Something I Learned Today

Punk Rock and Other Assorted Bullshit

The Offenders

February 07th, 2005 | Posted by: Eric | Category: 80's Hardcore

If you’re like me you may have spent a lot of time and money tracking down Offenders material based upon their PEACE comp cut “Face Down in the Dirt”. The track is a standout, and like so many other tracks on that comp it sent me out to shake the brush for evey piece of recorded material I could find. The end result was a collection of albums and singles that are hit or miss. The first Offenders 12″ We Must Rebel was released in 1983 on MDC’s R Radical label, and it’s no coincidence that the band comes across as a blander, less confrontational version of the label founders. Muddy production and songs best classified as “tuneless thrash” lead to a disappointing album. 1985’s Endless Struggle was an improvement, but still seemed to be missing that spark, that certain something that made “Face Down in the Dirt” so amazing.

In 1989 German label Bitzcore began to reissue some of the Offenders early material. Their reissue of We Must Rebel added “Face Down…” and several other tracks as bonus material. This was it. The tracks “I Hate Myself”, “Fed Up”, and “Inside the Middle” all had that sound, surely coming from the same sessions that produced “Face Down”. The guitar is incendiary, the vocals desperate, the drums, well there somewhere in the mix. Hellbent and out of control hardcore. Why couldn’t there be more of this material?

As it turns out the tracks in question were from the band’s pre We Must Rebel 1983 demo tape and have recently been resurrected by GTA as part of the Died In Custody CD. The CD contains all of Endless Struggle, the “I Hate Myself/Bad Times” 7″, the ‘83 demo and some live cuts. Definitely worthwhile. My favorites:

Offenders - I Hate Myself.mp3
Offenders - Fed Up.mp3
Offenders - Fight Back.mp3
Offenders - Inside The Middle.mp3

  • Buy Died in Custody from Froogle. To hell with that, it’s $11 from Bomp! Mailorder
  • Daniel at Deep Fry Bonanza still has the single version of “I Hate Myself” up for your perusal.
  • ’80’s texas punk photos of the Offenders and others at the cool Idle Time Archive
  • As always, any questions on early Texas punk and hardcore releases can usually be answered by searching the exhaustive Texas Punk Discography.

    • 13 Comments so far

    1. eric February 8th, 2005 3:49 am

      For reference sake here is the track from the PEACE comp. A little something extra for the comment readers.

      Offenders - Face Down in the Dirt

    2. Daniel Lupton February 8th, 2005 4:49 am

      Hey, thanks for the link! And, by the way, the single and first LP were just (like a week ago) re-released on vinyl on Kangaroo Records, an excellent hardcore label based in Europe.

    3. federico February 10th, 2005 10:18 am

      this is weird I came here from
      http://intortetor.splinder.com/
      who said something about this blog, so I had the same records when I was 17 or 18, lately I’ve been TRACKING down my past really and one of the reasons is I miss those days and second music now sucks and some other things too

    4. federico February 10th, 2005 10:19 am

      I had offenders lp i have an offender tape I’ll publish my list soon

    5. slickdpdx February 14th, 2005 1:27 am

      One of the best 7″ records ever. Flipside Bad Times is also H-O-T!

      Only 7′ that comes close is Battalion of Saints Second Coming/Intercourse/Solitary is Fun

      Really enjoy your blog.

    6. james leland February 10th, 2006 5:00 am

      When the Offenders were good they were amazing! I have this or I’d buy it myself. I think this was the best thing they did.

      http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4829657531&category=306

    7. xconron December 24th, 2006 10:38 am

      I posted a page on The Offenders and you can access it here:
      http://web.mac.com/erposner1/iWeb/MDC/Offenders.html

    8. Brobosky January 2nd, 2007 11:35 pm

      I found youe site while searching for The Offenders ‘Endless Struggle’. I would appreciate any help finding a copy.
      Bro

    9. AIMEE February 7th, 2007 12:00 am

      HELP..CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE I CAN BUY THE ENDLESS STRUGGLE ALBULM ON CD…..PRETTY PLEASE OR WHERE I CAN DOWNLOAD IT I’M LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR SONG….YOU KEEP ME HANGING ON

    10. AIMEE February 7th, 2007 12:00 am

      MY EMAIL IS LOVELYANAI@MAC.COM

    11. OTTO February 7th, 2007 3:52 pm

      http://www.geocities.com/tysonkangaroo/

      Kangaroo Records in Holland has released the entire Offenders discography on one blasting CD… visit address above and email/paypal to order… Nice booklet with photos, etc. Great quality transfer, reasonable price… a thing of power and beauty. Henk, from Kangaroo is responsive and a super nice guy. Enjoy!

      Or I could just e-mail you the one tune (in .wma format… my MP3 software is botched right now). Let me know.

    12. Chad May 14th, 2007 10:25 am

      Hey “OTTO”, do you think you could e-mail me the CD? That’d be rad. My e-mail is damnchad@hotmail.com.

    13. tonyoffender September 17th, 2007 1:03 pm

      all of yall are so fucking cool, thanks everyone, I’m working on new songs and i’m going to do a new band. Anyone who would like to be a myspace friend please email me a www.myspace.com/toffender

      Anthony Johnson
      aka TonyOffender
      lead guitar

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