Crucifix was an American hardcore punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1980 to 1984. They were among the most popular acts of the San Francisco punk scene of the early 1980s. Fronted by Cambodian-born singer Sothira Pheng, Crucifix were distinct among American underground bands for their strong D-beat musical characteristics and anarchist lyrical content and graphic design. The band's debut 1983 full-length album Dehumanization on Crass Records‘ offshoot Corpus Christi Records, is considered by many critics and fans to be a cornerstone of political punk music. After their breakup, Crucifix’s members went on to form the bands Loudspeaker and Proudflesh.
Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the addition of friends Greg Hetson and John Stielow on drums, the band's first gig was opening for Black Flag. The band has since released eight albums and three EPs.
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a Juno Award-winning Canadian instrumental rock band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the theme to the Canadian sketch comedy TV show The Kids in the Hall. Although commonly classified as a surf rock band they rejected the label, going so far as to release a track called "We're Not a Fucking Surf Band", although they also later released a compilation box set titled Oh, I Guess We Were a Fucking Surf Band After All.
Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980.
Vatican Commandos were an American hardcore punk band formed in Darien, Connecticut.
The Effigies are an American punk rock band from Chicago. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes before disbanding in 1990. The band released 3 albums, 2 EPs and one single during this initial run, most on the record label they founded in 1981, Ruthless Records, which was distributed by Enigma. Later albums were released on the Fever Records and Roadkill Records labels. They toured the U.S. and Canada, sharing bills with bands such as Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, UK Subs, PIL, The Birthday Party, The Plasmatics, SS Decontrol, Green Day, GBH and The Circle Jerks at iconic venues, including Metro, CBGB, Maxwell's, First Avenue, Mabuhay Gardens, Paycheck's, Exit and The Rathskeller among others. They were heavily featured in the underground press, and received a significant amount of national airplay on college radio at a time when it was the only medium for alternative music.
M.O.T.O. is an American garage punk band currently based in New Hampshire. Formed in New Orleans in 1981 by Paul Caporino, the lineup of the band has seen many changes over the years, with Caporino being the only consistent member. The band has recorded many albums, singles and CDs, including several albums for the Chicago-based record label Criminal IQ Records.
Get Smart! is a three-piece post-punk band formed in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1980 consisting of Marcus Koch, Lisa Wertman Crowe and Frank Loose. The band released 2 studio albums along with some singles and EPs over a 10-year career. The band re-united in 2020.
White Flag is an American punk rock band currently based in Los Angeles. Their current lineup consists of frontman Mike Mess (guitar), Jello B. Afro (bass), and Trace Element (drums). These members have been in the band since 1982, though many have rotated in and out. White Flag has a discography that ranges from their 1982 debut R is for Rocket to 2010's Benefit For Cats.
Lynn Perko-Truell is an American musician, best known as the drummer, bass guitarist, and co-singer for the San Francisco indie rock band Imperial Teen. She is also known as the drummer for the San Francisco-based blues grunge band Sister Double Happiness, and the San Francisco version of the hardcore punk band The Dicks. Perko-Truell was an iconic figure and a pioneering female in the American hardcore punk and alternative rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s and remains active.
Steven Shane McDonald is an American rock musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the Los Angeles alternative rock/power pop band Redd Kross. He is a founding member of the hardcore punk band OFF! – serving as a member from 2009 to 2021 – as well as bassist for Melvins since 2015. McDonald has appeared in numerous film projects with his older brother Jeff McDonald, including the 1984 film Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and its sequel Lovedolls Superstar; and the 1990 film Spirit of '76.
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls is a 1984 low budget underground film, shot on super-8 film by David Markey, about a rock band of teenage runaways. The film was released on DVD in 2003. A sequel, Lovedolls Superstar, was released in 1986.
Desperate Teenage Lovedolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is an album of music from the film Desperate Teenage Lovedolls. The soundtrack was originally released on Gasatanka Records in 1984, re-issued by SST Records in 1987 and re-released again in an expanded edition on CD by Sympathy For The Record Industry in 1997.
The Leaving Trains were an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. The Leaving Trains were founded in 1980 by singer Falling James Moreland, who became known for her chaotic performances and penchant for cross-dressing. Falling James had previously been a member of punk rock bands the Mongrels and the Downers before assembling the group with guitarist Manfred Hofer, bassist Tom Hofer, keyboardist Sylvia Juncosa and drummer Hillary Laddin. They played locally for three years, with a handful of drummers, before releasing their first album, Well Down Blue Highway, in 1984 with Terry Graham on drums.
Modern Warfare was an American early-1980s punk rock band from Long Beach, California. It featured Jim Bemis, Tim Gaines (bass), Steve Sinclair (bass), Ron Goudie, Randy Scott (drums), and Tish Lucca (Keyboards).
Change Today? is the third studio album by the American rock band T.S.O.L., released in 1984 through Enigma Records. It was the band's first album with singer/guitarist Joe Wood and drummer Mitch Dean, replacing founding members Jack Grisham and Todd Barnes who had left the band in late 1983. The album was recorded using money loaned to T.S.O.L. by the Dead Kennedys, and found the new incarnation of the band moving away from the hardcore punk associations of the original lineup in favor of a traditional rock and gothic rock sound. Change Today? was reissued in 1999 through the Enigma subsidiary Restless Records, adding four tracks from the recording sessions that had been left off the original album.
Battalion of Saints was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, that was founded in 1980.
Painted Willie was an American punk rock band started in 1984 in Los Angeles by drummer and film-maker Dave Markey after the demise of his first band, Sin 34. They were active from 1984 to 1987 and released one 7", two 12 inch EPs and three LPs.
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 (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.
