Forgotten Songs of the '80s: Suicidal Tendencies

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: Suicidal Tendencies

It was around 1988 and Suicidal Tendencies were just starting their transformation from a flat-out hardcore punk band to a punk band merging their earlier influences with metal and by that I mean speed metal. This new sounding ST made their debut with 1988’s How Will I Laugh Tomorrow…When I Can’t Even Smile Today. On that record was one of their best forays into the new sound: “Trip at the Brain.”

Kicking off with an excellent riff by the always amazing Rocky George, the rest of the band speeds up behind him and Mike Muir comes in with lyrics about drug abuse that really spoke of the times. But as the song goes on, the tempo gets quicker and things start to go rushing by you. As drummer R.J. Herrera and short-lived bassist Bob Heathcote get things kicking down, Mike’s lyrics become quicker and the band begin racing through it all as fast as they can and it all sounds excellent.

The band’s speed here is amazing but this song and every other song on the record paved the way for their crowning achievement, 1990’s Lights…Camera…Revolution! But this song is as good speed metal as anything by Megadeth, Exodus or Testament. If you thought that the only good ST was “Institutionalized,” then all you need to do is listen to “Trip at the Brain” and you’ll be hooked and never wanna go back to “Institutionalized” again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDheLViZbrk

Comments

  1. Big Bad Bald BastardDecember 29, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    The spoken word bit in the middle of the song prefigures the "Rap/Metal" trend of the '90s.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Let 'em Kill the Cowboy: A Chat with Mark Christian of The Big F

Image
Discography: The Big F  (Elektra, 1989) Patience Peregrine  EP (Chrysalis, 1993) Is  (Chrysalis, 1993) The Big F was formed out of the ashes of ‘80s new wave titans, Berlin. Once drummer Rob Brill and bassist/vocalist John Crawford decided they didn’t want to make music like “Take My Breath Away” anymore, they amped up the sound and their image as well and linked up with well-known session guitarist Mark Christian. After releasing their debut on Elektra in late 1989, the band toured with the likes of Soundgarden and Voivod. After the disappointing reception of their 1993 sophomore disc, Is , the band split. John Crawford is now back in Berlin and Christian leads his own country-rock guitar outfit, Merle Jagger. In May 2022, he graciously set aside some time to talk about the Big F and what that ride was like and what he’s up to now. Pete Crigler: What got you interested in music and playing guitar? Mark Christian: Growing up in Southern California near Hollywood in the 1960s and 7
Read more

The Wondertruck Crashed: The Tale of Mary's Danish and David King

Image
             Mary’s Danish were one of those bands that never made it. They were popular in the L.A. scene in which they were spawned but through a variety of reasons they never hit it big like their friends in Jane’s Addiction or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. What follows is a sad tale of unfortunate errors and mistakes that doomed a really great band to the dustbin of obscurity.              The band formed in the mid-‘80s by a group of friends: singers Julie Ritter and Gretchen Seager, guitarists Matt Colleran and David King and bassist Chris ‘Wag’ Wagner. The band were a little bit of everything including indie rock, alt rock, some surf influences and loads of funk to go around. They blended all of these together in a tasty stew that soon began to attract attention. After working with a series of drummers, Nick Ziegler was drafted in and the band began to attract a heavy fanbase throughout California. The band eventually signed a deal with small independent Chameleon Records and start
Read more

No Woods: A Chat with Stompbox

Image
S tompbox were a hardcore/metal/rock band from Boston. Their one album, 1994’s Stress on Columbia might be one of the more obscure alt rock records that flooded the marketplace but it’s great. A lot of good riffs and plenty of attitude; unfortunately it didn’t sell and the original band were done by 1995. In 2021, in response to a friend falling ill and having massive bills, the band reunited for their first shows in almost 27 years. With this news coming out, I reached out to guitarist Jeff Turlik and he agreed to talk about the band’s history and what this reunion really meant to them. Pete Crigler: What got you interested in music? Jeff Turlik: My grandfather was a guitarist when he was a young man. He met my grandmother at a dance that he was playing. This was in the 1930s. When I was a little kid, my grandmother filled our house with musical toys…organs and pianos, horns, drums, you name it. When I was 11, my grandfather taught me a few chords on his guitar.   My brother wa
Read more