The Casualties

The Casualties are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, founded by vocalist Jorge Herrera, Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums) in 1990. In July 2017, it was announced on the band's Facebook page that original frontman Jorge Herrera had officially retired from touring. As of July 2017, the band consists of members Jake Kolatis (guitarist), Marc Meggers (drums), Rick Lopez (bass), and David Rodriguez (vocals).

History

Early years (1990–1998)

The Casualties were formed in 1990, with original members Jorge Herrera (vocals), Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums). The members aimed to return to what they viewed as the "golden era" of street punk, embodied by bands such as The Exploited and Charged GBH, which they believed had disappeared by 1985. During the early years, the lineup was fluid, with several changes.

In early 1991, Hank left the band and was replaced by Fred Backus on guitar to record ''Political Sin'' in March 1991 for the ''Benefit for Beer'' compilation. Soon more changes were in the works, with new guitarist Fred heading off to school. C Squat's Scott temporarily filled Fred's shoes until he returned a short time later. During this period, guitarist Hank filled in for a couple of shows, and Steve Distraught also played briefly with the group on second guitar.

The Casualties stabilized long enough to record their first demo in the fall of 1991, and the “40 Oz Casualty” EP in the spring of 1992, and was building up a fan base in their hometown of New York City. At the end of 1992, Mark and Fred left the band and were replaced by Mike Roberts on bass and Jake Kolatis on the guitar, followed by the departure of Yureesh and Colin in 1994, to be replaced on drums by Shawn, while the band went down to a single vocalist. 1994 saw the recording of the four-song EP, ''Drinking Is Our Way of Life;'' however, it would not be released. The songs would later appear on the Casualties "The Early Years: 1990-1995" album in 1999. In 1995, the band's second release, the four-track ''A Fuckin' Way of Life'' EP was released on Eyeball Records. After recording ''A Fuckin' Way of Life,'' Shawn left the band, and Marc Eggers (nicknamed Meggers) of the Rivits became the regular drummer. The line-up of Jorge, Jake, Mike and Meggers continued until 1997.

In 1996 the Casualties became the first American band to appear at the "Holidays in the Sun" Festival in London. 1997 saw the release of the band's debut album ''For the Punx'' on Tribal War Records, and the band embarked on its first American tour with The Varukers. Mike (the bassist) left the band in 1998, to be replaced with Johnny Rosado, from The Krays. They released their second LP that year, ''Underground Army,'' and began a world tour. Jon left the band during the European leg of the tour, to be temporarily replaced by Dave Punk Core.

Later years (1998–2017)

After the world tour, Dave would be replaced by Rick Lopez from the band Manix. The line-up was now solidified for the band. The end of the millennium, 1999, saw the band produce a compilation album, ''Early Years 1990–1995'', which included tracks which appeared on earlier EPs, as well as never before released songs, such as the four songs they had recorded on the never released EP ''Drinking Is Our Way of Life'' back in 1994.

The 2000s have seen the band to continue to tour and produce albums (an album list can be seen below). They have toured with several other bands, such as The Exploited, GBH, Cockney Rejects, Slaughter & the Dogs, and the English Dogs. In December 2009, The Casualties toured alongside Hatebreed, The Acacia Strain, Crowbar, and Thy Will Be Done as part of the Stillborn Fest. In the summer of 2012, The Casualties co-headlined the Tonight We Unite tour along with Nekromantix, where they played For the Punx in its entirety, the first time they had played the album through since its release in 1997. Later that year, The Casualties released their new album titled ''Resistance'' through Season of Mist. In 2013, The Casualties played at the largest punk rock festival in the world, the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England, where they shared the stage with The Exploited, Special Duties, Chron Gen and Anti-Establishment, and others.

''Chaos Sound'', departure of Herrera, and new member (2016–present)

On January 22, 2016, the band released their tenth studio album titled ''Chaos Sound''. The album was recorded in Orange County, California at Buzzbomb Studio, produced by Paul Miner and released by Season of Mist. It is the last album to feature original vocalist Jorge Herrera.

In the second quarter of 2017, Herrera retired from touring and recording with the band after being accused of multiple incidents of rape and sexual assault of a 16 year old minor. While no longer associating with The Casualties, there have been no incidents to indicate that there is any bad blood between Herrera and the remaining or current members of The Casualties. Frontman of The Krum Bums, David Rodriguez officially replaced Herrera, changing the band's line-up for the first time in 19 years. Guitarist Jake Kolatis and drummer Meggers are the two remaining long term members of the band, along with the band's bassist since 1999, Rick Lopez.

