Canada’s legendary Punk Kings,who helped
spread punk rock counterculture around the world, approach a momentous
milestone. For nearly 25 years D.O.A. has been happily slashing away at all
manner of philosophical enemies. They’ve travelled the globe almost continuously
since they formed in 1978; they released their first snarling piece of vinyl,
the “Disco Sucks” EP in June of that year. That slab of plastic opened the door
to international prominence, riots, rip-off record companies and three
generations of fans.
In 1981, D.O.A. made the term “hardcore” their own and pushed it into the common
vernacular with their legendary album “Hardcore 81” and subsequent tours.
Consequently, D.O.A. has been cited as a major influence for tons of bands
ranging from The Red Hot
Chili Peppers to
Green Day
to Rancid
to The Offspring.
They followed that up with their ground breaking EP “War on 45” and “Bloodied
But Unbowed.”
D.O.A. has always worn their politics on their sleeves.They’ve done a lot shit
disturbing along the way.They’ve been harassed and busted and survived all that
crap. D.O.A.’s blatant slogan,TALK-ACTION=0 sums it all up.
The stuff the band’s worked on through the years; they’ve played benefits for
Rape Relief, anti-racism, rock-for brains, anti-globalization, OXFAM, first
nations rights, anti censorship and environmental causes amongst many others.
D.O.A.’s sound and philosophy has been held together by Canada’s Godfather of
punk Joey “Shithead” Keithley’s songwriting, singing and guitar playing.
D.O.A.’s sound, although always rooted in punk rock, has managed to create a
fair bit of consternation for those who would like to choose musical boxes. It’s
punk,but it incorporates rock n’ roll, reggae, metal,and ska. Whatever the hell
their sound is, it’s pulled out a “Yeah,that’s the sh*t!” from the likes of
Henry Rollins,The Red Hot
Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Jello Biafra, Bif Naked, John Doe, Randy Bachman,
Dave Grohl, Pete Seeger, Yada,Yada,Yada, you
get the picture.