Blue Jewels Cast Downstream
Suicidal Tendencies - War Inside My Head (1986? / Hardcore)
Hello internet pals of music. Today we’re gonna listen to an early demo version of the Venice crossover legends classic.
Had a Suicidal Tendencies shirt for like, a month when I was in 9th grade. Borrowed it from my friend, Amy. We had French class together, where I was told by the teacher once as he was yet again telling me to go sit out the rest of the class in the hallway, that I “had the attention span of a butterfly on LSD”.
Suicidal Tendencies, is a name that sounds extra dangerous when you’re 14, plus they had a song about watching someone’s mom get creamed by a car, and a song about shooting not just Reagan, but also the devil as well as the pope. Plus the album cover had the only photo I’d ever seen of them, all hanging by their feet, and lots of bizarre drawings of skulls.
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The skull drawn on the thumbnail for this link is the one on the shirt that I borrowed for one month back in 9th grade from Amy in my French class next to me and Gigi, and they introduced me to The Smiths and we drove around in Gigi’s green VW Beetle, and smoked cloves and they were the only people to ever come see me in the hospital later that year, even though they didn’t actually see me because I was still in the ICU…so they decorated my room for when I got to it.
This version feels like it was recorded before 1986, the year before they crossed over to a full on Thrash band with the album this appeared on. I’m thinking this is closer to ‘84 or ‘85, and has a more mid-tempo attack that is the chef’s kiss for me of good hardcore.
Suicidal Tendencies wasn’t dangerous after all. Thanks Amy, for your friendship and for loaning me your shirt.
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