S.O.A First Demo

In many ways, SOA's claim to fame is what relegates them to a footnote. By now, the story is a thing of legend. Black Flag, one of the, if not the most, heralded hardcore punk bands, knew of young fan named Henry Garfield, and after seeing him live, drafted him into the band as lead singer. As the recordings show on First Demo - 12/29/80, the choice might have actually been more obvious than it seems in retrospect.

Through out First Demo, which basically has the same sound quality and production as the only SOA EP, No Policy, even as a whipper-snapper, Rollins had a dynamic delivery which separated him from his peers. 1980 found about a dozen DC hardcore bands influenced by Ian MacKaye's delivery, resulting in two handfuls of bands who screamed at the top of their lungs across one minute songs. But, while MacKaye was able slip stylistic snips into his delivery, many of his contemporaries went from riveting to monotone. By contrast, Garfield, who also seems influenced by the MacKaye shout, brings in a certain earlier punk unpredictability. The songs might blast by in sixty seconds, but similar to how Darby Crash and John Denney would implode at the end of their songs, Garfield fluctuates, at times screaming, at others speaking, and usually building into intensity before ripping apart at the end....John Gentile