Aus-Rotten was an American

crust punk Crust punk (also known as stenchcore or simply crust) is a fusion genre of anarcho-punk and extreme metal that originated in the early to mid-1980s in England. Originally, the genre was primarily mid-tempo, making use of metal riffs in a stri ...

band formed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania. Active from 1991 to 2001, its members practiced and promoted a philosophy of

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

politics. The band included lead vocalist Dave Trenga, vocalist/guitarist Eric Good, bassist Corey Lyons, and drummer Matt Garabedian. Spitboy singer Adrienne Droogas would often join the band in their later material. The band's name comes from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

verb ''ausrotten'', which translates to "exterminate" or "eradicate".

Music

Musical style

According to their Myspace site, Aus-Rotten is influenced by Black Flag, Conflict,

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

, and Subhumans. The band has covered songs by Chumbawamba, Flux of Pink Indians, The Pist, Conflict,

Crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and Upright Citizens. Aus-Rotten went through roughly two stylistic periods during its existence; they originated as a bass-heavy hardcore punk band with low-fidelity production, before taking a hiatus and returning with a thicker sound and a second vocalist (Adrienne Droogas, formerly of Spitboy).

Lyrical themes

Dave Trenga penned most of the band's lyrics. Most of their songs espoused an anarchist worldview, touching upon

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

, the

Christian right The Christian right are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation ...

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

. The band is perhaps most famous for its radical, quotable lyrics (e.g. "People are not expendable, government is", "As long as flags fly above us, no one's really free"), as well as for their strong

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

stance which, according to the interview on the

ABC No Rio ABC No Rio is a collectively-run nonprofit arts organization on New York City's Lower East Side. Founded in 1980 in a squat at 156 Rivington Street, following the eviction of the 1979–80 Real Estate Show, the center featured an art gallery s ...

documentary, got them threatened at least once.

Post-breakup

Aus-Rotten went on a hiatus in the mid-'90s and during that time Dave formed Human Investment with Andy of

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag was an American punk rock band formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1988. The band was known for its left-wing politics, left-wing political activism. For the majority of the band's career, their members included Justin Sane (voc ...

and Corey and Eric formed Doomsday Parade. Aus-Rotten broke up for good in early 2001 and members have gone on to form Caustic Christ and Behind Enemy Lines. ''

Pittsburgh City Paper The ''Pittsburgh City Paper'' is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment. It bought out ''In Pittsburgh Weekly'' in 2001. As of April 2015, ''City Paper'' is the 14th ...

'' has described Aus-Rotten as "arguably the most important band of the '90s

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...

renaissance." The band's 1994 ''Fuck Nazi Sympathy'' 7" sold 25,000 copies, making it Havoc Records' best-selling release. ''Fuck Nazi Sympathy'' topped a list of bestselling D.I.Y. Punk record label releases compiled in 2008, outselling anything released on Ebullition, Three One G,

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindco ...

, Gravity Records, Lengua Armada, and various other labels. They toured Japan briefly in 1998. On August 18, 2019 Aus-Rotten performed a few songs at Skull Fest 11 in Pittsburgh.

Discography

Demos

*"We Are Denied, They Deny It" (1992)

EPs

*"Anti-Imperialist" (1993) *"Fuck Nazi Sympathy" (1994)

Studio albums

*''The System Works For Them'' (1996) *''...And Now Back to Our Programming'' (1998) *'' The Rotten Agenda'' (2001)

Compilation

*"Not One Single Fucking Hit Discography" (1997)

Splits

*"Aus-Rotten / Naked Aggression" (1994)

Appears on

*"Iron City Punk Compilation" (1993) *"Pogo Attack Compilation" (1994) *"Barricades and Broken Dreams: An International Tribute to Conflict" (1995) *"Start A Riot" Compilation (1996) *"Solidarity Compilation - Benefit For

" (1999) *"Return of The Read Menace - Benefit for

AK Press AK Press is a workers' self-management, worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that specializes in publishing books about anarchism and the Far-left politics, radical left. Operated out of Chico, California, United States, ...

" (1999)

Members

Final lineup

* Corey Lyons - ''Bass'' * Dave Trenga - ''Vocals'' * Eric Good - Guitar, ''Vocals'' * Matt Garabedian - ''Drums'' * Adrienne Droogas (ex- Spitboy) - ''Vocals''

Former members

* Ajax - ''Guitar'' * Richie Carramadre - ''Drums'' * Douglas Weaver - ''Drums'' * Tim Williams - ''Drums'' * Dan Monaco - ''Drums''

References

External links

Aus-Rotten
at Myspace.com
Havoc Records
Label site.

in ''

'' magazine
interview
in

Suburban Voice ''Suburban Voice'' is a punk zine A punk zine (or punkzine) is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aus-Rotten American crust and d-beat groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Musical groups from Pittsburgh Hardcore punk groups from Pennsylvania American political music groups