FOD No School No Core

stream F.O.D.'s ripping new album 'No School, No Core'

Philly-area hardcore vets Flag of Democracy, aka F.O.D., have been going strong since 1982, never breaking up and always releasing new music every few years. Their last release was a 2015 split with Dead Milkmen that was jokingly advertised as a “lost” record from 1985 (“We actually recorded this record earlier this year. We tried to make it sound as close as possible to the bands’ early material,” SRA Records later admitted). Now F.O.D. are set to release a new full-length on SRA — their first since 2010’s Home Lobotomy Kit — this Friday. It’s called No School, No Core, and for this one, the band went for the opposite of phony nostalgia. Frontman Jim McMonagle says:

We didn’t want to make some kind of a nostalgia or greatest hits record.. oh back in the day blah blah blah… We’ve been playing over 3 decades but some kid checking out our music isn’t going care about that. We have to make a really good record that stands on its own, I’m hoping the songs are better and that we’re playing better with each record. I feel like we did a really good job with these songs. There are so many fantastic new bands out there… like just in Philadelphia itself… you cant just list off the cool bands you played with in the 80’s and expect people to like you, every record is your first record for someone.

Very true, and if No School, No Core is your first F.O.D. record, it’ll be obvious to you how much these guys rip. It is cut from the same cloth as their classic material, but it doesn’t sound like a band that’s coasting or relying on the strength of past records to keep them alive. F.O.D. sound like an energized, urgent band on No School, No Core. They sound like a band with a mission, with something to say, and who would stop at nothing to get their message out there. If you like breakneck-speed hardcore that’s melodic but not poppy, and crisp-sounding but still raw, you’re basically guaranteed to dig this record. We’re premiering a full stream and you can listen below. Pre-order it here.

Here’s a pic of FOD back in the day “with roadie Rich Hoak (later of Brutal Truth and Total Fucking Destruction) and I believe Bob’s mom” (says BJ from SRA):

FOD