It Certainly Was A Grand Piano Compilation

This next comp is kind of an oddball choice.  I also thought I had lost or given away my copy until realizing I had ripped it to MP3 - but instead of the artists coming up individually they all are filed under the album title.  Note to labels everywhere - don't do that.  That's really annoying.

This comp is made up of several Long Island bands, but also contains a bunch of Jersey bands and who knows what else.  It was kind of interesting that there were a couple a fairly big names at the time like Piebald, The Anniversary and A New Found Glory who contributed to the comp.  From the LI side of things you get indie rock from Knox Overstreet and OTMOP, good pop punk from 48 in the Basement, Whoopie Cushion and Fair Warning and the wacky wackiness of Space Robot Scientists.  I think Lark was an LI band as well. 

I don't think that Abominable Records released much else besides this comp and the Knox Overstreet 7".  For some reason I thought that there may have been a Flight of the Navigator or HelicopterEjectionSeat release as well.  I clearly remember buying this comp, mainly for the Knox Overstreet song, from Nick who ran Abominable at a show I set up that had With Every Idle Hour, The Cotton Weary, Radio 4, The Waiting Process, Breaking Pangaea and Knox Overstreet.  I recall Nick wearing a Nintendo Power Glove the entire time for reasons unbeknownst to me.

You can still purchase copies of this from Rok Lok's distro here: http://www.roklokrecords.com/distroitems.php?category=cd

Tracklisting:
1 Mr. Miyamoto -Enemy Quaid
2 Piebald -If Marcus Garvey Dies, Then Marcus Garvey Lives
3. Fair Warning -Sometimes 
4. A New Found Glory -Third And Long 
5. Knox Overstreet -I Shot The Clerk 
6. Hometown Hero -Charlie 
7. On The Might Of Princes -As Long As She Doesn't Smoke 
8. Keepsake -Sweet White Lies
9. Mr. Miyamoto -Why Did You Paint My Ass Blue 
10. Cooter -Missing The Innocence 
11. Whoopie Cushion -Emilie
12. Lark -We're No Miracle 
13. Saturday Supercade -Long Gone 
14. Space Robot Scientists -My Control 
15. Verdicts -No One Cares 
16. River City High -Anybody, Anywhere 
17. Life Of Riley -Fuck Your Politics
18. The Anniversary -Low Tide And Hospital Bed 
19. Fletcher -My Least Favorite Mistake
20. Good Clean Fun -On The Streets
21. 48 In The Basement -Carol! "Carol" Carol?
22. Penfold -I'll Take You Everywhere

It Certainly Was Grand Piano Compilation
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?6zxwbq6jfadah9g

516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation

Going a bit comp crazy today.  This is due to these comps strangely not being available elsewhere online, and more importantly because I don't have much to say and therefore it makes posting them a bit less time-intensive.

The first one today is the fairly well-known "516" comp which harkens back to a time when we only had one area code for all of Nassau and Suffolk.  The 2 disc set was released on "None of the Above" records which was basically a cool record store in Centereach that sold a lot of hardcore and punk stuff.  I believe that the guys that ran None of the Above were Tom and Brett - and I'm pretty sure that the latter of the two also mastered the first Satellite Lost CD too.  I believe that Tom passed away around 2002 and the store and label shut down.  I know that as a label None of the Above also released one of Tension*'s CDs and the first Kill Your Idols 12".

I think everyone had this comp back in the day.  It's got early tracks from Glassjaw, Motive, Cleanser, Splinterface, Reach, and stuff we've covered in posts from Inside and Silent Majority.  I don't remember a good deal of these bands, so if anyone has other stuff from any of them - please let me know.

