Kill For Christ

Classic first-wave hardcore punk from Boston, the F.U.'s' debut release (after appearing on the seminal This Is Boston, Not L.A. compilation), Kill for Christ, is a thrashy, amateurish rattle that works thanks to the band's reckless enthusiasm. With caffeine-overdose tempos that nearly collapse on every track, ultracheap static buzz production, and cigarette-hoarse mob choruses, Kill for Christ could be considered a textbook case of hardcore America 1983, right down to the Pushead artwork on the cover (a bluntly blasphemous rendering of Jesus as a cigar-chomping machine-gun killer). The F.U.'s are angry punks, but behind their stiff beats and petulant riffs is plenty of snotty exuberance, a barely concealed joy that proves that the band is rocking as much for fun as for revolution. The songs take on many of the same concerns that contemporary hardcore acts complained about, but they're not afraid to skewer their own audience right along with the yuppies, hippies, and fascist club owners. "Trendy Nazi Hypocrites," "Peer Police," and the anthemic "F.U." all take a bite out of smug, politically naive punks who blindly trade the conformity of schools and parents for the conformity of mohawk hairdos and Maximum Rock N Roll magazine. The sloppy energy and vulgar humor result in some memorable 'core, though the plodding dirge "Die for God" is a pointless improvisation that probably was funnier (and seemed more insightful) back in the day; then again, every hardcore band was doing at least one Flipper rip-off in their set back then, so some slack must be given. [The original vinyl run of Kill for Christ officially went out of print long ago but was re-released on CD by Taang! and was also paired with the band's anarchist-baiting follow-up, My America, by Reflex Records in 2002.]