Die Kreuzen officially release their 1981/1982 demos (listen)

Milwaukee hardcore punk icons Die Kreuzen have officially released their early demos, all dating from 1981 and 1982. The batch from 1981 is from tapes sent to clubs to book shows, while the 1982 demos were sold as cassettes at shows and through mail order. While heavily bootlegged, this is the first official release and the songs were digitized “directly from the master tape used to dub all those other copies almost 40 years ago.”

Die Kruezen’s manic energy and sharp playing are apparent on these 14 records which clock in at 20 minutes and include all the songs that would be on their 1982 debut EP, Cows and Beer and 1984 self-titled full-length.

You can stream or download Die Kreuzen’s Demos for free from Song Preserve and a donation is made to Wisconsin Conservancy of Music with every play.

Kerrang! picked Die Kreuzen for Wisconsin in their 2018 United States of Hardcore list.

Decibel, presumably coincidentally, revealed today that Die Kreuzen have a Hall of Fame feature in their new issue;