Track Listing:

Disc 1
Betrayed - Voices
Betrayed - Setup
Cleanser - Transfuse
Cleanser - Questions
EBD - Welcome to Suburbia
EBD - Desensitized
Glassjaw - Faust
Glassjaw - Pravado
Headkase - Slippin Away
Headkase - We Don't Care (Boner's Song)
Inside - Absence
Inside - Radio Flyer
Justice Unknown - Smash Depression
Justice Unknown - Rejected
Leech Implant - Leech Implant
Leech Implant
Man Down Alone - Separate and Waste
Man Down Alone - Emotions Past
Motive - First Quarter
Motive - Borders
Outrage - It All Ends
Outrage - Flashback

Disc 2
Putdown - Rapids of Addiction
Putdown - No Way Out 
Reach - Waiting
Reach - Plant A Seed
Retribution - Lower Class Citizen
Retribution - Kicked To The Curb
Silent Majority - Expectations
SOE - Day It Stood Still
SOE - Briefcase
Splinterface - Amends
Splinterface - Mindslave 
Sub DK - Hardcore Underground
Sub DK - Burnt Freedom 
Tension* - See You In Hell
Tension* - Waste of Time
Thirty08 - Dejected
Thirty08 - Never Used To Be 
Neglect - Mind Games 
Neglect - Good For Nothing 

516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?txcdowo461h5wtr

Three Years Older - You Can't Live Your Life on Maybes + Live Radio Show

This post comes to us thanks to Justin Schwier of Underground Communique Records.  Check out his site as he's done vinyl releases for J. Robbins's band Channels and will be doing the next Capital release as well.  Justin got in touch after the last post on Three Years Older that he had a copy of their full length from 2004 You Can't Live Your Life on Maybes as well as a live radio performance as well.  He was kind enough to send this over.

I still don't know much about this release though!  If General George drops me a line with some additional background I'll be sure to update this post.

THREE YEARS OLDER
You Can't Live Your Life On Maybes + Live on WLUW - http://www.mediafire.com/?9r8k2qlml7toauo

Geometry

In celebration of Glassjaw of having new music released for the first time since 2002, this post is not about Glassjaw but a Glassjaw side-project called Geometry.

Geometry was one of Daryl Palumbo's many side-projects that were started but never seemed to come out with any official releases.  Geometry though was a fully-encompassed band that featured Kamen Goddard, Matt Mateus and JJ Onthesun on guitars, and from J. Majesty there was Jim Kimball on bass and Dale W. Miller on drums.  Supposedly Jeremy Chatelin of Handsome was originally the singer of the project before Jim Kimball moved to New York and recuited the rest of the band.  There were no offical releases besides a Live Demo.  There was an album called "Ear To The Ground" that was planned to be recorded at some point, and there are a few tracks from the sessions that were leaked a few years ago.  Their shows seemed to mainly be in the city, Miller recollects shows at Brownies, Arlene's Grocery, LES and CBGB's. 

I'm not entirely sure what happened with the band, outside of everyone seeing to be busy with other projects. Kamen and Matt both went on to do scores for movies, Dale joined Palomar, Jim joined Retisonic, and JJ joined Walking Concert.

The music has a kind of interesting reggae vibe on the tracks.  This download is for the 4 "Live in the LES" demo tracks and the two studio tracks that were recorded for the proposed "Ear to the Ground" album.

Geometry
Demos and studio recordings: http://www.mediafire.com/?cqt8gjmqojlreg9

More Information:
http://www.dalewmiller.com/geometry.html

The 52X

I had posted these tracks on mediafire for a friend and I figured that seeing as they are up there I should do a post on THE 52X.  The thing is, outside knowing that The 52X were the band that was often responsible for shows being shutdown or often being kicked off of them (in fact, I believe that they were banned from playing ABC No Rio) and singer Ruben Cano going on to the band Dynasty, I can't offer much.  I remember hearing their 7" with Milhouse and just thinking "WOW - what in the hell is this?"  Hearing the music now, I think I still have the same reaction!  It's wild and chaotic, noisy and heavy.

I yanked the following from Chris Tzompanakis from One Day Savior/Sky Came Falling's blog here.  I'm not sure if he is back to posting on his blog at  http://blog.lifeofaspectator.net/, but all of the links for the music there are dead.  Links for the split with Milhouse and the Liver Damage EP are at the bottom of this post.  Here was Chris's write-up on the 52X:

I don’t think Long Island had a more infamous band than the 52X. In the late 1990′s they were a band that everyone loved to hate and yet everyone somehow hated to admit that they loved, but looking back there will never be another band quite like the 52X. Drummer Joe Gorelick even described his former band as “a crazy, noise core quintet with insane time changes and very odd song titles. That band was very much fun to play in, but comprised of the most insane personalities a band could muster.”


