Necros was an early American
hardcore punk band from
Maumee, Ohio
Maumee ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is about 10 miles southwest of Toledo. The population was 14,286 at the 2010 census. Maumee was declared an All-America City by the National Civic L ...
, although they are usually identified with the
Detroit music scene.
They were the first band to record for
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Tou ...
.
History
Necros was formed in mid-1975 by then-teenagers Barry Henssler (vocals), Andy Wendler (guitar), and Todd Swalla (drums).
After going through a handful of bassists (including Donny Brook, Jeff Allsop, David Cooke, Brian Hyland, Jeff Lake, and Brian Pollack), Corey Rusk joined the band. Barry Henssler had struck up a friendship with
Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson of ''Touch and Go'' magazine after sending them a copy of his own 'zine, ''Smegma Journal''.
Vee and Stimson became fans and put out the band's first record, a self-titled 4-song 7" EP (recorded prior to Rusk joining) most commonly known as "Sex Drive". This was
Touch and Go Records
Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Tou ...
' (then spelled "Rekords") first release and was limited to only 100 copies.
Andy Wendler left the band in 1981 (although he continued to write for them) and Brian Pollack joined on guitar. Later that year, the band recorded and released another self-titled 7" record known as "IQ32", produced by
Minor Threat vocalist
Ian MacKaye. This nine-song effort was jointly released by Touch and Go (which Rusk now had a hand in running) and MacKaye's own
Dischord Records. Wendler rejoined on guitar in late 1982 and, in 1983, the band recorded and released two more records, a 7" and LP both titled ''Conquest For Death''.
Early on, Necros played with many prominent punk bands, including
Black Flag,
Bad Brains,
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
,
Minor Threat, and Tesco Vee's group
The Meatmen
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in ...
. Necros also toured as openers for
horror punk band
the Misfits, including at the Misfits' last show in which Todd Swalla stepped in to play drums, when
Brian Damage became too drunk to perform.
In 1983, Corey Rusk quit the group to concentrate on Touch and Go, after assuming full control of the label and bassist Ron Sakowski stepped in.
Despite the group's steady output at their onset, the band did not release another record for two years. In an interview with ''One Solution'' zine, vocalist Barry Henssler blamed the delay between releases on Rusk's refusal to give the band a definite answer as to whether or not they were still on Touch and Go. The label has since deleted their Necros releases from their catalogue.
The next Necros release came in 1985 as a split LP with
White Flag entitled ''Jail Jello'', on Gasatanka Records. Now featuring a more distinctly
post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...
sound, the band followed up the split with 1986's ''Tangled Up'' LP on
Restless Records,
along with a single of the same name on Gasatanka. After spending 1987 touring with first
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...
and then later the Circle Jerks, the group called it quits.
A live album, ''Live or Else'', appeared posthumously in 1989.
Post break up
Barry Henssler went on to form the band
Big Chief
"Big Chief" is a song composed by Earl King in the early 1960s. It became a hit in New Orleans for Professor Longhair in 1964,Berry/Foose/Jones, ''Up from the Cradle of Jazz''. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, 2009, p. 148. featuring a ...
,
who recorded for the
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
label. Ron Sakowski and Todd Swalla reunited in the mid 1990s as part of the final line up of
Touch And Go artists
Laughing Hyenas. Andy Wendler played in a group called Gone In Sixty Seconds (also known as G.I.S.S.).
In 2002, a limited (only 450 copies pressed) split 10" with Authority Abuse was released by Wise Hoodlum Records featuring live Necros recordings from 1981–1983. The band's first demo was reissued as the "Ambionic Sound" 7" in 2012, named for the studio where it was recorded.
In 2005
Rykodisc reissued ''Tangled Up'' and ''Live or Else'' together on one CD, currently the only Necros material available on CD.
Former members
* Barry Henssler - vocals (1979-1987)
* Todd Swalla - drums (1979-1987)
* Andy Wendler - guitar (1979-1981; 1982-1987)
* David Cooke - bass (1979)
* Brian Hyland - bass (1979-1980)
* Jeff Lake - bass (1980)
* Brian Pollack - bass (1980-1981); guitar (1981-1982)
* Corey Rusk - bass (1981-1983)
* Ron Sakowski - bass (1983-1987)
Discography
Studio albums
*''Conquest for Death'' (1983, Touch and Go)
*''Tangled Up'' (1987, Restless)
*''Live or Else'' (1990, Medusa)
EPs and singles
*''Sex Drive'' 7" (1981, Touch and Go)
*''IQ32'' 7" (1981, Touch and Go)
*''Conquest for Death'' 7" (1983, Touch and Go)
*''Jail Jello'' split 12" with White Flag (1985, Gasatanka)
*''Tangled Up'' 7" (1985, Gasatanka)
*''Necros/Authority Abuse'' split 10" (2002, Wise Hoodlum)
*''Ambionic Sound'' 7" (2012, Alona' Dream)
*''Club House Session'' 7" (2013, Alona' Dream)
Compilation and live albums
*''Tangled Up/Live or Else'' compilation album (2005, Rykodisc)
*''Live in '85'' live album (2014, Jett Plastic Recordings)
References
External links
Necros at Touch and Go Records*
{{Authority control
Hardcore punk groups from Michigan
Hardcore punk groups from Ohio
Musical groups from Ohio
Touch and Go Records artists
1979 establishments in Ohio
Musical groups established in 1979