Ill Repute
I’ve recently been going through a bunch of old zines to grab stuff for this Substack and I figured I’d do an off week post circling back to the origins of this pod: Nardcore.
I’ll start with one of the most recognizable bands to come out of Oxnard, CA, Ill Repute. Get in those 185 Miles South archives and check out my interviews with Tony, John, Carl, and Jim.
Ill Repute is the ultimate hometown hero band and Tony Cortez, affectionately referred to as the Mayor of Nardcore, has been a stalwart of the scene for over 40 years while never being a better-than-you ego maniac to younger kids. He helped put together the original Nardcore comp in 1984 as well as the Nardcore 20 Years Later comp in 2009, and has never stopped going to shows or being just a cool ass dude.
Let’s get into it…
Above is their page from Flipside #35 which came with the Rodney On The ROQ III comp. “Clean Cut American Kid” is their catchiest, most radio-friendly song and I always thought it was funny that they followed it up with one of the ugliest sounding hardcore 7”s ever - Oxnard - Land of No Toilets. Here’s a So Cal scene report mentioning that it’s forthcoming with the record release flyer, along with a review:
It’s crazy to think about some hardcore already being labeled generic by 1983. I’d concede “Bed Rep” is the epitome of an early 80’s generic hardcore song, but the B-Side of this 7” is gold. “We’ll Get Back At Them” and “I Won’t Kill For You” are both top tier blazers and “Sleepwalking” is one of those classic old hardcore tracks that seamlessly tucks some of that TSOL dark vibe in. Bias aside, I’d put this record amongst some of the really good 1983 USHC 7”s like Chronic Sick, Hated Youth, and United Mutation.
This What Happens Next review reminds me why people hate passive aggressive music critics. How far do does this dude want modern thrash expanded? He’s going to be bummed when metal completely infiltrates hardcore in 85/86 and never leaves. I just don’t get the need to jab something you legitimately enjoy before going into a really enthusiastic, positive review. Is this dude trying to be Mystery or Matador negging Ill Repute as some sort of mindfuck?
Anyway, What Happens Next rips and “Book and It’s Cover” is one of the greatest hardcore songs of all time. Here are a couple Mystic Records ads promoting the LP:
Above is an interview from Constructive Destruction #1. This is the kind of shit that makes digging into hardcore so fun. This zine was done by Casey Jones in 1984. He played drums on the No For An Answer 7” and in the best era of Ignite, which was my gateway band to the hardcore scene 28 years ago. Below is the record review for the upcoming live 7” mentioned in the interview:
I love these short one pagers from the old MRRs. Cool, clean layout.
Here’s a little snippet of the So Cal scene report from MRR #28 (Doh!):
Both Scott Radinsky and Brian Walsby addressed the Pittsburgh situation in their 185 Miles South interviews. Total bummer. Here are a couple epic shows slated for the East Coast on that tour that Ill Repute/Scared Straight didn’t end up playing:
Ill Repute has always thrown curve balls. Oh, you love the tunefulness of “Clean Cut American Kid?” Enjoy that Land of No Toilets guitar tone. Oh you love that classic Jaime Hernandez art on What Happens Next? Say no more, fam…here’s another classic album cover:
In 1985 Mystic began going overboard with just putting out releases for the sake of having new releases. Quantity over quality. Did Ill Repute need to have a “greatest hits” collection come out only two years after their first 7”? Probably not. Did any band ever need to be depicted in an omelette? Debatable.
In 1985, Mystic re-released Plug in Jesus with the Burn 7” inside, calling it a Valu-Pack. What Happens Next got the treatment in 1987 with Halloween Live II getting included.
In their 185 interviews, all the Ill Repute dudes discussed their comeback show in 1988 with Operation Ivy in LA as being a pivotal point in their history. Here’s the flyer above and a snippet below from the January 1989 So Cal scene report from MRR:
Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy recently did an Instagram post talking about how this show was the inspiration to their song “Bad Town.”
1988: This was the show that inspired the song "Bad Town" by Operation Ivy. We drove all day & showed up in LA at around 5:00. It was always cool to see the Offspring guys and Reason to Believe guys. I liked all the Offspring stuff but I especially loved "Blackball" ("Blaackballed?") and their cover of "Ballroom Blitz" from their demo. That's a hard song to cover! Reason to believe were just really good and great guys. We sensed a lot of LA gang vibes at the show. I noticed about 20-30 of what I thought were Suicidals there, I now guess they were probably just East Side punks (rather than Venice / Hollywood Suicidals) but IDK. Low draped bandanas. Anyway, the show was crowded and everything was cool. Our set was good. Then Ill Repute played.
