What We Want We Must Create: Straight Faced

Friday, October 10, 2008

Straight Faced - 7inches

I'm not one to be embarrassed by what I listen to. I make no bones about what I like. Straight Faced is the epitome of those exact feelings. I started going to various local shows in the early/mid-90's, lots of different local bands & punk shows. At one punk show I saw my first straight up hardcore band, Straight Faced. I'd already gotten into a lot of the classics of hardcore (minor threat, black flag, 7 seconds, gorilla biscuits, etc.) but I hadn't really gotten into any bands that were current and accessible to me.

The first hardcore band I saw live was Straight Faced. They were from So. Cal. and played Showcase Theatre or the Barn on nearly a monthly basis. I was hooked. I bought the "Guilty" tape at the old Mad Platter (Sounds Like) and was hooked. I remember 4th of July in 1995 or 96, i had ordered the "Punk Bites" comp & the first Straight Faced 7inch and they came the day before. There was a block party and me and my friends just listened to that comp, guilty, and the 7inch all day. Fond Memories.

The first 7inch "Self Will Run Riot" is far from their best stuff; pretty standard hardcore punk but it still endears itself to me. I can listen to it and not cringe. That 7inch pre-dates the first lp "Guilty". The second record here, "Revolve" comes some years later, following their best work, their second album "Broken" and predating their Epitaph debut "Conditioned". "Revolve" shows the band much more in their own as they took on a heavier sound (for straight up hardcore)and experimented a little more with pedals & different sounds (There is another 7inch that i do not own, named "Pedestal" on Victory Records. If anyone owns it and wants to get rid of it, let me know).

As well, another 7inch worth of material exists from the same time/session as "Self Will Run Riot", but it unfortunately never made it to release (to my knowledge), though Hostage (who released Revolve) listed it as an upcoming release in ads & inserts.

It appears that Guilty & Broken have both gone out of print now, so I will post those sometime and go on a bit more. Straight Faced is one of those bands that; from a distance might have been good to some, but if you lived here at that time, chances are you were infatuated. Their shows never disappointed and believe me, I saw them ALOT over 4-5 years.