Members

Current

*Jake Kolatis – guitar (1993–present)
*Marc "Meggers" Eggers – drums (1995–present)
*David Rodriguez – lead vocals (2017–present)
*Mike casualty - bass (2022-present)

Former

*Rick Lopez – bass (1998–2022)
*Jorge Herrera – lead vocals (1990–2017)
*Colin Wolf – vocals (1990–1994)
*Hank Fischer – guitar (1990–1991)
*Fred Backus – guitar (1991–1993)
*Mark Yoshitomi – bass (1990–1993)
*Mike Roberts – bass (1993–1997)
*Johnny Rosado – bass (1997–1998)
*Yureesh Hooker – drums (1990–1994)
*Shawn – drums (1994–1995)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:970 height:auto barincrement:18
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:10 right:10
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1990 till:03/01/2022
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitars value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums
id:lines2 value:gray(0.55) legend:EP
id:lines3 value:magenta legend:Rerecording/Live_album

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1990
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990

LineData =

at:06/13/1992 color:lines2 layer:back
at:02/01/1995 color:lines2 layer:back
at:03/20/1997 color:black layer:back
at:05/01/1998 color:black layer:back
at:07/08/2000 color:black layer:back
at:08/21/2001 color:black layer:back
at:02/17/2004 color:black layer:back
at:04/12/2005 color:lines3 layer:back
at:08/22/2006 color:black layer:back
at:09/25/2007 color:lines3 layer:back
at:08/25/2009 color:black layer:back
at:09/25/2012 color:black layer:back
at:01/22/2016 color:black layer:back
at:10/26/2018 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Herrera text:"Jorge Herrera"
bar:Wolf text:"Colin Wolf"
bar:David text:"David Rodriguez"
bar:Hank text:"Hank"
bar:Fred text:"Fred"
bar:Kolatis text:"Jake Kolatis"
bar:Yoshitomi text:"Mark Yoshitomi"
bar:Roberts text:"Mike Roberts"
bar:Kray text:"Johnny Kray"
bar:Lopez text:"Rick Lopez"
bar:Hooker text:"Yureesh Hooker"
bar:Shawn text:"Shawn"
bar:Eggers text:"Marc Eggers"

PlotData=

width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Herrera from:start till:07/11/2017 color:vocals
bar:Wolf from:01/01/1990 till:03/01/1994 color:vocals
bar:David from:07/11/2017 till:end color:vocals
bar:Hank from:01/01/1990 till:02/01/1991 color:guitars
bar:Fred from:02/01/1991 till:11/15/1992 color:guitars
bar:Kolatis from:11/15/1992 till:end color:guitars
bar:Yoshitomi from:01/01/1990 till:11/15/1992 color:bass
bar:Roberts from:11/15/1992 till:08/01/1997 color:bass
bar:Kray from:08/01/1997 till:10/01/1998 color:bass
bar:Lopez from:10/01/1998 till:end color:bass
bar:Hooker from:01/01/1990 till:03/01/1994 color:drums
bar:Shawn from:03/01/1994 till:05/08/1995 color:drums
bar:Eggers from:05/08/1995 till:end color:drums

Discography

Studio albums

* 1997: '' For the Punx''
* 1998: '' Underground Army''
* 2000: '' Stay Out of Order''
* 2001: '' Die Hards''
* 2004: '' On the Front Line''
* 2005: '' En la Línea del Frente''
* 2006: '' Under Attack''
* 2009: '' We Are All We Have''
* 2012: ''Resistance''
* 2016: '' Chaos Sound''
* 2018: ''Written in Blood''

Compilation albums

*2001: '' The Early Years: 1990–1995''
*2010: ''For the Casualties Army''

Live albums

*1999: Live at the Fireside Bowl
*2003: More at the Fireside Bowl
*2007: Made in NYC

Extended plays

*1992: '' 40 Oz. Casualty''
*1995: '' A Fuckin' Way of Life''
*2000: ''Who's in Control?''

Appearances on various artists compilations

*1991: ''Benefit for Beer'' – "Political Sin"
*1994 ''Pogo Attack LP'' – "25 Years To Late" – "For The Punx"
*1998: ''Punx Unite'' – "Punx Unite"
*2000: ''Punx Unite 2'' – "Way of Life"
*2001 '' Warped Tour 2001'' – "Fight For Your Life"
*2003 ''The Sound of Rebellion'' – "Killing Machine" – "Politicians" – "No Rules"
*2003: '' Warped Tour 2003'' – "Made in N.Y.C."
*2004: '' AMP Magazine Presents: Street Punk, Vol. 2'' – "Sounds From the Streets"
*2004: '' Warped Tour 2004'' – "Tomorrow Belongs To Us"
*2005: ''Punx Unite-Leaders of Today'' – "Rebel"
*2006: '' Warped Tour 2006'' – "Under Attack"
*2007: '' Warped Tour 2007'' – "In It For Life"
*2007: ''Take Action Tour 2007'' – "VIP"
*2010: ''Warped Tour 2010'' – "We Are All We Have"

Music videos

*1998: ''Live at NewCastle Riverside''
*1998: ''Underground Army World Tour''
*2000: ''Nightmare''
*2001: ''Get Off My Back''
*2004: ''Tomorrow Belongs to Us''
*2006: ''Can't Stop Us''
*2006: ''On City Streets''
*2009: ''War Is Business''
*2009: ''We Are All We Have''
*2013: ''My Blood. My Life. Always Forward.''
*2015: ''Corazones Intoxicados''
*2016: ''Chaos Sound''
*2016: ''Running Through the Night''
*2017: ''Brothers and Sisters''
*2018: ''1312''
*2019: ''Ya Basta''
*2019: ''Borders''
*2019: ''Fucking Hate You''

References

External links

*
The Casualties (@thecasualties_official) • Instagram photos and videosBurning Stars Interview with Jake – 2006

{{DEFAULTSORT:Casualties, The
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)
Street punk groups
Season of Mist artists
SideOneDummy Records artists
Cleopatra Records artists