Out of The Vaults #18 - Chernobyl Kids - Demo 99

My wife dives into our CD cabinets (The Vaults) and randomly pull out one of the thousands of CDs. The chosen album will then be given to me and I will talk about the CD for awhile no matter how good, bad, obscure or embarrassing the chosen disc is. Where did I buy it, when did I buy it, what was my first reaction to hearing it, do I still listen to it today etc, etc, etc

Out Of The Vaults # 18 - The Chernobyl Kids - Demo 99


Many times in this blog I have referred to the record store I owned in the late 90's called The Sound Exchange. One of the things that kept my store going for as long as it did was the support of local bands. One of these bands was the fun punk/hardcore band The Chernobyl Kids. The band was made up of members of various other past and present Baltimore area bands. Singer Funny had been the vocalist for the Maryland favorites The Pee Tanks. Bassist Steve was in another well-liked Maryland band (who also played at my store) named Longshot while guitarist John had been in Crew Jones. John and Steve were also in the awesome hardcore band No Justice. Drummer Matt came from a band named S.Q.U.I.D which always surprised me a bit because I was only familiar with them from the Baltimore City: That Breeds compilation from a while back

All together they made up an awesome band that knew when it was time to be poppy and when it was time to be hard, both times with great hooks. The Chernobyl Kids played my store at least twice that I can remember, one of which was the final two-day event blowout before the store's doors closed for good.

The Chernobyl Kids always ranked among my favorite Maryland bands. Here is why:

Top: Funny. Bottom: John and Steve

There is an age-old punk rock debate about who was the first band to bring the "Woahs" into punk rock music. Some say it was Glenn Danzig's Misfits. Some say it was Chicago's Naked Raygun. Whichever one it was I am glad they brought them. The "woahs" are one of the things that make a song fun to sing along to. The Chernobyl Kids had no shortage of them. The Fahrenheit 451-inspired lead track "Clarisse McLellan Lives" and "Pop Song" on track 5 were especially filled with some good old fashion "Woahs".

The demo also had its fair share of fast ones too. "Sinister Icy Cold Blackhand Of Death" (Track 3), "Slumlords of Towson" (Track 4), and "Generalization" (Track 6)  all reach breakneck speeds while still retaining their fun punk rock charm.

A definite stand-out song on the Demo would be "Park Bench" (Track 7). The very powerful and introspective Avail-influenced (sorry guys) song definitely sticks in your head and to this day finds its way on  many of the mix CDs I make for people

Most of these songs did end up on the Chernobyls Kids album To The Spoil Goes The Victors which can be downloaded here .

Flyer courtesy of Speechimpediment@blogspot.com

Since the band called it quits the members have remained active. Funny now plays bass in Widows Watch, a very good Maryland band which you can download their demo here: Widows Watch Demo 2011/2012. Also check out their Facebook page here to find out about upcoming shows.

(According to my friend Mike's blog Speech Impediment ) John went on to play in DC bands The Aftermath and Set To Explode while Steve would go on to another DC band 86 Mentality, both with releases available on my friend (and Words With Friends adversary) Alex's Grave Mistake Records here