At that time there was this thing happening: An early 80s hardcore band would start playing more "mature" material, you know, more influenced by stuff besides punk. Just to name a few bands that did this: SST, Necros, Black Flag, Die Kreuzen (weirdrock), Discharge, TSOL, and so on. So Ill Repute, skate punk heroes, were entering their more hard rock moment. By the way, I have no problem with bands evolving, but it could be a tough sell back then😂
The audience started reacting negatively to their set and throwing things which was predictable. This being LA, at least one or two members of ILL REPUTE took a Lee Ving approach and talked shit back to the crowd. Short story short, the kids rushed the stage, and basically beat the shit out of them. Then I think some rival factions might have popped off or maybe the gang-affiliated kids just started beating the shit out of everybody, not sure. It was more or less a riot. I believe Noodles from the Offspring got stabbed though that may have been a different show . We got the F out of there.
A couple days later Tim showed up with the song. Lyrics are pretty self-explanatory. Astute listeners may have noticed that Dave Mathews had a hit with a suspiciously similar riff in the nineties ("ants marching") 🤔😂. So yeah just thought some people might be interested in the story behind that one...✌🏽--anybody can correct my memories, it's a little hazy
The promoter, Warren Croft, chimed in on Instagram as well:
After seeing Jesse’s post the other day I feel compelled to write the backstory for the show. In 1988 I was 16 and had heard OPIV on the Turn It Around comp. My best friend Billy and I were instant fans and we decided we wanted to bring them to LA. At the time, the scene around LA was kinda dead and shows were happening at places that would last a few months and then move. Toberman Hall, was one of those places.
I had gone to another hardcore show there and just called the park and rec about putting on a show. They were like, no problem but the show has to end by 10pm which is why the show started at 5 pm. Billy contacted OPIV and ILL REPUTE and for ILL REPUTE it was like their first show in a number of years, so to us it was an ILL REPUTE reunion! And then add OPIV, Isocracy, Reason to Believe and Offspring! This was going to be an epic night.
The PA we rented kinda sucked, no stage monitors, but the vibe for each band when they played was amazing. Each band tore it up. When OPIV ended, the crowd wanted more and I remember Jesse saying, “We don’t have any more songs.”
So finally ILL REPUTE begin their set with a cover of Led Zepplin’s Rock and Roll, you know the opening lyric, “It’s been a long time since I rock n rolled”. The crowd was not having it, middle fingers were flying, people telling them to fuck off. Tony Cortez the guitar player from ILL REPUTE plays the opening chords to “Fuck With My Head” and people are like, fuck yeah, that’s what I wanna hear and then they launch into a new song. Middle fingers back up, someone spit on the bass player and he swung his bass at the crowd, people in the crowd rushed the stage and started fighting with the band.
Some local gang members that had been working security started going off on people. Lights came on, cops were called and the show was over. To top it all ofF, because the venue was through the Park and Rec of LA, the city employee told me the money had to go thru the city and they would mail me a check. I couldn’t even pay the bands that night. ILL REPUTE was disappointed to say the least, OPIV was like ok, just send us a check when you get paid. The other bands played for free.
KRK Dominguez, who photographed the show, gave his account in the comments of Warren’s post:
I remember this gig a little different. I took a couple pix of the Offspring, who played in front of 3 people, which was common at the time. I have absolutely no recollection of Isocracy. I got a few of Reason 2 Believe, a band I've always really liked. I must have already had their debut 45 or something (pre or post flipside cover?) because I distinctly remember locking in a position on stage to take the pictures I was becoming conditioned to deliver.
The thing that a lot of people understand today is that might sound goofy today, was ground breaking a few decades ago. And that's exactly what Op Ivy were, at the time, they were refreshing.
Face it, HarDCore had become a cold cheeseburger. Case in point; Ill Repute got their monkey-ass handed to them in a doggy-bag. Mr Croft is absolutely correct about another fact, 1988 was nowhere on the Punk Rock landscape.
All of which changed the following year, 1989, the year we were given one last wave a of audio revolution - I'm not dead yet, fuckers, - KRK
I’ve also heard accounts that Tony Cortez fought off the entire crowd like the dude in Gymkata, so who really knows what to believe?
Above is another pointless Mystic release that just waters down the Ill Repute catalog. Over 30 years after its release, I’d buy it on Discogs because I’m a completist and a moran.
Above is an ad for an Ill Repute album that never was recorded or released. Instead, Doug Moody would take some demos from ‘88 or ‘89 recorded at the new Mystic Records in San Diego County and release them as Transition.
Ill wrap with an interview from MRR #100 from 1991:
- ZN
Amazing post!
Epic nerdery here. I’ve never heard other testimonials about the Ill Repute riot show before. So wild!