A perfectly appropriate title for this 7-inch EP of jack-hammering, old-school style hardcore tunes released by Southern Lord, written and played by a rogues gallery of real deal music lifers as a condemnation of the criminal Trump administration and republican party, in the same spirit of those by-gone days when Ronald Reagan or George Bush was the crooked, self-serving president of the crumbling United States empire. Never before has there been a more obvious target, as Donald Trump and his mafia family cabinet rape the country while Rome burns. D.E.A. is Tony Avila, Ian Watts, Nick Oliveri, Mike IX, Blaine Cook, and the legendary and beloved, late producer and drummer of Poison Idea, Steve ‘Thee Slayer Hippy’ Hanford. Dying shortly before the completion of this record, it stands as a final testament to his genius, one last hot-wired blast of his epic musical brilliance. - Mark Lanegan, August 2020
released October 30, 2020
D.E.A is:
Steve "Thee Slayer Hippy" Hanford – drums, vocals
Tony Avila – guitar
Ian Watts – lead guitar
Nick "Rex" Oliveri – bass, vocals
Mike IX Williams – vocals
Blaine Cook – vocals
Southern Lord Records
credits
released November 13, 2020
Recorded at House Of Tain in Milwaukee, Oregon, The Magic Closet in Stayton, Oregon, and Mondo Generator Studios in Salton Sea, California. Mike IX’s vocals on "Bullet for .45 (Straight from a .45)" were recorded by Sanford Parker at Hypercube in Chicago, Illinois, and Blaine Cook’s vocals on "Searching For A Reason" were recorded at RGP in Portland, Oregon. The tracks were mixed by Mr. Ian Watts at The Magic Closet and mastered by Nick Townsend at Townsend Mastering.
The cover art by Dirty Donny and layout by Emma Maatman.
High-wire minimalist post-punk of the finest sort: the poetry of daily banality spit over molten guitar solos and elastic rhythms. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 20, 2017
The Chicago punks seem intent on defying any hardcore conventions, focusing instead on communicating pure disgust for the rotting world around them. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jul 1, 2022