Yidcore are an Australian Jewish punk rock band from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, formed in 1998. Known primarily for playing punk covers of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

songs, the band started writing more of its own material in later albums.

Logo and

The band's logo is a variation of the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

logo (which, in its turn, is based on the

Seal of the President of the United States The seal of the president of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the president of the United States to the U.S. Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency itself. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the ...

), with the names of the band members in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. The

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

is replaced by a

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

with a menora above its head, the apple tree branch replaced by a

shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...

, the arrows replaced by the

Magen David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

and the writing "Oy Vey, Let's Eat" instead of "Hey Ho, Let's Go". The logo can be seen on the album cover of Yidcore's compilation ''Rocket to Rechovoth''. The band's mascot is a rubber chicken called Scrambles, which was usually taped to lead singer

Bram Presser Bram Presser (born 1976) is a Melbourne personality, known for his involvement in the Melbourne music scene and Jewish community. He fronted the Jewish punk rock prankster band Yidcore and was the singing voice for Mick Molloy in the 2006 Australi ...

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

on concerts. It is now part of the

Jewish Museum of Australia The Jewish Museum of Australia, not to be confused with the Sydney Jewish Museum, aims to "explore and share the Jewish experience in Australia". It is located in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne. History The Jewish Museum of Australia was estab ...

's collection.

History

The band formed in the late 1990s at

Mount Scopus Memorial College , motto_translation = , location = 245 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Melbourne , pushpin_i ...

, with their first public performance coming in 1998 at an event organized by the

Australasian Union of Jewish Students The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) is a federation of Jewish student societies at Australian and New Zealand universities and other higher education institutions. It was founded in 1948 at the University of Sydney and is affiliated ...

. Yidcore's first self-titled album was released in 2000. In 2002, the band released the ''Great Chicken Soup Caper'' EP, which contained a song, "Why Won't

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

Let Us Do His Song?", in which Presser laments about Adam Sandler not giving him permission to cover

The Chanukah Song "The Chanukah Song" is a novelty song written by comedian Adam Sandler with ''Saturday Night Live'' writers Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham and originally performed by Sandler on ''Saturday Night Live''s Weekend Update on December 3, 1994. San ...

. In November 2003 the band arrived in Israel for its first tour of the country, and released the live/rare tracks album ''Scrambles: New, Live, Rare and Classic Shtick'' to celebrate the tour. ''New, Live, Rare and Classic Shtick'' included a version of

Skrewdriver Skrewdriver were an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, in 1976. Originally a punk band, Skrewdriver changed into a white supremacist rock band after reuniting in the 1980s. Their original li ...

's "White Power" titled "(Song Formerly Known As) White Power", with anti-racist lyrics. In 2004, when Yidcore returned to Australia, they put out the ''Adam Slander'' EP, in which they cover the Chanukah Song as "The Punk Rock Chanukah Song". The following year, the band released a double album, titled ''

Eighth Day Slice/Fiddlin on Ya Roof ''Eighth Day Slice'' and ''Fiddlin on Ya Roof'' are the second album and first album of original songs by the Australian punk rock band Yidcore, released on 13 June 2005 (see 2005 in music). ''Eighth Day Slice'' is an album containing Yidcore's ...

'', via Rubber Records. The band again arrived in Israel for a second tour, and this time released the compilation ''Rocket to Rechovoth'' to celebrate the event, in reference to

album ''

Rocket to Russia ''Rocket to Russia'' is the third studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, and was released on November 4, 1977, through Sire Records. Its origins date back to the summer of 1977, when "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was released as ...

'', using the Israeli city of

Rechovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, foun ...

. The band's third and final album, titled ''They Tried to Kill Us. They Failed. Let's Eat!'' was released in 2007, again via Rubber Records. The 16-track album contained only 2 covers of Israeli songs, plus a cover of the World War II anti-fascist song "

Zog nit keyn mol "Zog nit keyn mol" (''Never Say''; yi, זאָג ניט קיין מאָל, ) sometimes "Zog nit keynmol" or "Partizaner lid" 'Partisan Song'' is a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Holocaust survivors and is sung in memorial ...

". In April 2008 Yidcore went on their third and final Israeli tour, and released a new EP, titled ''The Hummusexual E.P.'', given away for free with every band merchandise purchased at the tour.

Break-up and reunions

Yidcore decided to disband in 2009, with Presser quipping "how many circumcision and hummous jokes can you make before it gets sad?" The band played their farewell show on 17 December 2009 at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne. In 2011, Yidcore reunited for a show at The Arthouse in Melbourne on 7 April. In 2013, Yidcore opened up a

Blogspot Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 which enables multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed thr ...

website offering free downloads of all their albums except ''Scrambles: Live, Rare and Classic Shtick'', on the grounds that Scrambles found it too poor sounding even in 320kbit/s mp3. In 2019, Yidcore announced a performance to take place on 8 September at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2000 - ''Yidcore (album), Yidcore'' (Swell Records/Big Daddy Distro) * 2005 - ''

'' (Rubber Records) * 2007 - ''They Tried to Kill Us. They Failed. Let's Eat!'' (Rubber Records/EMI)

EPs/Splits

* 2002 - ''The Great Chicken Soup Caper EP'' (Swell Records/Big Daddy Distro) * 2003 - ''The Adam Slander E.P.'' (Little Big Music/MRA) * 2004 - ''Attack of the B-Killers'' - split with

Useless ID Useless ID ( he, יוסלס איי.די) is an Israeli punk rock band, formed in Haifa, Israel in 1994. Known as one of the most successful Middle Eastern punk bands worldwide. History Useless ID was founded in 1994 as a four-piece: Guy Carmel - ...

, Man Alive,

Atom and His Package Adam Goren (born January 14, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and teacher best known as the artist Atom and His Package. Goren is a singer and guitarist who has released more than 18 albums under various aliases. His music is i ...

(Boomtown/MGM) * 2008 - ''The Hummusexual EP'' (Speck Records)

Compilations

* 2003 - ''Scrambles: New, Live, Rare and Classic Shtick'' (released independently) * 2005 - ''Rocket to Rechovoth'' (Speck Records)

DVDs

* 2005 - ''Wind Beneath my Wings'' (Rubber Records/Boomtown)

Notes

References

External links

Official homepage

Yidcore's blog, offering free downloads of most of their discography

(22 December 2005) {{Authority control Jewish musical groups Australian punk rock groups Victoria (Australia) musical groups Jewish punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical groups reestablished in 2019