OUT NOW!

REALLY RED - Teaching You The Fear CD/LP

The explosive and turbulent Texas of the late 70s produced a wealth of
great hardcore with the likes of the Dicks and the Big Boys. Right up
there was Houston's Really Red spitting out their own brand of
political hardcore. This is their debut release and a long out of
print gem. We are super proud to be able to bring this classic Texas
punk record back to light for a new generation of punks raised in the
anti-political scene of 90's easily digestible mass-market punk.
Politically relevant as it was in 1980, this is truly one of America's
greatest hardcore bands.

http://www.emptyrecords.com/empty/releases/record_detail.asp?intRecordId=218


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Gary Floyd (The Dicks & Sister Double Happiness):
"Really Red were from Houston. The Dicks were from Austin...so when I
heard they were playing, I knew I was going to be a harsh critic...
my turf, you know... all that went out the window about two songs into
the set... this was the real shit... i loved them, and I still do!"
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Tim Kerr (Big Boys, Lord High Fixers, etc..):
Really Red were not only an amazing Texas band. They were an amazing
band ... period. Great people that did what they could to keep the
community they had going, together, and inspired. I remember being in
Ronny's store and hearing him ask a kid who was buying records when he
was going to start a band. (smile) It always stuck with me.
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Mark Arm (Mudhoney & MonkeyWrench):
"I love Really Red. Teaching You The Fear was a mind-bending
eye-opening album for lil' Mark Arm. It was punk rock. It was
hardcore. It was so much more. It didn't easily fit into this new,
increasingly inflexible, form. Teaching You The Fear was a litmus
test for punks. If you dug Really Red, chances are you were smart and
cool. If you didn't, you were a sheep, a chump or a chump sheep.

Really Red was one of the very few bands that dealt with politics in a
meaningful way. They didn't just yell a bunch of cheap slogans. They
never talked down to their audience. Most importantly, they knew what
the hell they were talking about. This was a huge contrast to the
generic "political" hardcore bands highly touted by the likes of
Maximum Rock 'n' Roll. The band's righteous anger was infectious. At
least it infected me.

I'll never understand why Really Red wasn't huge in the same way Black
Flag and the Dead Kennedys were (or at least better known than
schmucks like MDC or Suicidal Tendencies). They were worshipped by my
small circle of friends. My first band, Mr Epp, got to open for them
once when they came to Seattle. We felt like we'd made it. It was a
great show. We finally got to see Really Red and they were on fire!
I love Really Red."
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Steven Blush (American Hardcore):
"A small scene did evolve out of the powerful shows and records of
Houston's premiere HC-era band, Really Red -started in '79 by fiery
front man Ronnie Bond; a.k.a. U-Ron Bondage. On their own CIA imprint
they issued some amazing vinyl, like '81's LP Teaching You The Fear
and '82's EP New Strings for Old Puppets,. Really Reds Spot on Let
them eat jellybeans led many to compare Bond to Jello Biafra - though
Ronnie could caustically question authority without whining." (from
American Hardcore
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King Koffee (Butthole Surfers):
"Talk about overlooked bands - Really Red left behind some great
records, but the memory of their live show is still vivid. Had they
only toured more they'd be considered legendary. They took a strong
political stance yet were able to pull it off. Unlike MDC who were
overly preachy, Really Red had amazing anthems - Ronnie Bond'd just
scream for all he was worth. It wasn't typical Left Wing propaganda.
Seeing Really Red in Houston, where they were really popular, was very
moving, powerful stuff. They were great -they made sense to me."
(from American Hardcore)
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Yet another underappreciated Tex-ass band, Really Red's first LP is
utterly mind blowing from start to finish. Their songs follow no
convention, boiling in the same musical melting pot where the
Minutemen and early Wire swam. The vocals often call to mind D. Boon,
who also could convey fierce emotion whether he was singing or
shouting, joking or railing. The music, jerky and disjointed but also
almost infectiously danceable, also follows the Minutemen formula of
jangly guitar, heavy-bottomed bass, and expressive drumming. Almost
every song is a highlight here, with anthems like "Too Political?" and
"Run 'Em Out" providing ample shout-along lines. The title track, with
its menacingly anxious bass line and shakily spoken lyrics "Take one
chicano with his hands cuffed behind his back..." is one of the most
haunting political punk songs ever written. When it explodes into the
chorus and Ronnie spits out "Teaching you the feeee-aaaar!" it really
is a revelation. Likewise, the song "Starvation Dance" drives its
point home not through the grotesque, graphic descriptions of third
world misery in each verse, but during the maddening, idiotic chant of
"Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to starvation" sung
over the catchy, upbeat chorus. My favorite tune is the more ambiguous
"Aim Tastes Good," which calls to mind the fragmentary poetry of the
first Gang of Four and Proletariat records. Another link between all
the bands I've mentioned is that Really Red are goddamned smart.
Intelligence is what holds this record together through political
rants, strange episodic hardcore tunes, and an ode to Nico that seems
to be dead serious. This is what pop music will sound like after the
revolution. -JT (Kill From The Heart
homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/mainpage.html)
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Gary Floyd (Dicks & Sister Double Happiness):
"Really Red were really overlooked - I don't know how people don't
seem to know about them. Their Albums were great, they were produced
well. All in all, they were fucking incredible." (from American Hardcore)

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