Cause for alarm

Cause for alarm
General information
origin	New York (United States)
Genre (s)	New York Hardcore
founding	1982, 1994
resolution	1983
Founding members
singing	Billy Milano (1982)
guitar	Alex Kinon
bass	Robert Kabula
Drums	Rob Krekus
Current occupation
singing	Keith Burkhardt
Electric guitar	Jason Banks
bass	Joe Orgera
Drums	Raeph Glicken
former members
singing	Chris Charucki († 2018)
guitar	Eric Britto
guitar	Danny Marianino
bass	Stephen Fuller
bass	Rude-T
Drums	Tony Scaglione

Cause for Alarm is a New York hardcore band that was formed in 1982, split up in 1983, and reunited in 1994.

history

In the early 1980s, New York hardcore concerts often took place at Club A7 near Tompkins Square Park . In 1982, friends Rob Kabula and Billy Milano , who belonged to a band called Hinckley's Fan Club, met Alex Kinon and Rob "Robbie Cryptcrash" Krekus in the park. Together they founded Cause for Alarm. A little later they replaced singer Milano (who later founded SOD and MOD ) with Keith Burkhardt. After a few self-organized appearances, the first self-titled single followed in the same year , which was recorded in the High Rise Studios . The single had a circulation of 1000 copies. In 1982 Burkhardt met John Joseph from the Cro-Mags , who introduced him to the Krishna teachings. Burkhardt then wanted to found a band dedicated to this topic, which the other band members did not agree with. At the end of 1983, Cause for Alarm dissolved due to this conflict.

On November 27, 1994, the band played a reunion gig in the New York Wetland Cub, with the band consisting of singer Keith Burkhardt, guitarist Alex Kinon, bassist Joe Orgera and drummer Tony Scaglione (ex- slayer , ex- whiplash ) . Thereupon Victory Records became aware of the group, took them under contract and released the debut single again, this time with a circulation of 7000 to 8000 copies. In 1995 Victory also released a split with Warzone . Songs like Beyond Life and Death were written by singer Burkhardt back in 1982. The song should first be heard on PEACE / War , which, according to Burkhardt, had been censored due to the religious lyrics, so that Time Will Tell was used instead . In 1996 the band held their first appearances in Europe, with Jason Banks as the new guitarist in the band. In the same year, the album Cheaters and the Cheated was released , of which around 12,000 copies worldwide. This included the song Burden , which should actually be heard on the debut single. The song was written by former guitarist Alex Kinnon, who had brought the song with him from his high school band The Radicals and was called Land of the Free at the time . In 1997 the single Birth after Birth followed, whereupon bassist Rude-T and guitarist Danny Marianino were to be heard as new members. For the release of the album, the band held an appearance in New York's CMJ Club. A little later, the drummer Scaglione left the band to return to Whiplash. On the album Beneath the Wheel , which was released in 1998, the band consisted of singer Burkhardt, new drummer Raeph Glicken, guitarist Jason Banks and bassist Joe Orgera, both of whom had returned to the band. In 1999 Burkhardt joked that it would take him two weeks to list all line-up changes, but that he was proud that the current line-up had been in place for about a year. In 2000, Victory Records released the compilation Nothing Ever Dies from 1982-99 .

style

Matthias Mader found New York Hardcore in his book . The Way it Was… , the first self-titled single is a milestone in thrashy hardcore. On the single, the lyrics would deal with the band's positive outlook on life. The song United Races would call for peaceful coexistence between the different races of people. Songs like Plastic Cylinder Express on Cheaters and the Cheated would thematically address the psychological and physical addiction of heroin users . The songs on Beneath the Wheel are more catchy and better structured than on Cheaters and the Cheated or Birth after Birth . Almost all songs are religiously shaped, but without leaving the impression of a sermon. The song Homeless would deal with the homelessness in Burkhardt's native New York City.

According to Markus Kavka from Metal Hammer, the band, along with Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front, are among the pioneers of New York Hardcore. The band also play old-school- hardcore-punk on Cheaters and the Cheated . In comparison, the songs on Birth after Birth are much rougher, according to Robert Müller from Metal Hammer . The album would be a good introduction to the hardcore punk of the west coast of the United States . According to Henning Richter from Metal Hammer , who also called the band a pioneer band, the group on Beneath the Wheel has improved compared to its predecessors. The songs are based on "a rich bass foundation, whipping riffs, thrashing drums and the slightly panicked chants of Burkhardt".

