History
In the beginning, the label was set to release only a few records by Toxic Narcotic, but the label quickly started to grow, releasing the first 7" EP of the Hingham band The Unseen, titled Too Young To Know... Too Reckless To Care in 1994, this would help to get known in the Boston area. Some of the early releases included Food Chain in Your Living Room by August Spies, Populution, New Ways to Create Waste and 2 Oz. Slab of Hate by Toxic Narcotic.
At the end of the 90s the label released the compilations Another Boston Punk Comp. and Boston Punk 2000, supporting local Boston bands, and the Toxic Narcotic split albums with Whorehouse of Representatives, and The Unseen among other albums. Bands like A Poor Excuse, The Profit$, The Statistics, Shoot the Hostages, Razorwire and others released albums with Rodent Popsicle Records at that time.
By 2000 the label began to release albums from international bands, because of this, they decided to take a more serious stand, with an increasing volume of records, also the quality developed, having releases from bands such as Antidote and Fleas and Lice from Netherlands, the re-issue of the Murder LP and the Nothing's Changed EP of The Varukers in one CD, Allergic to Whores from Cleveland, Iskra from Canada, Bristle from Seattle, Naked Aggression from Los Angeles, Virulent Strain from New York City, Fabulous Disaster from San Francisco, Clusterfux from Denver, and many Boston bands, including Dead Pedestrians, A Global Threat, Tommy & The Terrors, The Epidemic, The Profit$, Mouth Sewn Shut, State Control, Mung (featuring members of The Freeze, Darkbuster, Wrecking Crew, and Avoid One Thing), Midnight Creeps, Disaster Strikes, Retching Red, Capo Regime, 26 Beers, Short Changed, and Two Man Advantage to name a few.
Besides the mentioned bands and releases, the label has put out records like California Republic , a 4-way split album featuring songs by The Abuse, Cropknox, Monster Squad and Whiskey Rebels, also released by Burnt Ramen Records; Boston Massacre Vol. 1, featuring the Toxic Narcotic / The Unseen split, and the self-titled EPs by The Statistics and A Poor Excuse in one CD, and Boston Massacre Vol. 2, with the Toxic Narcotic / A Global Threat split, Outbound by Tommy & The Terrors and Dying for Dollars by the Profit$; a double disc compilation titled Boston: A Punk And Hardcore Compilation, featuring 60 tracks with bands in Rodent Popsicle and other bands from Boston; also, a DVD with the live performance by Toxic Narcotic in Boston filmed at their 15th Anniversary show on December 18, 2004 (2004-12-18).
The Unseen is an American street punk band that was formed in 1993 in Hingham, Massachusetts. One of the more prominent bands to revive street punk, The Unseen was originally called The Extinct.
Picture Frame Seduction (PFS) is a hardcore punk band originally from Haverfordwest, Wales, but later jointly based in Cadiz and Málaga in Spain and London and Bristol in the UK. In their formative years in Wales the band was considered too aggressive in their musical style and attitude to book and were continually ignored by established Welsh venues. The band's influences included their peers of the day, Charged GBH and Discharge. With many other bands of the time, such as The Varukers and Chaos UK, they helped develop the hardcore punk scene in the United Kingdom in the early to mid-1980s, recording from 1979 to 1987 on numerous labels.
Toxic Narcotic is an American crust punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States, who formed in 1989. Though many label them crust or hardcore, they do not self-identify with any one specific subgenre of DIY punk. Their songs typically include anti-war, -violence, and green peace lyrics. Their name, as revealed in an interview with Vice, is associated with the movement, the lead singer saying "... The name means what is says. Narcotics, chemicals, and ignorance are toxic, not just to the human mind, but also to humanity in general." Most of their albums have been released on their label, Rodent Popsicle Records. The album We're All Doomed was released in 2002 on Go-Kart Records and a split CD with Misery was released in 2004, also on Go-Kart Records. Their 15th anniversary show in December, 2004, was filmed by Subversion Media and released on Rodent Popsicle Records. The band toured the United States and Europe extensively through their career. In 2005, the band performed at North East Sticks Together. Later that year, Toxic Narcotic went on hiatus and two of its members, Bill Damon and Will Sullivan, formed the band Mouth Sewn Shut. Bill Damon, the vocalist, runs Rodent Popsicle Records. Sam Jodrey, the drummer, hurt his back in 2008 and all following shows had to be cancelled.
A Global Threat (AGT) was an American hardcore punk band, formed in Bangor, Maine in 1997. They released four full-length albums as well as many 7-inch EPs and toured extensively throughout the United States.
The Varukers are a British punk rock band formed in 1979 by vocalist Anthony "Rat" Martin. They produced their most influential recordings in the early 1980s. The band play in D-beat, the musical style of Discharge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry an anarchist political ideology.
