song Black Dots album in 1979 and the 5-song Omega Sessions EP in 1980, the ROIR cassette was the band's first release of anything longer than a single.
ROIR, or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper.
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York, United States, formed in 1976.
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in 2008 and continue to tour and record.
Heart Attack was an American early New York hardcore band formed in 1980 and active until 1984.
Kraut was a New York City punk rock/hardcore punk band formed in 1981. The original members were Davy Gunner (vocals), Doug Holland (guitar/vocals) Don Cowan (bass/vocals), and Johnny Feedback (drums/vocals).
The Big Takeover is a bi-annual music magazine published out of New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid.
New York Thrash is a hardcore punk compilation album released by ROIR in 1982.
R.B. Korbet is an American musician. She is perhaps most well-known for her contributing drumming and vocals to the first incarnation of art rock band King Missile, and as a current member of Bush Tetras, having joined them on bass guitar in 2020.
Timothy Andrew Sommer is an American music journalist, musician, record producer and former Atlantic Records A&R representative. Sommer was the bass player for the slowcore/dreampop band Hugo Largo.
Agression is an American hardcore punk band from Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard, California, United States. Agression was one of the first bands of the "Nardcore" scene and an early example of the "skate punk" style. The band fused skate culture with the punk scene, featuring a song about skateboarding and a Glen E. Friedman photo of Arthur Lake skating a pool on their first and most popular album, Don't Be Mistaken.
Adrenalin O.D. was an American hardcore punk band from New Jersey that existed from 1981 to 1990. They are best known for playing extremely fast music accompanied by humorous lyrics.
JFA is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1981, with roots in Arizona and in Southern California skateboard culture. The original members include Brian Brannon (vocals), Don "Redondo" Pendleton (guitar), Michael Cornelius (bass), and Mike "Bam-Bam" Sversvold (drums). Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls also played bass for a time. The band was pivotal in the development of the skate punk and Skate Rock scenes. Over the years, the lineup has included many bass players and drummers but the core of Brannon and Redondo has remained constant.
SIN 34 was an American hardcore punk rock band formed in 1981 in Santa Monica, California. The band featured a female front-person, Julie Lanfeld-Keskin. The band's rhythm section would go on to form Painted Willie in 1984, and sign with SST Records in 1985, and embark on a six-month national US tour with Black Flag in 1986. Reforming out of the blue in 2008, SIN 34 would once again play shows primarily in their native southern California through 2012. Longtime member and primary songwriter Phil Newman died after an apparent accident on a sail boat, February 22, 2015; the band has no plans to continue. Singer Lanfeld-Keskin died April 4, 2018.
The Stimulators were an American punk rock band from New York City. Although they have a limited discography, they are notable for being consistently cited as an important transitional band between the late-1970s New York City punk rock scene and New York hardcore, and for being the musical entry point for future Cro-Mags founder Harley Flanagan.
False Prophets were an American, New York City-based, punk rock/hardcore punk band which formed in 1980. The original members were Stephan Ielpi (vocals), Steve Wishnia (bass), Peter Campbell (guitar) and Matt Superty (drums).
