The reunited CHAIN OF STRENGTH recently sat down with VICE Magazine to give their first interview in 20 years!
Go here to see their reunion show footage. Go here to read more about their official October reunion shows.
The 7-inch is my favorite musical format. No, not the 45, those just have two songs and no artwork. When they do have artwork they call it a “picture sleeve,” like that’s a selling point. Punks 7-inches are rad too, but the ultimate genre for the 7-inch is, and always will be, hardcore. Let’s be honest, there are only like five hardcore full-lengths that aren’t boring anyway.
When you ditch hardcore for neo-folk or whatever, hold onto that cardboard box of colored vinyl because you’re going to want your copy of the Positively Bad EP someday and not the 20 bucks you’ll get for it on eBay.
For over ten years, I’ve had a running argument–usually when I’m not sober–about what the best straight edge 7-inch is. It was determined the other night that Chain of Strength’s True Till Death EP is. They win the argument based on several factors including font selection, overall crucial appearance, and for having a member with an X shaved in his head on the cover. You can make an argument for Project X, Gorilla Biscuits, or the godfathers Minor Threat, but if you had to put straight edge hardcore in a capsule for aliens to find and understand it has to be True Till Death.
I talked to Chain’s drummer Chris Bratton about the origins straight edge fashion, and all the controversy surrounding a band that MRR once compared to the New Kids on the Block.
Go here to read the whole thing.
