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CANG CRETM
Let's take things bock about four years,
OK? Hardcore was hard, long hair had yet to:
grow in and playing at the velocity of ven-
gance was something new and exciting. Bos
tón, home of such seminal hardcore greats
as SS Decontrol, DYS and the FU's literally
spawned the term "speedcore" with Brain-
tree, Massachussett's decibel demons, Gang
Green. The original trio, comprised of now-
seasoned axeman/vocalist Chris Doherty,
bassist Bill Manly and drummer Mike Dean,
redefined the word speed with a literal blud-
geon of musical intensity kicking in more
sheer adrenaline than the vast bulk of bands
around today. As documented on the now-
Chuck Stilphen. Gang Groen. Photo-Cindy Mondes
GB
By Mike Gitter
classic "This is Boston: Not L.A. compila-
tion Lp (Modern Method), Gang Green knew
how to combine over the top, chaotic blasts
of purely hardcore intensity with a sense of
power and musical precision rarely heard at
such excruciating speeds.
Fully a year and a half after their initial
break-up. during the summer of 1983, a new
Gang Green emerged, Still fronted by Chris
Doherty, who by that point had put in time
with Jerry's Kids, Stranglehold, the Cheap-
skates and a host of others, this new 'gang'
is backed up by ex-Freeze guitarist Chuck
Stilphen, his brother Glen on bass and Out-
lets drummer Walter Gustafson refocused
N
the band's sound and favors a distinct rock
Unge which contrasts the original line-up's
bulldozing energy and white hot musical blur
According to Chuck, "A lot of our new stuff
is just as fast and intense as the old stuff,
but it tends to be a bit more structured. It's
not as basic. Instead of short-lived, forty-
five second blasts of exploding excitement,
the band, who has replaced Gustafson with
ex-Jerry's Kids skin poundér Brian Betzger,
assaults with much of their initial tornado-
like fury, combined with the musical preci-
sion of an AC/DC approach. Their two most
recent releases, "Skate To Hell/Alcohol 7
(Thang Records) and the "PM.R.C. Sucks 12"
(HIM Records) showcase a swing toward a
creening, yet controlled sound just teetering
on raw, musical climax.
"I joined their band, Drunks Against Mad
Mothers," says Chris on the formation of the
new Gang Green, "I was the singer and I
didn't really dig it, so I said that I'd play guitar
and do my songs and call it Gang Green.
People will say that we're living off our old
name. At first you could say that was true
but this is the band now and this is what
we're doing and I definitoly think that we've
proved ourselves to a lot of people already."
Comparing the current to past Gang Green,
Doherty feels, it's a lot better. "We write better
songs and perform them a lot more tightly.
With the first band, the other guys and 1 were
all still in high school and none of us had
licenses. That made things really difficult for
us in terms of playing outside the local area.
Now, we're really together and can do a lot
of the stuff we never could three or four years
ago.
Often clad in Budweiser pajamas, brandish-
ing bottle upon bottle of the brew while sing-
ing songs like "Alcohol," "Let's Drink Some
Beer and "Another Wasted Night." it's obvi
ous that Gang Green has created quite an
image for themselves as a hard-drinking,
hard-partying, rock 'n roll band. "That really
got a bit too big," says Glen. "When we first
started out," Interjects Chris, "it wasn't like
we were going to promote the party thing too
big, but it was just what we did. We still do
it and / certainly do it all the time, but I can't
do it before we play since that's really not
too good for me or the act. Still, we're delin-
itely a party band and after any show, we're
out looking for a party. But, we always want
to be well-behaved guests and go to people's
houses wearing our suits and ties and sit
down at the dinner table and maybe drink a
"Or a martini,"
"Or maybe twelve," interjects Chuck.
Drinking aside, Gang Green share a similar
passion for skating as evidenced by such
skate ballads as "Skate To Hell," "Terrorize"
and "Skate Hate." Up until very recently,
Chris could be seen skating through his
hometown of Burlington, delivering pizzas
on an ever-present skateboard.
The band's most recent release, "PM.R.C.
Sucks 12 has gained them a great deal
of local popularity due to its somewhat ir-
reverent cover of Beantown celebrities Til
Tuesday's "Voices Carry. That record was
originally supposed to only be released in
Boston," explains Chuck, "and to hose on
Til Tuesday. We really don't have anything
against them though and we only did it for
fun. Strangely enough, a lot of people seem
to like it so it's being distributed throughout
the country."
Live, Gang Green is a runaway whirlpool
of hard-edged ominously ringing guitars, air-
And he also delivers pizzas by board Chris Doherty Gang Green.
Photo Cindy Mendes
borne musical frenzy and a raging "wall of
Marshall bludgeon. Emerging onstage,
Chris, adrenalin echoing through his
pumped veins, literally touches fire to his
axe, leaping high into the air as an anxious
fist delivers the evening's initial power chord
slapshot. House lights blasting white hot, the
band kicks in and the mayhem is unleashed
once more. "When you get down to it," says
Chuck, "We want to be the hardest rocking
band ever."
Within seconds, the audience responds.
As puppets with their strings simultaneously
jerked, the dance floor becomes a virtual
halycon of tornado-like force. Playing above
the din the band propels itself into yet
another high-speed assault blasting straight
into the audience's youthful enthusiasm.
"We just wanna have some fun....
We just wanna have some fun...
While we're young enough to get away
With it!"