GBH are an English punk rock band which was formed in 1978 by vocalist Colin Abrahall, guitarist Colin "Jock" Blyth, bassist Sean McCarthy and drummer Andy "Wilf" Williams.
Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine, as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindcore music, and printing and publishing pamphlets and literature. Stacy Thompson describes the collective as “the largest, longest-lasting, and most influential collective in Anarcho-Punk so far.” The collective folded in 1998, although its distribution arm, then called Blackened Distribution, continued operating. It restarted in 2000. "Making punk a threat again" is the group's slogan.
Punk Core Records is an inactive record label founded in 1989 by Dave Punk Core. The label is based on Long Island, New York. Punk Core originally started out a punk zine/distro in the late 1980s, but became a record label in the mid 1990s. Punk Core is often credited for helping to revive street punk, a genre that had flourished in early 1980s Britain but had disappeared by the end of the decade.
Go-Kart Records is an independent record label specializing in punk rock located in New York City that was most active from 1995 to 2005. It also has a European division in Mannheim, Germany.
Fleas and Lice are a Dutch crust punk band from Groningen, Netherlands. Three of the members were originally part of Mushroom Attack, also from the Netherlands. Their records have been released by Skuld Releases in Europe, and Profane Existence Records and Rodent Popsicle Records in the United States. Since 1993, they have toured multiple times throughout Europe and North America.
Darkbuster is a punk rock band hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, known largely for their songs about the joys of heavy drinking, which have earned them a strong following in the American Northeast. The band occasionally performs under the name of P Diddler And The Fearsome Foursome.
Sacrilege is a band from the Midlands region of England originally formed in 1984 by guitarist Damian Thompson and vocalist Lynda "Tam" Simpson and Tony May. Originally Hardcore Punk, their sound later changed to Thrash Metal/Doom Metal. Despite having played relatively few gigs during their original existence, Sacrilege is recognized as an important band, both as an influence on later crust punk/thrash metal and doom metal bands and as an example of the blending of hardcore punk, radical politics, and thrash/death metal that occurred during the mid-1980s, making Sacrilege one of the prototypical 'crust'(that term not coined then) punk/metal bands of the time.
Avoid One Thing is a punk band that started as a side project by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' bassist Joe Gittleman. The Boston-based group's first album, titled Avoid One Thing, was released in 2002 on Side One Dummy Records. The album was written and recorded almost solely by Gittleman. Gittleman assembled a band with which to tour and play his music. Before the release of the band's next album in 2004, the band went through several lineup changes. John Lynch joined the band after Dave Karcich's death due to a sudden brain aneurysm. Later, Delano left and the band continued as a three-piece. The trio returned to the studio and released Chopstick Bridge on May 4, 2004. The album reflected the combined efforts of all three band members and sounds vastly different from their first in many respects; Amy Griffin and Gittleman even split lead vocals on a few tracks. After the release of this album, the band toured until February 2005 before going on hiatus. Since that time, Griffin has been playing guitar for Darkbuster and Gittleman has moved to Los Angeles and is once again a member of the reunited Bosstones. Paul Delano underwent emergency surgery in 2006 and a series of benefit shows were held. John Lynch has since joined up with David Minehan and is now playing drums for The Neighborhoods.
The Ducky Boys are a street punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. Since forming in 1995 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, the band has released six full-length albums and over 80 songs. The band's name is derived from the name of an Irish street gang in the 1979 movie, The Wanderers.
Career Soldiers was a street punk band based in San Diego. The band have toured America and Canada with bands like The Casualties, Lower Class Brats, Monster Squad, Clit 45, U.K. Subs, Funeral Dress among others.
Defiance are an American anarcho street punk band from Portland, Oregon, United States, formed in 1993. Their discography includes five E.P.s, four albums, and one album of out of print and rare songs. They have been cited as major influences on bands such as Anti-Flag and The Unseen.
SS-Kaliert are a German hardcore street punk band, they had been mistaken as a Neo Nazi group as the name has the "SS" as in the Nazi SS. Originally, the band name was "Es Eskaliert" which means “it escalates”, the band decided to replace it with the actual SS-Kaliert name because it was more eye-attractive as a logo.
Every time you turn on the TV, or look in the newspaper, you see things that should not be… something has to be done! For example… politicians [raising] taxes while companies lower the wages – this shows how the world splits more and more into two classes.
Retching Red was an American, Oakland, California-based hardcore punk band, that formed in late July 2004. Their lyrics mainly deal with feminist and leftist political issues.
The discography of BYO Records, an independent record label based in Los Angeles, consists of 118 releases: 85 studio albums, one live album, 13 compilation albums, 2 EPs, 15 singles, one video album, and one box set.
Antidote was a punk rock band from the Netherlands, formed in 1996. The band released several records and toured extensively in Europe, North America and Russia. In December 2012, the band officially announced their break-up.
