SSD

hardcore

SSD (Society-System Decontrol) were a Straight Edge Hardcore band from Boston. They released two records as SS Decontrol and then formally changed their name to SSD. As SSD they released two more records, these with a very hard rock influenced sound. However the group is often simply referred to, including all its periods, as SSD. Formed by songwriter/guitarist Al Barile (then a machinist at the General Electric plant in Lynn, Massachusetts and a student at Northeastern University), SSD started performing at smaller venues throughout the greater Boston metropolitan area in the summer of 1981. The band quickly gained notoriety within the local music scene for intense performances charged and for the provocative antics of its core group of followers, the Boston Crew. The original lineup was Al Barile on guitar, Springa (David Spring) on vocals, Jaime Sciarappa on bass and Chris Foley on drums. They released their debut EP The Kids Will Have Their Say on their own X-Claim label in 1982. Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat was a friend and supporter and his Dischord label's logo appeared on the back cover. In 1983 they added second guitarist Francois Levesque and released Get it Away. This EP is widely regarded to be their best record. The X-Claim pressings of it and The Kids Will Have Their Say are both highly collectable. Like many hardcore bands - particularly those in the Boston area - SSD, as they were now officially called, were heading in a heavy metal direction. In 1984 they ...