Youth Brigade (band)

:"This article is about the band Youth Brigade from Los Angeles, California. For the Washington, DC band which originally had the same name, see DC Youth Brigade

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Youth Brigade


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Origin = Hollywood, California, USA
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Genre = Punk
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Years_active = 1980–Present
Label = BYO Records
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Adam Stern

Mark Stern

Shawn Stern

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Youth Brigade is a punk music trio formed by brothers Mark Stern, Adam Stern, and Shawn Stern, in Hollywood, California in 1980. All three of them were graduates of Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California.

Youth Brigade was formed at the end of summer 1980 in Hollywood, California, amid the explosion of the punk scene in Southern California. The basic philosophy of the band is that "youth" is an attitude, not an age and that every generation has the responsibility to change what they feel is wrong in the world. It is with these ideals in mind that the band was started, and that eldest brothers Shawn and Mark formed the Better Youth Organization in 1982.

Youth Brigade first year of existence was as a 6 piece but played their first gig as a 3 piece on New Year's Eve 1981 at Godzilla's nightclub. They were part of the big BYO extravaganza "Youth Movement '82" at the Hollywood Palladium, where 3500 people showed up for an all LA bill in early February. Then they recorded 3 tracks for the first BYO record release "Someone Got Their Head Kicked In", and took off in their big yellow school bus on their first North American tour during summer of '82.

After about 30 shows and several breakdowns they returned home to record their debut LP "Sound & Fury" with the infamous producer, Thom Wilson. (D.O.A., TSOL, and later The Offspring, Bouncing Souls). A premature version of the LP was rushed together before the tour but pressing was stopped at 800 copies, as the band was not satisfied with the quality of the material or production. An all-new version was recorded and released in June 1983, followed by a 50 date tour of North America during the summer.

After having secured a licensing deal for "Sound & Fury" in England, plans were made to tour Europe in the fall of 1984. They released a 3 song EP "What Price?" in spring 1984 and then played around 50 dates throughout Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, and England and were one of the first independent American bands to tour the "underground" of Europe and eastern countries. After this tour, younger brother & bassist Adam decided to return to art school and finish his degree. The band recorded his last show in June 1985 at Fenders Ballroom in Long Beach, California and these tracks have been released on Italian and French releases as well as the "Sink With Kalifornija" CD collection. Brothers' Shawn and Mark continued on as “The Brigade” for about 2 years after the departure of Adam.

Meeting in a bar in Hamburg, Mark and Adam expressed the desire to reform Youth Brigade for a tour and Shawn agreed. When they returned home in January 1992, they started working on new material and did a show at the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood, late April.

They recorded 6 songs in July at Westbeach Studios for their "Come Again" EP. In the middle of September that yeah Youth Brigade once again packed their bags to tour Europe. The tour covered Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Czechoslovakia & Poland.

Ten years after their debut, the band recorded "Happy Hour" at Westbeach Studios and released it March 1994. Soon after they added former The Cadillac Tramps, U.S. Bombs, and current Social Distortion guitarist Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham and recorded the next full length "To Sell the Truth" in April 1996. Produced by Steve Kravac (Less Than Jake, MXPX) and mixed by long time friend Thom Wilson (Offspring, Bouncing Souls).

In 1998 the band went back in the studio to record a 30-second song for the Fat Wreck Chords compilation, Short Music For Short People. The song was recorded in a friend's living room, and brought back all of the raw edged energy that had been missing in previous recordings. The raw sound went over so well, that the band decided to abandon the high production sounds and get back to basics. In mid 1999, they went in to record 6 new tracks for Volume 2 of the BYO Records Split series. The flip side of the album was recorded by Nothern Californian punks Swingin Utters. The album received rave reviews, stating that this was Youth Brigade's best recordings ever.

Youth Brigade's rather confusing discography consists of several 7-inch EPs and two albums having the same name, "Sound and Fury" (1983). Tracks on the first version of that LP include "Boys in the Brigade", "Alienated" and "Violence". The CD-Plus reissue is titled "Out of Print". The second version includes "We'll Sink with California" and "What Will the Revolution Change?", the latter being an introspective critique about the punk movement itself. It is now known as "Sink With Kalifornija" on the CD reissue.

The 1984 film, "Another State of Mind", chronicles the band's 30-city tour with Social Distortion and Minor Threat in a big school bus.

External links

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=581485904267910222 Youth Brigade music video for "I Hate My Life" on BlankTV.com]
* [http://www.byorecords.com/index.php?page=one_band&aid=17 Full Youth Brigade biography]
* [http://www.byorecords.com/index.php?page=home BYO Records Homepage]