To put it bluntly, the 52X became the band that promoters didn’t want on the show yet all the kids did. Basically, it was assumed that if they played the show would inevitably get shut down. From blowing snot rockets on the audience, breaking equipment, smashing the lights out, members getting naked, the 52x were as intense as their music made them sound. However it was not their live show that would make the 52x a hardcore household name, it be a song title that would earn them their reputation. Vocalist Ruben simply stated that he hoped a certain female’s genitalia would explode and it prompted a boycott from just about every female rights group associated with the hardcore scene. It brought the 52x to the frontline of confrontation, a spot that they would fill proudly until their demise.

Similar to bands like Angel Hair, Heroin and CR, the 52x were controlled chaos to some degree. Hints of rock n roll could be noted throughout their songs, while discordant guitars loosely played over frantic percussion. Vocalist Ruben’s high pitched screams and melodic yell seemed to tie it all together, a sound that didn’t seem like it made sense at all, yet somehow it did. Songs that built up such aggression, madness, paranoia that by the time you realized just what was happening, it was all over.

Though the band existed for several years, their discography is just about as short as their sets were. They would release a split 7″ on Reservoir Records with Milhouse (a band was almost as notorious as the 52x were) and go on to record an ep titled “Liver Damage” that while scheduled to be released on Reservoir, never actually did make it to press. There are countless stories surrounding the reasons why it was never made available, but none which I could ever quote as being credible. While I have also heard that other labels and individuals would attempt to buy the rights to the album over the years, the possible release of the album would circulate around the Long Island rumor mill for years on end. the “Liver Damage” ep (or lack there of) was the perfect ending for a band who throughout their existence was shrouded by mystery and drama.

Members would go on to form the much more rock influenced Dynasty, who were just as controversial, and release (though I have never actually seen a copy) their debut ep on the label The Omega. Members would resurface in other projects over the years such as the Hope Collapse, but none would leave their mark like the 52x had.

Download:
THE 52X
Split with Milhouse and Liver Damage EP: http://www.mediafire.com/?3c6trwbbwkqkvq2

Edgar - Lost Tracks

And also taking up from that same post on Tetsuo, Elliot checks in with more on Edgar:

I'm right there with Jason's anal-ness when it comes to documenting music, so to follow up on his Tetsuo update, I have a little Edgar nugget for all of you.

According to John English, sometime in mid 1995, Edgar recorded 2 songs at LOHO Studio in New York City, The original dat tapes were stolen from the guy who recorded them at LOHO, but the band kept a tape for themselves and thanks to John who recently converted and slightly touched them up, here they are. These songs were supposed to be on a compilation that never came up, but allegedly a friend of the band saw one at a show at some point, but the facts on that story are slim.

EDGAR
"Voices" and "Her Romance" - http://www.mediafire.com/?2p2fpzpozxg2lxh

PS - This is unreleased Edgar material

Tetsuo - WUSB Riptide Tape

Some people have accused me of being a bit anal, a tad obsessive compulsive.  They'd be right.  I simply need to make sure we close up all the loops, and when I've done a post on a band and there's music out there that hasn't been included, I'm bothered by it.  It's just the collector's habit that I have.  Everything must be complete.

With that being said, here is the second half to the TETSUO post from a few weeks ago.  This download is for the WUSB Riptide split that they did with Bor.  Some of the track names are definitely seem incorrect to me as the songs don't match up with the ones on the split 7".  As I don't know the proper names of the other songs, we're just going to go by what was on the tape.

Thanks to Nick for getting me this recording!

Here is the download:
TETSUO -
WUSB Riptide Live Recording - http://www.mediafire.com/?p1bcb886n9voqc2

Cathode Ray

Cathode Ray was a band that briefly existed post Science Diet in 1995 to 1997.  They played what would probably be considered emo at the time, similar to The Farckus Affair and Jawbreaker.

