In 1992 Beer City surveyed the punk rock wasteland, saw what the scene had become and decided that something needed to be done. Some had to stand up and be counted, someone had to speak up for punk rock. Real punk rock. The once magnificent monster that had given birth to a million mohawks, mohicans and glue spikes was slowly drowning in a sea of insipid pop nonsense, jangly guitars and songs about holding hands and skipping through the daisies whilst talking about feelings. The soul was being sucked out hardcore by thousands of pop clones all playing the same chords, delivering designer by numbers albums, all crafted by the same grinning idiots. Someone had to do something. That someone was Beer City.

The mission was simple. To release real punk and HC records by real punk and HC bands. It wasn’t as though the bands didn’t exist. They were out there, they were being ignored, being swept under the carpet and passed over in favour of the bands who were ready to deliver the big bucks and sanitise the punk scene in return for a quick ride to fame. Mission in place, Beer City started to deliver, taking local bands and releasing real punk rock seven inches. They started placing adverts, letting people know that these records were out there, and before long, the scene started to take notice. The records were selling. Fast. Entire runs were selling out as quickly as the records could be pressed. From starting with seven inches, the next step was albums, albums that started to sell as fast as the seven inches. Before long, the label became known as a voice for the disenfranchised, a voice for those who modern “punk rock” supposedly left behind. The tapes started to flood in, as more and more bands wanted to be heard, the records continued to sell, and Beer City carried on as they’ve always carried on. Delivering punk rock to punks whilst cutting out all the bullshit and staying on track and true to the original mission.

Now home to D.R.I., and having released records by Verbal Abuse ,MDC,The Faction ,Toxic Reasons, and a host of others, the label still maintains it’s stance, but continues to seek new blood that can exist in conjunction with the old. At the end of the day though, what does a labels history mean? Not a whole hell of a lot, because as the guys at Beer City would say “You’re represented by what you’ve put out and what you put out”. Welcome to Beer City…

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