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, 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

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases