the LEFT
"JESUS LOVES THE LEFT"
CD
From the Bona
Fide Records web site
Hagerstown, MD's Groundbreaking Punks the Left Release Their Complete
Works on CD for the First Time
Bona Fide Records proudly presents, for the first time ever, the
complete recordings of Hagerstown, Md's The Left in a 20 song
CD Jesus Loves the Left which features their very first recording
the incredbily catchy and insulting "You're So", both
their 12" releases It's the World and Last Train To Hagerstown
along with 4 previously unreleased cuts from 1992. These firey,
furious songs that glorify, revel in, and at the same time vilify
punk attitudes have over the past 20 years or so acquired quite
a reputation as no-holds barred-over-the top punk rock of the
highest order. This was the early 80s--no internet, no my space,
and punk clothes were homemade with magic markers, not bought
at the mall. Back in 1977 Stiv Bators screamed "Gotta get
outta here, there just aint nothin to do!" and it was that
teenage boredom that fueled a whole generation of punk rock, the
Left included. Bored with life and the music scene in rural western
Maryland, they turned to a style of music that was fresh and vital
and they mixed many diverse influences including the Sonics, Chuck
Berry, Link Wray, and the 13th Floor Elevators and blended them
effortlessly with the powerful urgency of hardcore punk. Far from
jumping on the bandwagon and being just another cookie-cutter
punk band, their finely crafted tunes captured the fury of their
idols while spewing venomous but thoughtful lyrics backed by a
testosterone fueled teenage rock and roll barrage with Jim Swope's
take-no-prisoners guitar splattered all over it.
Perhaps their strange redneck hometown in Maryland created its
own spawn fed on hypocrisy, boredom, ignorance and hate. It's
the small town America syndrome, you know, settle down and act
right, eat your supper and be quiet! Well, telling the Left to
be quiet was like telling a kid not to play with matches! Breastfed
on a diet of the Stooges, Standells, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols, the
Damned and the Sonics, et al, they unleashed their first blistering
fury "You're So" on Bona Fide's Train to Disaster comp
in 1983, stunning listeners and inviting comparisons from Richard
Hell to the Monkees, all in the same breath. Torn between 60s
punk and 70s punk, the Left merged both and continued to grow.
1984 saw the release of their debut 12" It's the World! and
people began to take notice of the Left's powerful sound. Hard
Times magazine declared "The Left are confident enough in
their abilities to push substance over style, infusing their songs
with the spirit and drive that propells the best hardcore over
the edge," and declared the EP "easily one of the best
debuts by an American band this year." Forced Exposure magazine
chimed in calling it "a menacing disc of sheer warlock power:"
Byron Coley mused "real fuckin nice. RIP and 5 AM are my
picks to click though the whole thing glows with a fine and grubby
light which is hard to deny." Maximum Rock and Roll added
its two cents. "extremely powerful and original. A sure winner!"
Making several "best of" lists and goin thru 2 pressings,
the Left did arrive and their angry songs, "Hell", "R.I.P",
and "Attitudes" got lots of attention with their double
edged lyrics both celebrating and ridculing punk attitudes. The
Left were a fierce rock and roll band, anti-fashion powerhouse
rockers with a rowdy, boisterous sense of fun---problem children
and charlatans rolled into one. The all-out sonic wail was driven
by 19 year old Jim Swope's frantic, distorted gutiar and Brian
Sefsic's hell-bent pissed off vocals, with Brian's brother Kevin
on bass and Bill Sword on drums laying down a crunching sledge
hammer rhythm.
In 1985, the Last Train to Hagerstown 12" may have had the
Left slowing down just a bit, but they were still angry. Jim Swope's
biting sarcastic lyrics were again double-edged. In "The
Viet Cong Live Next Door" it seems as if the Left invite
prejudice, until the last verse reveals the true color of our
protagonist, and his solution the the problem while a menancing
Peter Gunn riff looms large. It's when the Left mix equal parts
humor and anger their tunes take on an added wicked edge. Sarcasm,
black humor and pessimism were rolled into one brutal attack,
powerful, offensive, fierce and fun as hell! A blistering note
for note remake of the Stooges "T.V. Eye" cemented forever
the punk rock creds of the Left. Both 12"s ranked high in
Chuck Eddy's Stairway to Hell (Da Capo, 1998) where Eddy claims
the "tub-tumbling grunge granite kicks your chest cavity
in" and refers to their songs as "simmering chunks of
cancerous filth". The Flex discography of US punk says "Tough
and melodic punk...Great powerful music. These guys should have
made it big!" Unfortunatley, like most true punk bands the
Left imploded as their second LP was released. Even though both
EPs were later combined and reissued in Germany, the band never
reformed until 1992. That short-lived reunion resulted in 4 great
tracks which remained unissued until Jesus Loves the Left. These
tunes again burn with fire, and "Columbus Day" recorded
on its 500th anniversary shows the no longer teenage band still
angry as ever. Now, for the first time, all the Left's recordings
have been assembled into one fine package together with an extensive
history by Innervoid editor John Hornick, an original member and
close friend of the band and It's the World cover artist, along
with many unpublished photos. Only now has the full majesty of
the original recordings been captured, and now once again the
spirit and drive of the Left explode with a diabolical power and
fury that spits in the face of every empty trend!
Track Listing:
1. Hell
2. Youngster on the Force
3. Stop
4. R.I.P.
5. Fuck It
6. Attitudes
7. Frontline
8. 5 AM
9. The Viet Cong Live Next Door
10. Labels
11. TV Eye
12. Teenage Suicide
13. My Shows
14. Aids Alley
15. Redneck 7-11
16. You're So
17. State of Mind
18. Justice
19. Columbus Day
20. A Perfect World
Tracks 1-8 from It's the World (Bona Fide 12"
EP, 1984)
Tracks 9-15 from Last Train To Hagerstown (Bona Fide 12"
EP, 1985)
Track 16 from the Bona Fide comp Train to Disaster (1983)
Tracks 17-20 Unreleased 1992 recordings!
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