SSD (Society System Decontrol) was a

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, t ...

hardcore band from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. They released two records as SS Decontrol and then formally changed their name to SSD. As SSD they released two more records with a heavy metal influenced sound. However, the group is often simply referred to, including all its periods, as SSD.

History

Formed by songwriter/guitarist Al Barile (then a machinist at the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

plant in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by Eu ...

and a student at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North C ...

), SSD started performing at smaller venues throughout the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northe ...

metropolitan area, like Gallery East, in the summer of 1981. The band quickly gained notoriety within the local music scene for intense, charged performances and the provocative antics of their core group of followers, the Boston Crew.Cogan, Mike (2006) ''Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture'', Greenwood Press, , p. 216 The original lineup was Al Barile on guitar, Springa (David Spring) on vocals,

Jaime Sciarappa SSD (Society System Decontrol) was a straight edge hardcore band from Boston. They released two records as SS Decontrol and then formally changed their name to SSD. As SSD they released two more records with a heavy metal influenced sound. Ho ...

on bass and Chris Foley on drums.True, Chris
SSD Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, retrieved July 19, 2011 They released their debut LP ''

The Kids Will Have Their Say ''The Kids Will Have Their Say'' is the debut album by the Boston hardcore punk band SS Decontrol. The album was released in 1982 as a split-release between Dischord and X-Claim records (catalog numbers X-Claim 1/Dischord 7½). The album was o ...

'' on their own X-Claim label in 1982.

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...

was a friend and supporter and his Dischord label's logo appeared on the back cover. In 1983 they added second guitarist Francois Levesque and released the EP '' Get It Away'', widely regarded as their best record, and one that helped define Boston's straight-edge scene.McCaleb, Ian & Robbins, Ira
SS Decontrol/SSD
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', retrieved July 19, 2011 The X-Claim pressings of it and ''The Kids Will Have Their Say'' are both highly collectable. Like many hardcore bands in the mid-1980s, particularly in the Boston area, SSD began heading in a heavy metal direction. In 1984 they signed to the Boston label Modern Method and released the '' How We Rock'' EP, which was rooted in the hardcore sound but exhibited overt heavy metal characteristics, such as a relatively high number of lengthy

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...

s. After signing to Homestead they released the '' Break It Up'' LP in 1985 which saw the band expand further into the metal genre, leaving behind all trappings of punk and hardcore. SSD broke up in November that year. Barile went on to form Gage, Sciarappa joined

Slapshot A slapshot (also spelled as slap shot) in ice hockey is a powerful shot. Its advantage is as a high-speed shot that can be taken from long distance; the disadvantage is the time to set it up as well as its low accuracy. It has four stages wh ...

, and Springa went on to join Razorcaine and Die Blitzkinder. Scott Schinder, in his book ''Alt-Rock-a-Rama'', described SSD as "The most important hardcore band to emerge from New England."Schinder, Scott (1996) ''Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-a-Rama'', Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, , p. 1825

Discography

* ''

'' (LP, X-Claim, 1982) * '' Get It Away'' (EP, X-Claim, 1983) * ''

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" is a Christmas song that originated with a poem by Emily Huntington Miller (1833–1913), published as "Lilly's Secret" in ''The Little Corporal Magazine'' in December 1865. The song's lyrics have also been attributed t ...

'' (7",

Taang Records Taang! Records is an independent record label with a roster of hardcore punk, punk rock, Oi!, power pop, ska, indie rock, psychedelic, and ambient artists and bands founded by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusetts in 1983. History Taang! R ...

) * ''

A Boston Rock Christmas A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''ae ...

'' (various artists compilation, Boston Rock, 1983) – "Jolly Old St. Nick" * '' How We Rock'' (LP, Modern Method, 1984) * '' Break It Up'' (LP, Homestead, 1985) * '' Power'' (compilation, Taang!, 1993)

References

External links

*Al Barile'
SS Decontrol MySpace page
* X-Claim Record
SSD biography
* X-Claim Record
Gage page

SSD music video for "Get It Away" on BlankTV.com
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Hardcore punk groups from Massachusetts Musical groups from Boston Crossover thrash groups Heavy metal musical groups from Massachusetts Straight edge groups Homestead Records artists

History

Discography

See also

References

External links