The band included Chris Donohue of Science Diet on Vocals and Guitar, Brian Maryansky on Guitar (who also played in Jets To Brazil and The Van Pelt), Sean Greene on Bass (also played in The Van Pelt), and Glenn Maryansky on Drums.

This demo was recorded in one take live in NYU studio in 97.  I don't think it was ever released.  Chris Donohue had told me that there were 5 tracks, but there only seem to be 4.  There is virtually no information on the band and I swiped the photo from some guy's personal flickr site.  I know that they did a tour with Texas Is the Reason prior to this recording. 

Brian and Sean went on the Van Pelt.  Chris went on to form Dawn in Bathos, Antarctica and Ovan Looven after this,  Glenn also played in Antarctica, Blacklist, and live shows for Ova Looven.

Thanks to Chris Donohue for the info and the music

CATHODE RAY
NYU Demo - http://www.mediafire.com/?m9m3xxto9rg64yo

Six of One

 

I never thought that I would be posting this, much less ever hear the music again since it was sitting collecting dust somewhere in Colin's house and then it moved to my attic for a few years.  I also don't want this blog to come off as too self-serving, but the fact is I have been in a number of bands throughout the years.  Whatever - it's my blog.  This post is about a band I was in called Six of One. 

Six of One was formed in 1996.  I had left this grunge metal band I was in called No Regrets the previous year after I realized "Hey, who put this metal into my grunge band?"  I had been driving home after a show with No Regrets and I was asking my friends Homer and Dan if they thought that No Regrets was a metal band.  Homer is my best friend and possibly the nicest guy in the world, so he was attempting to sugar coat it for me saying "Well, there are some metal aspects" whereas Dan just said "Dude - yes, you're in a metal band."  I realized that wasn't what I wanted to be doing and the guys I was in a band with weren't very interested in the music I liked.  I briefly joined another band called Sativa but it lead nowhere, mostly because of the "singer."  I decided that whatever I did next I wasn't going to be dealing with any lead singers with cases of lead singer syndrome (LSS) anymore.  I would sing.

Six of One started with myself and drummer Bruno Tagliaferri after I found an ad he posted at Hofstra looking to start a band with influences of Sonic Youth, Jesus Lizard, Fugazi and Pavement.  I really liked Sonic Youth  and Fugazi at the time so I tracked him down.  We jammed a couple of times on and off before things clicked.  Jamming with Bruno was always cool because after we'd play he'd put on CDs from his monstrous collection and he wound up introducing me to a lot of stuff like Guided By Voices, Slint, Hovercraft and Jesus Lizard.  I put out an ad for more members a few months later, and my friend Colin fresh off of his band EM-50 (formerly Effigy) breaking up saw it, called me and pretty much joined the band later that week.

Finding a bass player was a hardship.  We tried out a few people, but the music was so noisy that bass players seemed to have trouble finding the right key.  We tried out this guy Dan Martinez who we really liked but he was very into his job in Hotel Management at the time - I believe he would join that band Reach 454 eventually. I met Lee Greenman who was in Scarab at that point and asked him to come down.  He was concerned with how Scarab would deal with that.  After jamming with us he decided to quit Scarab.  In retrospect, I don't know why Lee wouldn't just continue on with both bands since plenty of people are in more than one band - but we were young, so who knows? I'm currently in a band with Dan Lopez who was the drummer for Scarab and I've come to find that Lee's resignation may not have been as one-sided as I originally believed.  Let's just say it was mutual.  For years I thought Dan hated me because I stole his bass player, which was not the case.  With that being said, Lee was a great bass player who provided the foundation that was needed for Colin and I to layer lots of noise above.

As I mentioned in a few previous posts, we referred to ourselves as noise-rock or melodic dischord.  Indie wasn't really a term at that point, I thought stuff like Folk Implosion or Low as what was indie at that time - which we really weren't.  We definitely were taking the a cue from both the abrasive and catchy elements of Fugazi, Jawbox, Chavez, Jawbreaker and Sonic Youth.  There was also an undeniable spirit of hardcore we were tying into as well.

