7 Seconds “The Crew” 1984/2021. BYO Records/Trust Records. Reissue, remastered from the original analog tapes. Gatefold with 20 page booklet that includes photos from the 80′s era, an oral history with the band and others in the scene (like Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris, Jello Biafra, even artist Shephard Fairey).

We have an original of The Crew but after hearing Scott Crawford’s “Spoke” podcast interview with Kevin Seconds a couple months back, I decided I needed this reissue in the collection (Trust Records had the band’s blessing).

7 Seconds was one of my favorite punk bands in the 80′s; I feel like I saw them every few months in the Fox Valley area: at the Ridgeway in Neenah (I got to sit on the side of the stage during that show) and ABC Boxing and Kutska’s Hall in Green Bay (we partied with the band at my friend’s house after one of the Kutska’s show). I still have some of the flyers for those shows in my collection that look pretty similar to the ones in the booklet.

The Crew was 7 Seconds’ first full-length release, put out after a slew of singles and a ton of touring. It’s an absolute hardcore punk classic, fast, hard but still melodic with whoa-whoa-whoa anthems like “Not Just Boys Fun” (always a favorite of us girls at the shows – 7 Seconds was a very female-friendly band for punk girls at concerts), “This is the Angry Pt. 2,” the title track “The Crew,” “Colorblind” and “Young Til I Die.” They had originally intended to put out their first record on Alternative Tentacles (Jello was a big fan of the band) to be titled United We Stand. Alternative Tentacles was going through some financial shit (read the booklet for the details) and Shawn Stern of BYO was pursuing 7 Seconds for a release so they ended up going that route, putting some of the tracks that they recorded for United We Stand onto The Crew.