RIP Lou Koller
If Sick Of It All broke up a few months after the 7” on Revelation Records came out, they would’ve been remembered. That’s not just because they were part of the early Rev cannon, it’s cuz they were a huge part of what made the early Rev catalog cannon.
I love listening to hardcore records but the genre is at its best live—when the speakers are cranking, the walls are sweating, and the band and crowd are feeding off each other. Sick Of It All were an avatar for the live hardcore experience. If you weren’t a fan, you walked out of the room a believer. If you were a fan, you walked out a disciple. The first time I saw Sick Of It All was January 3rd, 1997 at the Showcase Theater in Corona, CA. The last time was August 8th, 2022 at Brick by Brick in San Diego, CA. They never faltered.
Sick Of It All is in the elite hardcore club of being a band who put out more than one great LP. Blood, Sweat, and No Tears helped define the late 1980s NYHC sound and Just Look Around and Scratch The Surface did the same for the ‘90s. They’re a rare band where the story of hardcore could not be told without them.
They were one of the greatest hardcore bands of all time.
RIP Lou Koller.
- ZN
Glad I got to catch up with him when I moved back north. A great guy and the real deal.
Legends. SOIA was everything I loved about hardcore. They were badass without being thugs. Their lyrics were full of angst but also positivity. I saw them in NYC in ‘08, it was incredible, def a bucket list check. R.I.P. Lou, you will be missed brother.