The band was not around long.  We played our first show in January at Dr. Shay's opening for Soulsick and Hostile Intent.  It was definitely one of the most adverse crowds I can remember playing in front of.  In June, Bruno left the band and probably the only time I've encountered this, he found us a replacement as well in his friend Robin.  She had previously been in the band Special Agent Gumby and at that time was also in this Dave Matthews-like band called Hatch. Robin joined the band for 3 or 4 shows.  Hatch would actually get paid at their well-populated gigs, so what we were doing wasn't exactly competitive.  Robin decided to leave and in one of my more ill-advised moments, I noted this turn of events on-stage at our last show.  "How to Alienate Bandmates and Generally Displease People" by Jason Schneider.  I can say that moment was a learning experience. Our last show was again at Dr. Shay's in July 1997 with Inside, Last Days of August and Broth. 

During this period we recorded 3 songs at SUNY Purchase with Lee's friend Evan.  For some bizarre reason we didn't record our best song which was called "Hero."  A little tip to bands: Always record your best song.  Don't save it for a 7" with some label that you spoke to once, don't worry if it'll be a pain to record it - chances are you will break up before another opportunity arises.  That's what happened here.  I don't remember much about the recording other than we played live and then I went back to overdub the vocals the following week while sick as a dog.  I was no singer to begin with, and that is no excuse for the vocal performance; I'm just providing a little background.  At the time we weren't happy with much besides the last song (Last Year's Model) and we didn't release this.

In addition to the 3 tracks with vocals, there are versions of the 3 songs sans vocals,  2 takes of another song called "Toronto" that Lee sang but we didn't get an opportunity to record vocals to, as well as an instrumental version of the song "Afterthought" that I found on a practice tape.  I recommend listening to the 2 takes of "Toronto" as Colin managed to cull the most amazing noises out of a guitar possible. 

After the band's collapse, Colin and I tried to pull something together with Steve DeJoseph from Pretty Polly which didn't take while Lee had found a new drummer but wanted us to start a new band with my 'poppier' songs.  None of that would happen as I chose to form The Cotton Weary instead... which is yet another story.

Lee Greenman went on to play in Radiate with Steve from Sleepasaurus and Long Distance Runner, and later  Endgames, The Fire and Reason, Human Parachute and currently is a member of The Goodbye Radio.  Colin went on to play bass and later guitar in the now-legendary Saetia, then Precision Auto which changed its name to The Fiction and is currently a member of Gunners.  Jason Schneider (that'd be me) thankfully stopped singing, but kept playing guitar in The Cotton Weary, Satellite Lost, Circle the Sun and others and is currently the guitar player of Steady as She Goes.  Robin returned to playing drums in Hatch and I've lost track of her since then. Bruno Tagliaferri stopped playing drums.    

This download is for the recordings mentioned above.  As I've just figured out how to add images to posts and since Colin recently scanned a bunch pictures of us playing at CBGB's and Hofstra, I've included a few shots well.

SIX OF ONE

Demos - http://www.mediafire.com/?b9n1vo13j3dv2d0

Inside

This post comes again from Elliot Fox.  Inside is another band I had full intentions of doing a post on, but I'm very glad Elliot came through with this as the Silent Majority took a lot out of me.  Read more below...

The Legend of Ray Brower...

Growing up in Long Island in the 90's, although punk and hardcore had a big impact on me and helped shape a lot of my early musical tastes, I think it's safe to say that nothing rumbled the island more than the birth of emo and I'm talking real emo, not this recycled garbage you're hearing today. I'm talking about grown ass dudes leaving the stage crying, instruments broken, amps turned over, crowds in a sweat, some with tears in their eyes, some with huge smiles and all stomping around and loving every second of it.

Although we'd like to believe Long Island birthed the emo-scene, the style originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement in Washington, D.C., where it was first known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore." A story goes that emo emerged both as a reaction to increased violence in the scene as well as an extension of personal politics and beliefs of the legendary Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi), who had turned the focus of the music from the community back to the individual. In 1984 bands like Rites of Spring and the MacKaye led Embrace began breaking free of hardcore's self-imposed boundaries in favor of melodic guitars, varied rhythms, and deeply personal, impassioned lyrics. Nostalgia, romantic bitterness, and poetic desperation became the cornerstone of the music.