In her rock-hard review, Hanno Kress classified Cheaters and the Cheated as New York hardcore and did not forget the “punk in the heart”. The style is by no means old-fashioned, but open to new things, varied, original and sophisticated. From the next record review, Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann took over. Regarding Birth after Birth , he said there was no shortage of ideas for arrangements, vocals, choruses , speed and this despite being old-school. About beneath the wheel he found: "great tempo changes from high-speed core to mid-tempo groove to dragging man's fists". The band sounds "on the one hand traditional, on the other hand not dusty". The clear assignment to oldschool hardcore was made in the interview one issue later.

On the split release together with Warzone, according to Joachim Hiller of the Ox fanzine Cause for Alarm, play "compact, densely played hardcore old school". According to Olli Willms of Ox-Fanzine , the band on Cheaters and the Cheated doesn't sound as rough as they did in the early 1980s, but they still play old-school hardcore. According to Hiller, Cause for Alarm, one of the longest-serving New York hardcore bands, plays classic "dense hardcore with committed, well-thought-out lyrics" on Birth after Birth . David Häussinger from Ox-Fanzine wrote in his review of Beneath the Wheels that he did rate the music positively, but that he found the lyrics stupid and a “crude mixture of civilization criticism, animal rights, socialist approaches, platitudes against the Christian / Jewish values based western society and of course inevitable Krishna Concsciousness ”. The vocals sound like a melodic version of Sick of It All , which is not typical of New York Hardcore.

Discography

• 1982: Cause for Alarm (EP, no label)
• 1995: Cause for Alarm / Warzone (split album with Warzone , Victory Records )
• 1996: Cheaters and the Cheated (Victory Records)
• 1997: Birth after Birth (EP, Victory Records)
• 1998: Beneath the Wheels (Victory Records)
• 1999: When Revolution Is A Secret ... Unity Is The Key / Lost In The USA (Split EP with Miocene , Grapes of Wrath)
• 2000: Nothing Ever Dies 1982-99 (compilation album, Victory Records)

Web links

• Cause for Alarm at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Steven Blush: American Hardcore. A tribal history . 2nd Edition. Feral House, Port Townsend 2010, ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2 , pp. 217 .
2. ↑ Tony Rettman: New York Hardcore 1980-1990 . 2nd Edition. Bazillion Points, New York 2015, ISBN 978-1-935950-12-7 , pp. 167 .
3. ^ ^{A b c} Matthias Mader: New York Hardcore. The Way it Was ... IP Verlag Jeske / Mader GbR, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-931624-10-2 , p. 64 ff .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Cause for Alarm . Life is a soap opera. In: Rock Hard . No. 142 , March 1999, p. 124 .
5. ^ Brian Cogan: Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture . Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 2006, ISBN 0-313-33340-8 , pp. 34 .
6. ^ Markus Kavka : Cause for Alarm . Cheaters and the Cheated. In: Metal Hammer . April 1997, p. 51 .
7. ^ Robert Müller: Cause for Alarm . Birth after Birth. In: Metal Hammer . December 1997, p. 77 .
8. ^ Henning Richter: Cause for Alarm . Beneath the wheel. In: Metal Hammer . January 1999, p. 73 .
9. ^ Hanno Kress: Cause for Alarm . Ceaters and the Cheated. In: Rock Hard . No. 118 , March 1997, p. 104 .
10. ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Cause for Alarm . Birth after Birth. In: Rock Hard . No. 128 , January 1998, p. 110 .
11. ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Cause for Alarm . Beneath the wheel. In: Rock Hard . No. 141 , February 1999, p. 90 .
12. ^ Joachim Hiller: CAUSE FOR ALARM / WARZONE . Split CS. In: Ox-Fanzine . No. 22 , 1996 ( online [accessed May 24, 2014]).
13. ^ Olli Willms: CAUSE FOR ALARM . Cheaters And The Cheated CD. In: Ox-Fanzine . No. 26 , 1997 ( online [accessed May 24, 2014]).
14. ↑ Joachim Hiller: CAUSE FOR ALARM . Birth after birth CS. In: Ox-Fanzine . No. 29 , 1997 ( online [accessed May 24, 2014]).
15. ^ David Häussinger: Cause for Alarm . Beneath The Wheel CD. In: Ox-Fanzine . No. 34 , 1999 ( online [accessed May 24, 2014]).