1. CrumbsuckersLife Of Dreams
They were a hardcore/thrash metal band that I would see quite often at CBGB’s and the most musical of any in that scene. They were like a hardcore band that could really, really, really play their instruments, which was an anomaly in the hardcore scene at that time. One of my favourite bands to see live. Sick guitar players. In the New York hardcore scene in the early ’80s, most of it was coming from the punk rock and hardcore side. The Crumbsuckers were a band that certainly had much more of a heavy metal influence, yet were still accepted in that scene as a hardcore band. You had two guys on guitar who could totally shred. And they had song structures that were much more heavy metal than they were hardcore. So, for me, they were just right up my alley. Even the crossover bands that were around at the same time or came later – Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I. or Corrosion Of Conformity – the Crumbsuckers’ guitar playing was way more… it was like you plucked two dudes who could’ve played for Ozzy. They were like Randy Rhoads-calibre guitar players.
Do you think they’re underappreciated?
Not at the time they weren’t. In the scene they were a part of, they were very much appreciated. If they were underappreciated by the mainstream, or whatever you want to call it, well, so were we all. Probably everyone on my list at some point was underappreciated. When I listened to Crumbsuckers, I wasn’t sitting around wondering why more people weren’t listening them. I just enjoyed them for myself.