By the early 1990's, the sound had began to shift and change, blending more with punk and indie rock, but still hanging on to that hardcore mentality. Bands such as Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate were early leaders of the sound.

Although there were so many emo bands that played a big role in the Long Island scene, for me Inside, the 5 piece from Lindenhurst, was one of the best. They were true champions of the sound and culture and really helped define the Long Island sound. Inside grew out of the band Word of Mouth that featured vocalist Mike Mallamo who later joined Dearly Departed, Tom Cornerford on Bass and Craig Wilis on drums.  These 3 would form Inside in August 1995 with Vinny Corrigan on guitar, who later formed Blood Red with his brother Tommy (from Silent Majority) and Eddie Reyes also on guitar, previously of Mind Over Matter and at that point of Clockwise as well. Inside only recorded a handful of tracks before Eddie was replaced by Jon Florencio. Their sound was a perfect blend of the passion of hardcore, intelligence of indie rock, the anthemic power of punk rock and the DIY mentality that fueled the East Coast and Long Island emo/hardcore scenes at this time. Sometimes slow and emotional, sometimes fast and rockish, Inside was one of the best. For fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Hot Water Music, Movielife, Silent Majority and Texas is the Reason. Check out some flyers, photos, videos and more on their myspace

Their first and only release with Eddie Reyes was an 8 song self-titled cd which is often called "The Gray CD" now due to its cover art that came out in 1996 on Sunnyside Records.  The track listing on the CD was completely incorrect.  For posterity, the download does mirror the incorrect track listing featured on the CD.  (I think that the correct track listing may be Liquify, then Unsound, Inside, Corners, Destination 2000, Never You, Landscaping and Q&A.  But I'm not sure.  - Jason)

In September 1996, they had the tracks "Absence" and "Radio Flyer" featured on the "516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation."

Inside released two 7"s in 1997. One on Motherbox records, containing the anthems "Ray Brower", "Stumbled on a Penny," "Postcard Memories" and "Broken Promise." The second came out on Redwood Records and had the songs " Wait Until Tomorrow" and "Regarding Time Lost." All of these tracks made it onto Seven Inches to Wall Drug album, but you may be able to still score the 7" here http://www.merchdirect.com/MotherboxRecords/Inside?artist=1146

In 1998, they released the CD, Seven Inches to Wall Drug, a collection of all their 7"s, unreleased songs such as "Sandra" and a few live recordings for good measure. That same year, they had their song "Landscaping" featured on the Blood, Sweat & Tears Compilation

I believe it was around 1999 when they released their second and final release, My Funeral on Redwood Records.  They broke up shortly afterwards in the summer of 1999 and had their final show at Deja 1.  They would reunite for a show in 2004 prior to Vinny Corrigan moving to Ireland, and again for two shows on January 8 and 9, 2010.

As mentioned above, Tom, Vinny and Craig would form Blood Red.  Mike Mallamo would join Dearly Departed and later Novena and Mt. Morning.  Jon would join Babyteeth which would change its name to Free Republic of Soul, but mainly concentrate on production work.

Here are all of their recordings:
INSIDE:
The Self Titled "Gray" CD & 516 tracks - http://www.mediafire.com/?hpdjaczyf9joug7
Seven Inches to Wall Drug - http://www.mediafire.com/?xzspvmq2pvgmdwg
My Funeral - Download here - http://www.mediafire.com/?c029jm23g34acqm

Other Links:
myspace: www.myspace.com/insidelongisland
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/INSIDE/275981230440?
LI Music Scene Wiki: http://longislandmusicscene.wikia.com/wiki/Inside

Silent Majority

"Let's see, let me think back, because it's been about 5 years now..."

I have been sitting on doing this post for awhile.  Part of me feels like I won't be able to provide the back story of the band in its entirety, and the other part of me feels like anyone reading this blog should already know who the hell Silent Majority are.  You're from Long Island and were in a band?  Then you gotta know Silent Majority, right?  It's like Billy Joel for everyone else.  Ah, I hate Billy Joel, bad reference. But maybe there are a few people that weren't there, didn't know or just want to get nostalgic, so I'll do my best... based on a true story. It's Silent Majority, it needs to be up on this blog.

