If Rand McNally published an atlas of the worldwide hardcore punk movement that proliferated in the early ’80s, Milwaukee would occupy a special place on the map. A second-tier city in terms of population, and far from the media spotlight of L.A. or New York, Milwaukee nevertheless nurtured a scene that gave rise to Die Kreuzen, Sacred Order and The Crusties.
Although there are no plans for a reunion, The Crusties are marking Record Store Day 2016 with the vinyl reissue of their 1985 cassette album, Crustunes. The LP will be released by one of the world’s foremost hardcore punk labels, Milwaukee’s own Beer City Records. “There’s a huge amount of interest in hardcore bands from the ’80s,” explains Beer City’s owner Mike Beer. “I thought: Why not finally put out one of the era’s best albums on vinyl?”
Crustunes will be the fifth Crusties release by the prolific Beer City, a label that has been rising on the strength of a strong undercurrent of fascination for the punk rock of the ’70s and ’80s. “It was so good! So innovative!” Beer says of that music. And so diverse. “Hardcore meant taking the raw aggression of punk and making it faster. Each band added their own thing it.”
In The Crusties’ case, it was a fierce sonic attack derived from avant-garde jazz. “Every member brought something to the table,” says drummer Paul New, crediting bassist Johnny Washday with opening the band’s eyes to jazz. Washday ascribes the band’s galvanic sound to the efforts of all parties. “It should be noted that we practiced every day—every day,” he says. Also in the band during the recording of Crustunes were vocalist-trumpeter Tim Cole and guitarists Skip Wagner and Brian Kurek.
Looking back, Washday is especially pleased with the band’s lyrics. “They’re not typical punk rock,” he says. New picks up the thread: “The theme was looking inward—your third eye. The lyrics were saying that there’s more to life than what’s on the surface.”
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The Crusties played often in Milwaukee, opened for many national acts and embarked on DIY road trips before disbanding in 1987. There have been occasional reunion gigs, most recently in 2012, but logistics have become tough. Cole has lived in Texas for several years, managing a longhorn cattle ranch. Washday went west after The Crusties in search of opportunities but came home without playing a single show in L.A. “There isn’t anything there that we don’t have here,” he says. “People here work much harder. People’s word means something.”
