Youth Brigade (band)
- This article is about the band Youth Brigade from Los Angeles, California. For the Washington, DC band which originally had the same name, see DC Youth Brigade
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Youth Brigade is a Southern California punk music trio formed in 1980 by brothers Mark Stern, Adam Stern, and Shawn Stern. The band subsequently founded BYO (Better Youth Organization), which served both as their record label and as a statement of their attitude toward the young people involved in punk subculture, which was generally sympathetic and arguably less sensationalistic than the view usually presented in the media.
History
Early history (1980–1981)
The three brothers were graduates of Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. They formed Youth Brigade in the summer of 1980 in Hollywood, California, amid the explosion of the punk scene in Southern California. The basic philosophy of the band is that "youth" is an attitude, not an age and that every generation has the responsibility to change what they feel is wrong in the world. It is with these ideals in mind that the band was started, and that eldest brothers Shawn and Mark formed the Better Youth Organization in 1982.
Youth Brigade first year of existence was as a 6 piece but played their first gig as a 3 piece on New Year's Eve 1981 at Godzilla's nightclub. They were part of the big BYO extravaganza "Youth Movement '82" at the Hollywood Palladium, where 3500 people showed up for an all LA bill in early February.
Sound & Fury (1982–1983)
In the summer of 1982, after recording 3 tracks for the first BYO record release Someone Got Their Head Kicked In, Youth Brigade set out in a big yellow school bus on an ambitious 30-city North American tour with fellow punk band Social Distortion. The 1984 film, Another State of Mind, chronicles the event.
After about 30 shows and several breakdowns they returned home to record their debut LP Sound & Fury with the infamous producer, Thom Wilson. (D.O.A., TSOL, and later The Offspring and Bouncing Souls). A premature version of the LP was rushed together before the tour but pressing was stopped at 800 copies, as the band was not satisfied with the quality of the material or production. An all-new version was recorded and released in June 1983, followed by a 50 date tour of North America during the summer.
Final years and Adam's departure (1984–1990)
After having secured a licensing deal for Sound & Fury in England, plans were made to tour Europe in the fall of 1984. They released a 3 song EP What Price? in spring 1984 and then played around 50 dates throughout Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, and England and were one of the first independent American bands to tour the "underground" of Europe and eastern countries. After this tour, younger brother & bassist Adam decided to return to art school and finish his degree. The band recorded his last show in June 1985 at Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, California and these tracks have been released on Italian and French releases as well as the Sink With Kalifornija CD collection. Brothers' Shawn and Mark continued on as "The Brigade" for about 2 years after the departure of Adam.
Reunion (1991–present)
In 1991, meeting in a bar in Hamburg, Mark and Adam expressed the desire to reform Youth Brigade for a tour and Shawn agreed. When they returned home in January 1992, they started working on new material and did a show at the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood, late April.
They recorded 6 songs in July at Westbeach Studios for their Come Again EP. In the middle of September that Youth Brigade once again packed their bags to tour Europe. The tour covered Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Czechoslovakia & Poland.
More than ten years after their debut, the band recorded Happy Hour at Westbeach Studios and released it March 1994. Soon after they added former Cadillac Tramps, U.S. Bombs, and current Social Distortion guitarist Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham and recorded the next full length To Sell the Truth in April 1996. Produced by Steve Kravac (Less Than Jake, MXPX) and mixed by long time friend Thom Wilson (Offspring, Bouncing Souls).
In 1998 the band went back in the studio to record a 30-second song for the Fat Wreck Chords compilation, Short Music For Short People. The song was recorded in a friend's living room, and brought back all of the raw edged energy that had been missing in previous recordings. The raw sound went over so well, that the band decided to abandon the high production sounds and get back to basics. In mid 1999, they went in to record 6 new tracks for Volume 2 of the BYO Records Split series. The flip side of the album was recorded by Nothern Californian punks Swingin Utters. The album received rave reviews, stating that this was Youth Brigade's best recording ever.
Discography
Studio albums
- Sound & Fury (1982; re-released in 1983 with a different track listing)
- The Dividing Line (1986) (as The Brigade)
- Happy Hour (1994)
- To Sell the Truth (1996)
- Out of Print (1998)
EPs
- Sound & Fury (1982)
- What Price Happiness? (1984)
- Come Again (1992)
Compilation albums
- Sink With Kalifornija (1994)
- A Best of Youth Brigade (2002)