Silent Majority started 1990, as something of a joke band called Splastic Action.  The band was started by Tommy Corrigan on vocals, Rich Jacovina on guitar, Jim Mallin on bass and I believe Tommy's brother Steve on drums.  I'm pretty sure Ryan Heyner joined a bit later.  Rumor has it that the band started right after the band got their instruments for Christmas - so there was probably a good deal of interesting practices in those formative days. While Silent Majority came to be known as a band that had a strong lyrical focus, Splastic Action was a bit more amusing in their approach with songs about the classy Long Island motel "The Pines" that boasted choice lyrics like "screwing it, doing it at the Pines!"  More to come on that later.

Eventually the band did take a far more serious approach and changed their name to Silent Majority and really became the embodiment in many ways of a Long Island Hardcore Sound: melodic yet abrasive with vocals that provided melodies that would stick in your head.  The band would play regularly at all of the cornerstones of LI hardcore in the early 90's like the Angle, the Pipeline and Right Track Inn.  Jim Mallin left early on and was replaced by Paul Brinkman.  This lineup would release a live split recorded from a WUSB show with Time Alone and a 4 song demo in 1993, along with their first 7" on Reservoir records called "This Island Earth."  I'm not sure if Paul left to join Clockwise, or if he was in the band concurrently.  Steve Corrigan left after "This Island Earth" was released and they replaced him with Ben VanDyke who remained their drummer through the rest of the band's existence.  The bass slot is not quite as easy to recollect as it seemed like there was a revolving door there.  I believe Paul was with the band until 1996 for the next release, the "Distant Second" 7" that was also released on Reservoir, but I know that Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw was filling in often after that.

The first time I heard Silent Majority was when "Distant Second" was released.   My friend Colin, who was the other guitarist in our band Six of One asked me if I had heard Silent Majority.  I had seen the name quite a bit on flyers, but hadn't actually seen the band.  He was like "You. Need. To." and gave me the 7".  I was blown away.  While I loved the song "Recognize" for the obvious hardcore, finger pointing, pile-on gusto, there was a real complex post hardcore sound with songs like "wellness" and "km".  At this point I started going to see Silent Majority pretty regularly at shows at PWAC, Deja 1 and Dr. Shay's.

The following year would bring the album that most people would say defined the band.  1997's "Life of a Spectator" was the band's first full length and was released on Wreck-Age/Exit Records.  Musically and lyrically it showed the band at the peak of their powers.  "To Tame the L Word" and "Cross Crowded Rooms" make excellent bookends for the album, and many of the songs challenge the listener with dynamic rhythms and powerful sing-alongs.  I always felt that lyrics can go one of two ways - either be really subtle and let the listener do the interpreting, or get right in their face.  Tommy Corrigan does the latter, and it works well in this context.  I remember seeing them perform "Spoken Words" and "Tip Your Bartender" before the album coming out just thinking that there was something really compelling to Tom's delivery and the message from the songs.  With that being said, the diatribe in "Popular Opinion" is a bit of a blemish on an otherwise perfect album and in my opinion, is an instance when subtlety may have been called for. The only criticism that I've found to be repeatedly levied against the band would be towards Tommy's character.  It can't be easy to deal with people misrepresenting you - but I do remember seeing Tom wearing a Tommy Hilfiger shirt which had the logo changed to read "Tommy Corrigan" instead.  Depending on your relationship with the guy, it was either kind of funny or kind of funny that he would wear that.  I don't know, my name isn't synchronous with any designer brands where I could imagine mocking up something like that - although if I could score a shirt from those "Schneider National" moving trucks I would be wearing that every day, no lie.  Let's get back to the focus: the music. The band was hugely influential (see local bands All Grown Up, or bands like Polar Bear Club), integral to the long island hardcore scene, and largely responsible for shows at the PWAC and I don't think that contribution can or should be minimized.

