REST IN PEACE - SF PUNK LEGEND and PHOENIX RESIDENT and FATHER OF THREE: JOHNITHIN CHRIST
I just read a myspace bulletin from Thee Unfortunates (written by either Mykel or Vince I assume). The very first musician I jammed with when I moved to Phoenix in the late 80s has passed away. I heard it was heart failure related to a brain tumor that was discovered in late 2007, and trust the source to be true. Thee Unfortunates were the first band signed to Christ' Savage Jaw record label.
John in 2007:
John in 1982:
CodeOf Honor were musically light years ahead of anyone else. They had thisextremely choppy avant-punk sound. Dave Chavez and Sal Paradise were anunbeatable rhythm section and they could break from lightning fasthardcore to skronked out jazz-noise on the drop of a dime. Over the topof this you had Mike Fox’s unbelievably trebled out guitar going fromstandard chord progressions to squalling noise and back like Greg Ginnminus the low end.
ByBeware The Savage Jaw, CoH were really bursting out of the confines ofhardcore and exploring new territory. Sometimes this works andsometimes this doesn’t. A lot of it hinges on how much you can tolerateJohnithin Christ’s lyrics and vocal style. I always had a hard timewith them because they are very didactic. You have to understand that Ithink “Ack Ack Ack”, represents the height of rock lyricism, so I am abit of a lyrical minimalist.
Thereare songs on here that cannot musically be considered traditionalhardcore by any extension of the term and this caused Beware The SavageJaw to be roundly dismissed by the knucklehead hardcore scene of 1984.Because of this, a lot of people (myself included) came to the defenseof this album. After all, it is a legitimate attempt to stretch theboundaries of punk/hardcore and more to the point, knuckleheads arefucking stupid. I remember one instance of me taping this for a skinhead friend of mine and being called a faggot for liking it!
Lookingat it now, my reaction to Beware The Savage Jaw lies somewhere betweenthe two extremes. I admire this album for what it tries to do. Butsometimes it just falls flat on its face. Honestly, it works best whenit sticks to the Code of Honor sound from previous releases. “TheBallad Of One-Eyed Jack and the Backhand Kid”, “Too Much For One Man”,“Don’t Tell Me” and “Beware the Savage Jaw” are the standouts. “IKilled the Dove” is killer and sounds like Johnithin Christ’s previousband Society Dog. “This Day” slows it down and adds a wah-wah guitaracid-rock feel that is successful. The rest of the tracks really hingeon how much you can tolerate the lyrics and vocals.
Today,I would probably rather listen to Mike Fox’s first band The Tools orthe Code of Honor / Sick Pleasure split from 1982 than this. But backin the day I got in quite a few arguments defending this album and Istill am impressed with what it is trying to do and what it, at certainmoments, achieves."
If you havent heard Beware The SAVAGE JAW from SF punk group CODE of HONOR, then find it somewhere and listen. Truly one of the best punk albums from NoCal in the early 80s. Johnithin was also in SOCIETY DOG, another important SF band that appeared on the infamous SF Underground 7" series.
Johnithin was the first person I jammed with when I moved to AZ in the late 80s. We were starting a new band, but at barely 18 (he at 31) and a very rusty player and songwriter, JC rightfully moved on to front DEADLINE SCREAMER with better musicians. He taught me alot of history in that time and was able to keep in touch with him on and off over the past 20 years. I last saw him last year when he gave me a advanced copy of the compilation he was putting out on his new label Savage Jaw.
I am in shock and would rather just copy & paste the bulletin, giving proper credit to the author. It's a dedication to the his legacy in Code of Honor and I woudl have to say I agree with almost every word.
John in 2007:
John in 1982:
"Code ofHonor hold a place of reverence with many a HC fan from the 1980’s,including myself. Growing out of the ashes of numerous Bay Area punkbands including Sick Pleasure, The Tools, and Society Dog, CoH tookeverything a step further. Their alliegance with the skating scene (asrepresented by the photos on their first two releases), the intensemusicianship of all three players and the theatrics of frontmanJohnithin Christ all merged to create an archetype that is stillcontemporary today.
CodeOf Honor were musically light years ahead of anyone else. They had thisextremely choppy avant-punk sound. Dave Chavez and Sal Paradise were anunbeatable rhythm section and they could break from lightning fasthardcore to skronked out jazz-noise on the drop of a dime. Over the topof this you had Mike Fox’s unbelievably trebled out guitar going fromstandard chord progressions to squalling noise and back like Greg Ginnminus the low end.
ByBeware The Savage Jaw, CoH were really bursting out of the confines ofhardcore and exploring new territory. Sometimes this works andsometimes this doesn’t. A lot of it hinges on how much you can tolerateJohnithin Christ’s lyrics and vocal style. I always had a hard timewith them because they are very didactic. You have to understand that Ithink “Ack Ack Ack”, represents the height of rock lyricism, so I am abit of a lyrical minimalist.
Thereare songs on here that cannot musically be considered traditionalhardcore by any extension of the term and this caused Beware The SavageJaw to be roundly dismissed by the knucklehead hardcore scene of 1984.Because of this, a lot of people (myself included) came to the defenseof this album. After all, it is a legitimate attempt to stretch theboundaries of punk/hardcore and more to the point, knuckleheads arefucking stupid. I remember one instance of me taping this for a skinhead friend of mine and being called a faggot for liking it!
Lookingat it now, my reaction to Beware The Savage Jaw lies somewhere betweenthe two extremes. I admire this album for what it tries to do. Butsometimes it just falls flat on its face. Honestly, it works best whenit sticks to the Code of Honor sound from previous releases. “TheBallad Of One-Eyed Jack and the Backhand Kid”, “Too Much For One Man”,“Don’t Tell Me” and “Beware the Savage Jaw” are the standouts. “IKilled the Dove” is killer and sounds like Johnithin Christ’s previousband Society Dog. “This Day” slows it down and adds a wah-wah guitaracid-rock feel that is successful. The rest of the tracks really hingeon how much you can tolerate the lyrics and vocals.
Today,I would probably rather listen to Mike Fox’s first band The Tools orthe Code of Honor / Sick Pleasure split from 1982 than this. But backin the day I got in quite a few arguments defending this album and Istill am impressed with what it is trying to do and what it, at certainmoments, achieves."
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Posted by Will Tynor - aka Vil Vodka at 3/6/2009 12:11 AM 
Categories: RIP
Tags: Society Dog Code of Honor Johnithin Christ
Categories: RIP
Tags: Society Dog Code of Honor Johnithin Christ
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