I have so many great memories tied to Backside Disaster. These were the guys that I used to hang out with on a near daily basis. Fife-0-3 Crew in full effect! There was a hardcore punk band here in Portland called National Guard (I'm sure I'll be making a post about them in the coming months), and on New Year's Eve of 1996/97, the new lineup of National Guard played their first show as Backside Disaster. They sounded more reminiscent of Strife in the very beginning, but over time, they took on much more of an Earth Crisis (but with more melody) influence. They recorded a demo in early 1997, that featured some great songs they had been playing live, such as Payback and Nutrition, but they never released it. Matt (who now plays in Nora) had the old reel just sitting in the closet of their house, but ever since he moved to NJ, I have no idea what's become of it, and that's a bummer, because I'd still love to hear it. It's with the birth of Backside Disaster in 1997, that Portland finally started getting "new school" hardcore shows. It's a shame that they so rarely ventured outside of the Northwest, because they really had a lot of potential. Only a tiny handful of us from those days are still involved in hardcore, and even fewer are still straight edge, but those were some of the best times of my life.
The Coming Of Iad Urorobos [Demo 1997]
I also have a copy of this that was burned from the master disc, but PC CDR drives were still in their infancy, and so it's plagued with various pop sounds throughout the recording, so I dug out my old demo tape, and even after who knows how many hundreds of listens, it still sounds great. Only about 25 or 30 demos came with the handmade lyrics book pictured above.
http://www.mediafire.com/?octx0b9mfjh
Demo 1998
This demo was primarily sent only to labels, with a handful of cassette tapes given to friends, and roughly 25 CDRs sold at a couple shows.
http://www.mediafire.com/?45m4n0lyqbx
Self Titled EP
This was Backside Disaster's final release. They had a few new songs written, but they never got recorded before a member change happened. They changed their name to Dying Anthem, but never actually played a show. Then Matt moved to NJ, and it's all history now.
http://www.mediafire.com/?j3eel1i9mdl
This was their final show on April 1st, 2000
And as an added bonus, if you're from Portland, or even the Northwest, you can use the picture below to play a cool game of "count the hardcore dropouts" (why I'm wearing a wifebeater [front and center] is anybody's guess. It was the 90s, cut me some damn slack!). If you're like me, you'll lose count rather quickly.
The Coming Of Iad Urorobos [Demo 1997]I also have a copy of this that was burned from the master disc, but PC CDR drives were still in their infancy, and so it's plagued with various pop sounds throughout the recording, so I dug out my old demo tape, and even after who knows how many hundreds of listens, it still sounds great. Only about 25 or 30 demos came with the handmade lyrics book pictured above.
http://www.mediafire.com/?octx0b9mfjh
Demo 1998This demo was primarily sent only to labels, with a handful of cassette tapes given to friends, and roughly 25 CDRs sold at a couple shows.
http://www.mediafire.com/?45m4n0lyqbx
Self Titled EPThis was Backside Disaster's final release. They had a few new songs written, but they never got recorded before a member change happened. They changed their name to Dying Anthem, but never actually played a show. Then Matt moved to NJ, and it's all history now.
http://www.mediafire.com/?j3eel1i9mdl
This was their final show on April 1st, 2000
And as an added bonus, if you're from Portland, or even the Northwest, you can use the picture below to play a cool game of "count the hardcore dropouts" (why I'm wearing a wifebeater [front and center] is anybody's guess. It was the 90s, cut me some damn slack!). If you're like me, you'll lose count rather quickly.
6 comments:
Nice to find these demos. I once read about backside disaster from at the both ends -zine and got interested. This is yet another reason to keep checking some random blogs that I come across. Thanks.
What I'd like to see, since we're on the topic of Northwest bands, Nine Iron Spitfire! That's what I'm talking about.
Is there any video/live footage anywhere??
Is there any way you could post the lyrics from the self-titled e.p.? I lost my copy of the insert. Maybe you could send it to me? anoirmarie@gmail.com
mirror!?
Self Titled EP link doesn't work... anyone have it who can share?
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