To take up a thread from above though, I have to mention that I hadn't heard about "Splastic Action" at that point and I only had discovered the band from their 'serious' point and onward.  There was an evening that I remember hanging out with my one of my best friends: Brian, and a bunch of other people.  We were over at the house of his girlfriend at the time, and talk turned to bands as it often did.  We had been drinking quite a bit and I was waxing pretty enthusiastically how for hardcore you could not beat Tommy Corrigan's lyrics.  My friend Brian's girlfriend Amy, would always love to play devil's advocate and was prodding me by asking me if I was so sure about that.  Well, Amy's brother is Jim Mallin, and she happened to have a copy of some Splastic Action and played me the infamous "Pines" song to prove me wrong.  I was flabbergasted.  But even goofy lyrics aside, it was catchy as hell.  Despite being pretty inebriated I do have some recollection of the song.  Unfortunately, this was my only encounter with the classic "Splastic Action" tape.  I never thought I'd be doing a blog on old LI bands and I didn't get a copy of it.  Amy has since moved several times and doesn't have it either.  A lost classic, to be sure.  I had brought "The Pines" up to Ryan a few times while he was in Slowlands and I was in Satellite Lost - he always laughed and claimed he had no idea what I was talking about. 

In 1998 they followed "Life of a Spectator" with "Based on a True Story" a compilation of their 7"s which had went out of print, as well as the song "Expectations" from the "516 - A Long Island Hardcore Compilation" and "Soft Six" from the Welcome to New York, Now Go Home" comp.  

Nick Ghambarian would eventually join on bass for the band's final album, the EP "You Would Love to Know" that came out on Initial Records in 1999.  The band broke up in 2000 and a last show was planned for months.  It seemed like it was planned for July, but eventually came to pass January 5, 2001.  I remember it quite vividly since it took place at a church in Manhasset that used to have show semi-regularly... and there was a snowstorm.  I was about to flake out the show since the weather was terrible, but wound up going (my friend Phil actually convinced me and then didn't wind up going himself).  I remember at least a foot of snow in the parking lot when the show was over and I still wonder how people made it home since the church was up a steep hill and the driving was pretty precarious that night. At the show, Glassjaw reunited its "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" lineup to play only those songs, and Kill Your Idols played as well.  Silent Majority did reunite twice in 2006 for two benefit shows - one in May and another one in November (I believe the same one that Mind Over Matter reunited for in memory of James McCauliffe).

Tommy Corrigan would also briefly be a member of Advent during his time in Silent Majority, and afterwards join his brother Vinnie and form Blood Red with other members of Inside.  Later he would join the band Capital with members of The Reformation.  Ryan Heyner would really show his impressive diversity as a musician forming the moody rock band Slowlands and later the electronic band Small Black (who recently completed a nationwide tour.).  Rich Jacovina formed Heads Vs. Breakers and later Bastard Cut.  Ben VanDyke joined Babyteeth which later changed its name to Free Republic of Soul with with Mike Treff (of Closure) on guitar, Matt Messina (of Helen of Troy) on vocals, and Tim O'shaughnessy on bass (who was later replaced with Jon Florencio of Inside). Nick Ghambarian would join The Movielife and then form Bayside.

This download is for pretty much everything that is out there.  This is their discography as far as I know - the music from the split with Time Alone (I can't find Time Alone's stuff - it's just Silent Majority's side), the first demo as Silent Majority, the version of "Expectations" from the 516 comp, "Life of a Spectator", "Based on a True Story", "You Would Love to Know" and a version of them doing The Cranberries' "Salvation" from a comp called "The Dynamite Rose" comp which also included Milhouse, Good Clean Fun, Eulcid and Atom and His Package.  I haven't been able to find the full comp - I was about to give up trying to track it down after MONTHS of searching for the SM version of Salvation and just post the rest of the material, but I found it last week tucked away in some post on a message board from years ago and it was still active, amazingly enough.  So I'm including that little gem as well.  Sorry - no Splastic Action unless someone, somewhere can get me something.

SILENT MAJORITY - Discography
Here's the whole damn thing: http://www.mediafire.com/?ke3duyl2p2gv40v


Some other links on the band:
http://longislandmusicscene.wikia.com/wiki/Silent_Majority
www.myspace.com/jamsofcrucialness  
http://www.myspace.com/silentmajoritytrib