Sing Sing Death House

The Distillers

I feel like The Distillers was the first real punk and hardcore band I ever listened to. Sure I listened to bands like blink-182, Green Day, and I even got my hands on Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction. All truly great punk bands but those bands made music with tons of pop crossover appeal. I was suckered in when I saw the video for the The Young Crazed Peeling, and despite Brody Dalle's incredibly fried vocals and the intimidating liberty spikes, my initial reaction was that this was just a fantastic pop rock tune. Mid tempo, simple three-chord progressions, catchy gang vocals, sing-along chorus, nursery rhyme styled verses, and Dalle's spectacular belting (really screaming with pitch) at the very end for a satisfying climactic finish. Still to this day, I consider it to be one of the best punk rock tunes of all time. From the strength of this track and another single, City of Angels, I ended up buying the CD.

I remember fairly vividly my first few listens to that record and how I felt I wasn't ready for something that aggressive and raw. Tracks like Sing Sing Death House, Bullet and the Bullseye, and especially Hate Me were blistering and messy. I had no frame of reference at that time to consolidate all the chaos and fury that was being thrown at me. Of course, I've grown into a big fan of more extreme forms of metal and hardcore punk since then, but as I reflect on this album, I admit that The Distillers were my introduction, the gateway if you will, to a more extreme form of music. For that reason, they're still pretty special to me. Now I know that they weren't the most hardcore of bands at the time and there was even more aggressive stuff happening before them, but they were the band I saw on TV when I was 11 or 12. It's just the way things happened.

Aside from Dalle's spectacular, tough-as-nails voice, this record also has very powerful drumming from Andy Granelli, and some athletic bass work from one of my early bass heroes, Ryan Sinn. When I first started playing the bass guitar, I was pretty sure that the fills on The Young Crazed Peeling where among the first things I tried to learn. There's also great vocal support from the rest of the band. The backing vocal line in the last chorus of City Of Angels is stellar, and when guitarist Casper Mazzola takes lead vocal duties on the first verse of Hate Me, her wretched performance is terrifying. It is by far the most hardcore moment on the record.

I also love some of the lyrical topics tackled on some of these songs. Sick Of It All touches upon many serious issues including school violence, media's affect on body positivity, self-harm, and eating disorders. It is a whirlwind of trouble that is almost ready to boil over and yet it is delivered in this apathetic, nihilist fashion. On Seneca Falls, Brody Dalle directly references the first women's rights convention as inspiration for this amazing feminist anthem. "Oh, Elizabeth Cady, forever reminding me, I don't steal the air I breathe," she poignantly snarls on the track. I don't think I need to explain how impactful that line is, however, the thing that disappoints me is just how relevant that line is today as it was when it was written.

This record is approaching its 20 year anniversary which is crazy to me. Listening to the record now is just as enjoyable, if not more, than when I first listened to it in my childhood bedroom. Excellent musicianship, very raw and emotional performances, catchy hooks, and some great lyrics. There's still room for improvement as demonstrated in their 2003 follow-up (foreshadowing), but regardless, this record still contains some of the band's best written, and frankly, timeless songs.