Location: San Fernando Valley, USA
Release: Justice Records, 1989-1992
Born out of a common passion for graffiti, hip-hop and hardcore, the Garcia brothers and Rey Oropeza plus a couple of friends from the valley formed SOCIAL JUSTICE. The band quickly gained notoriety in the local scene which led them to sign with Mystic Records through their sub-label Safe-Side.
The deal resulted in the recording of the debut 10-song LP Unity Is Strength in 1989, it was recorded in Bad Religion's HQ with engineering by Brett Gurewitz. The group soon disbanded but Rey (aka X-Ray Messenger) wanted to keep going and assembled what was going to be DOWNSET. first line-up and recorded an EP called I Refuse To Lose! (watch the release party video here).
When I was a teenage hardcore kiddo a friend and I saw in a record store the bootlegged Lost & Found Records CD version of Unity Is Strength as the artwork was very appealing (for a kid at least) he bought it and we got blown away. I really loved the positive and direct lyrics and the mid-paced cali-hardcore sound with plenty of sing-a-longs and breakdowns.
A decade later I got myself the original LP version and then took sometime to find out they had a second album. So here's your chance to revive this Californian classic and its discography. Additionally I'm going to add another band from the valley that shared the same drummer for a brief moment, it's POSITIVE APPROACH and their only EP released on Conversion Records in 1989.
DOWNLOAD includes:
SOCIAL JUSTICE - Unity Is Strength CD (Lost & Found Records, 1995)
SOCIAL JUSTICE - I Refuse To Lose EP (Green Records, 1993)
POSITIVE APPROACH - Just Hang On (Conversion Records, 1989)
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