Way early punk band, ahead of their time. A bunch of nihilistic fuck ups and druggies. They dressed like cops and their first show was a gay-rights benefit. They hated the music scene at all levels and let it show:
...But Crime’s insistence on headlining every show and undisguised disdain for the bands they gigged with earned them more enemies than fans.
“At first it was with the people who were running things,” said Strike, “a close-knit group left over from the hippie days that included club bookers, journalists, record shop owners, deejays, etc. They definitely weren't up for us. When we saw how things were, instead of playing nice with them like most bands, we drew our swords and made the gap as wide as it would go.” Despite the band’s bad reputation among San Francisco’s rock elite, Crime secured regular appearances at the Mabuhay Gardens and even booked a notorious gig at nearby San Quentin Penitentiary, which they played in full police regalia to the puzzled inmates. Aside from rare shows in Seattle and Los Angeles, Crime remained a local phenomenon, stubbornly staying in the face of a scene that considered them rude and primitive even by punk standards.
Fucking awesome, fucking punk. Their shitty website has an article from a zine that gives you about as much history as you'll get on them.
Swami Records put out a collection of demos in 2004 called San Francisco's Still Doomed and it seems to be out of print already, so I'll put it up here to download.
Their singles (never put out an LP) are still unavailable, so this is the best there is for now. There's supposed to be a boxed set coming down the line that collects everything, which would be way cooler.
The first half of this CD is a live in the studio session from 1978 and it rips. It's barely held together chaos, but it works so well. The other half of the CD is kind of ehhh but it's still cool. It has a more traditional rock n roll vibe, which is kind of boring at times.
Overall, the shit just rules. And I am really not someone who is into protopunk or super early obscure punk. Crime was fucking awesome. Undeniably so.
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