Dead Fucking Last

Epitaph Records. One of the major punk labels of the 90s (no, not THAT kind of major, although it depends who you ask), they were responsible for getting lots of kids into punk in the 90s. The first couple Punk O Rama comps were an awesome way to hear classic bands like Agnostic Front or Poison Idea for the first time, and also become acquainted with the bands of the time. When I bought My First Punk CD™ (Rancid "And Out Come the Wolves," a purchase and experience that will get its own post later in this blog), it came with an Epitaph order form. Reading the form I saw there was a band called DEAD FUCKING LAST.  That sounded like a must-have to a young punk like myself. I picked up their CD "Proud To Be" shortly after and it remains of my favorite records to this day.  I consider this band to to be one of the underrated gems of the Epitaph catalog.

DFL was from the LA area, active from like 93-98, releasing a few EPs and three albums (including two on Epitaph). It is sort of perfect to post them after my Reagan Youth post, because DFL nailed the early 80s NYHC sound. Their sound is somewhere between an updated Reagan Youth and the Beastie Boys hardcore stuff, which might not come as a surprise when you consider they were once signed to Mike D's Grand Royal label, Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys played bass for them at one point, and also produced the "Proud to Be" record.  (It should also be noted the Beasties themselves were influenced by Reagan Youth, having played with them during their early punk days and covering them at live shows later on).

Beastie Boys never forgot their roots

DFL borrowed heavily from their influences, but they added their own twists here and there, throwing in some murky slower sections and not always going for the balls to the wall 1-minute hardcore blast.  Overall though, this is straightforward hardcore and it is fucking raw, raw, raw.  The production is rough but actually very balanced: the guitar is a relentless high pitched buzz, like an electrical wire shooting sparks at everyone, but it is paired with booming bass guitar in your face.  No song sums it up better than this bad boy right here:

Don't get me started!!!!

The guitar comes in, and then bass tackles it and is what really defines the production.  The production is similar on the Beastie Boys hardcore jams linked above, and I really appreciate how the bass's traditional role of supporting the guitar is flipped on its head.  The vocalist sounds like he just got his braces tightened  and doesn't care about singing every word perfectly, while the dude who does backing vocals has a voice that rivals Civ on the first Gorilla Biscuits 7" in terms of voice cracking.  In Civ's defense, this guy is practically tuneless:

All these shortcomings work together to create a damn good sounding hardcore punk record, if you ask me. I am now just going to post a few more tracks from this record.

EVERYBODY MAKES ME SICK!!!!!!

Too much society's pressure....

And here is one for Aaron Hernandez.

All the tracks I've posted so far are from the Proud to Be record (1995) which is probably the band at their best.  In the interest of celebrating their entire discography here are two songs from their "My Crazy Life" (1993) and "Grateful..." records, respectively:

I want pepperoni, you want extra cheese

This sounds like it could've come out on the 1982 MRR "Not So Quiet on the Western Front" comp

Anyone else like this band?   Ok, thanks for reading.  Stay cool.