Maid
the Age of Cro-MASS
сто-мадя
Think of a cold, steel wrecking ball. Slow-
ly it ascends, garnering increased poten-
tial for destruction, and when it is releas-
ed, it strikes hard and annihilates everything
in its path. As the ominous ball smashes
through, granite disintegrates, steel is twist-
ed and forms are reduced to formlessness.
The cold steel strikes with unabashed
abandon, exploding through wall after wall.
It is power. It is fury.
Two thousand people are all hell-bent on
beating the shit out of each other. Fists,
boots and elbows fly through the air, impact-
ing on faces, stomachs, whatever. The at-
tack comes from every direction, and
whether from above or below, the effect is
always the same. The city is New York and
the place is the Ritz. Attention is focused
at the front of the hall where five figures.
generate the maelstrom. Each power chord
pulses throughout the crowd. When the
dirge turns to a chainsaw blur all control
is lost. Stage divers hurl themselves into
the throng, often boots first, wiping out
everyone in their way. A muscular bouncer,
John Joseph rolls across a Boston crowd.
clad in fatigues, alternates between toss-
ing wayward divers into the audience and
jumping in for the fun himself.
The singer, clad only in gym shorts, socks
and running shoes, each muscle on his
frame strained to the tearing point, bounds.
about the mammoth stage spitting and
catterwauling his lyrics to an audience that
seems to know every word. As his tattoo-
scarred form lurches about in military fash-
ion, his moves are unpredictable yet sur-
prisingly coordinated and powerful. Known
as John Joseph or occasionally as
Bloodclot (for an outfit he previously sang
for comprised of Bad Brains roadies), he
is the leader of the Cro-Mags, a band that
has come to rule New York, "the hardest
city on Earth."
Bassist Harley Flannagan is a true show-
man. His instrument seems little more than
a prop as he quite literally takes center
stage and grinds out a tensile strength bass
line. The dragon emblazoned on his chest
flutters with each stroke of a powerful
chenched fist, encircled at the wrist with
a prayer of the Hare Krishna faith, tattooed.
in Sanskrit.
Guitarist Kevin Mayhew is the most nor-
mal looking of the bunch, appearing no dif-
ferent from any college student his age. He
moves little but rages upon his red, BC Rich
"bitch," punching each chord with concen-
trated fury, exploding with riffs that move.
from a monolithic dirge to lightning paced.
thrash all within a shift of the hand. His two
stacks of Marshall amps deliver overwhelm-
ing stage volume, forcing all to wear hear-
ing protection.
Second axeman Doug Holland (ex-Kraut)
delivers a mean rhythm while Petey Hines
(ex-Murphy's Law) pounds the drums with
a raging fury and a respectable amount of
flash to boot. Lightweights they ain't.
The Cro-Mags were formed in mid-1984.
by Mayhew and Flannagan, who had long.
been searching for a band such as this one.
After going through a number of musicians
and vocalists and shifting their own posi-
tions within the band, Mayhew and Flan-
nagan settled on a four-piece line-up that
story by MIKE GITTER photos by BRUCE RHODES
played out and released the now classic
"Age of Quarrel" demo. When Holland
joined the band in '85, they began work on
a full length LP also entitled "Age of Quar-
rel," (Rock Hotel/Profile) released in mid-
'86. U.S. tours supporting the likes of GBH
and Motorhead ensued and gave the band
a tremendous amount of exposure. By the
Motorhead tour, original drummer Mackie
had departed; the band was quick to snatch
up Hines to pound the skins.
"The Motorhead tour," says Mayhew,
"proved to a lot of people that have never
seen us before that it's not how you look that
counts, but how much you can kick ass.
. People may have taken one look at the band
with their shaved heads and tattoos and
started shaking their finger at them, but after
a while, they realized they were banging
their fists in the air. We're certainly doing
something right." The tour with Motorhead
demonstrated the Cro-Mags' vitality and
energy, as, night after night, they turned in
sets that made Motorhead seem dull and
lifeless in comparison.
The Cro-Mags see themselves as a very
positive minded outfit, in keeping with the
Krishna faith to which John, Harley and
Doug are devoted. "It's funny," says Harley.
"when the woman from Spin did that piece
on us, she made us out to be a lot more
saintly than we really are. Still, it's better to
be a bad example of something good than
to be a good example of something bad. We
always try to be positive about things."
For the most part, it seems as if fans are
hooking in on far more than a musical level,
as the band's message takes on consider
able importance. "It's really gratifying," con-
tinues Harley. "We seem to be getting a lot
of letters from people who have either seen
us live or have heard the record and seem
particularly impressed by what we have to
say. That means a lot to us, that we're ac-
tually having an impact on people."
Themes of karma, reincarnation and the
cyclical nature of history are present in the
Cro-Mags' lyrics, as are harsh, often brutal
lyrical images. The title of their album, "The
Age of Quarrel" is an interesting matter in
itself. According to John, "There are four
ages, just like there's four seasons, and right.
now this is the age of Winter. After this, we
go back to the first age, which is the age.
where everyone is concerned with self-
realization, the real purpose of human life,
living simply and humbly. At the end of the
present age, the only humans who will be
left on the planet will be very demonic
people, and all the inauspicious living enti-
ties will become very big."
"Like a cockroach the size of a pit bull."
interjects Harley.
"People," continues John, "will be eating
each other and eating their babies. If you
look around, you can start to see this hap-
pening all the time."
The original cover of their album,
reprinted on the record sleeve but marked
"CENSORED," portrayed this age of Kali
but was censored by Profile Records due
John and Harley open wide to a howling audience.
to its graphic nature. "What they censored
was a nuclear explosion symbolizing the
end of the Age of Quarrel, and inside the
explosion were the various things that
ultimately caused it. One scene had a guy
shooting dope, another was a father whip-
ping his child, a pit bull fight with people
gambling, two homosexuals walking arm in
arm, abortion and, basically, a lot of things
that people find so free and so good and
that we find so bad."
The Cro-mags are one of hardcore's few
bands to draw wisdom from the thousand
upon thousand year-old teachings of the
East. They combine a powerful musical
assault with that wisdom to form a potent
unity. "There's a lot of frustration in the
world," says John, "but there's also an alter
native. I've been listening to punk music for
a long time, and what I've noticed is that
John, Petey, Harley, Doug and Kevin-the Cro-Mags
there just aren't any alternatives offered.
What we're saying is that if you want to know
the solutions to these problems, you can
read these books of ancient knowledge."
According to Harley, "It's better to
advance your mind than to dress up, go out
and fall on your face complaining about life.
That doesn't change anything."
"Really," says John, "we're trying to bring
the most ancient and sincere source of
knowledge into the light. When you check
into something, you've got to get to the
original source and uncover the real story.
You've got to look to the oldest civilization
and culture to find the oldest knowledge.
The more you look, the more you'll find in
the Indian civilization, and the best part is
that it is still relevant. It is something true
and unchanging."