Born in the
second generation of Bay Area punk, Ribzy’s name is synonymous with the
evolution of the South Bay punk music scene. In fact, they helped
transfom it from a non-scene to one that eventually came to boast names
such as The Faction, Los Olvidados and The Drunk Injuns to name a few.
At a time when the Fab Mab was peaking in San Francisco,
guitarist/vocalist Greg Oropeza assembled a crew (that would turnover
many times in the band’s twenty-five year career) and answered back to
the San Francisco scene by throwing their own shows at venues such as
Briner Hall in Campbell and inviting headliners such as Black Flag to
perform. True old school punk DIY ethic.
The band’s sound evolved
over the next two decades, constantly changing as the years went on.
‘81 - ‘85 captures the early spirit of the band with a collection of
30 gritty, raw tracks that include several unlikely covers (The
Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” and the Monkees’ “Mary Mary”, etc.).
The compilation leads
off with “Cyanide Pill”, which captures the entire feel of the early
1980s punk scene in just one track. The lyrics of “Clerk Is Dead”
are typical of the band’s cynical look at life in the city circa the
1980s. Crime, despair, and apathy are thesubjects explored in the
best Ribzy songs.
The vocals of Derek
Csimma, with his high-pitched screeches that emerged from the
deepest part of his bowels, gave the band it’s edge but later lead
vocalist Dion Trottier put his own stamp on Ribzy’s sound without
the band missing a step.
This disc was inspired by the discovery of tapes of several
recorded sessions that had been missing for 25 years. Their find
is our good fortune as this compilation is a musical lesson of the
early local punk scene in it’s purest form. A treasure for fans of
true punk everywhere.
