Filed under: Blogroll, memories | Tags: chicago, thrash, windy city hardcore
Damn … Chicago lost a character this week. Troy “Roach” Coates, frontman from The Plague – Lungbrush – Stunt Double Jesus – Rising Up Angry – Ghost of the Underground, passed away due to complications from a rare form of Adrenal Cancer.
I saw The Plague a few times & Lungbrush once, after that I lost track of Roach’s other bands. I was more of a fan of The Plague myself. They along with bands like Life Sentence & Zeotrope were important in the mid-late 80’s in Chicago because they were a bridge between the punks & the metal heads at the time.
Generally, you could be sure to see a fight if a pack of headbangers walked into a punk show & vice-versa. But with the growing Hardcore Scene, there was an acceptance at shows. I’m not saying people held hands screaming Kumbaya or anything, but the fights were over things other than the uniform you wore.
Anyhow – whether it was Cabaret Metro, The Cubby Bear, The Iron Rail or some dive bar Roach always put on a lively engaging performance. If memory serves correct, I think I saw Lungbrush at Circuits on Cicero when they were starting up – Good stuff, just more metal than I was hoping for. The Plague was fast, strong & in your face … and that’s what I dug about ‘em.
The scene is gonna miss you Roach! If you’d like more in-depth info … check out www.rockforroach.com
Pulled out an oldie but a goodie today. The self-titled Debut LP (1987) from Life Sentence! Chi-town hardcore that at times reminds me of a blend of 7 Seconds & D.R.I. with a touch of Suicidal Tendencies on the guitar solos. And when I say solos, I mean brief blasts of seering fuzzed out guitar riffs … no wankery here! This is my favorite of their few releases. This record sounds like it was recorded at a VFW Hall while a herd of drunken teens were running around losing their minds.
There’s nothing subtle about this album, everything sounds hot & urgent. Even the skank-a-rific slower parts of “Race to Die” gets the adrenaline flowin’. “In the Streets” throws a few quick stop-starts at you & then the drums pummel you as if you were falling down a three story flight of stairs. “Punks for Profit” is another standout track, not just for the lyrical sentiment but the music starts out with a fists in the air stand-up & shout vibe and then whirls into a thrashing frenzy and back to the fists in the air and so on … it a brilliant 53 seconds which you should hear.
There are some other good tracks & then a few that are ok … but “In the Streets” “Punks for Profit” and “Race to Die” are three tracks that no midwest punk +/or hardcore comp should go without. Check ‘em out on MySpace … looks like there’s a reformation of the band hittin’ the clubs.
