"Let Them Know"... About Youth Brigade

"The kids of the future, you can see it in their eyes,

they must overcome nationality if the world is to survive.

And we'll sink with california, when it falls into the sea."

Thus, according to the 3 brothers Stern, we are all people in this together. All messed with and kicked down to the dirt by the same power, hate and corruption that effects us all. Yet, each generation of "youth" has a duty to itself to change what is wrong with the world. Sadly, this doesn't seem to really be happening, with most members of the younger generations submitting to the rat race of the blind in the mainstream scene. Still this is the philosophy of Youth Brigade; Youth is an attitude, not a lazy description of age, nor a derogative social group in the post-modern landscape to be associated in. This attitude known as youth, no matter how old one is as long as they keep the young fighter burning within them, is the action hero who will someday save our world from total annihilation.

Youth Brigade is without a doubt, the most well-known of the underground bands in the punk rock scene.
Amidst the 1980's California Punk Rock craze, Youth Brigade rose up around the same time and place as bands like; Social Distortion, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, and Bad Religion. Though they never garnered quite as much commercial spotlight as the aforementioned(otherwise wouldn't you be able to buy out their novelty backpacks and candy at hot-topic?), they remain an extremely important contributer to the genres 1980s progression.


3 Brothers from Hollywood, California all assembled together in 1980 to take on the bigots and dualists of society.
The brothers:

• Shawn Stern
• Mark Stern
• Adam Stern

The B.Y.O. or the "Better Youth Organization", was created in 1979 by brothers Shawn and Mark to promote punk and other younger culture's alternative bands. In 1982, B.Y.O. Records was created as an indy label to house such bands, and taking the best unheard youth bands under their wing for the royal treatment when no one else would. 

In 1983(after a self-ended production of their 1st attempt) they re-released their 1st full album Sound and Fury, which contained such legendary Punk tracks as; "Fight to Unite", "Men in Blue(Part 1)", "Did You Wanna Die", and above all, their personal anthem and signature song:

The band would later go through many variations in lineup(most notably the loss of Adam Stern in 1985 due to he choosing to go back art school to finish his degree) but their sound and attitude would remain untouched by any temptation to sell out or change.
Current Members:

• Shawn Stern(Lead Vocals/Guitar)
• Mark Stern(Drums)
• John Carey(Guitar/Backing Vocals)
• Joey "Balls" Garibaldi(Bass/Backing Vocals)

Youth Brigade's sound is different from most punk bands in general. 1st of all, Shawn's voice when singing is a deep, vibrato emitting decibel. Both very understandable, but most importantly, powerful in its intended emotion. With Shawn's voice comes back-up singing as well from the rest of the band(minus Mark on drums). The progressive force felt from the added layer of vocals gives off a strong feeling of energy, which only makes the band's already powerful lyrics and sound that much more enjoyable.

Their music is driven by a fast BUT organized tempo. The beat of each song flows out with tremendous amounts of energy as the meaning of each song can be felt through the flow of the music itself. Unlike some punk bands, another plus to Youth Brigade is that they are also a very catchy band for the most part(if it's even of concern to you at all).
One of the best examples of the above mentioned qualities of the band is found in their song, "Spies for Life" from their 1996 album, To Sell The Truth:

In 2007, B.Y.O. Records celebrated its 25th anniversary. 2 years later Let Them Know, a documentary on Youth Brigade and B.Y.O.'s history was released. The film pays tribute to the band and label who in so many ways helped to bring secret success to the punk underground.

Youth Brigade is still going on strong today. This underground punk band tours each year with shows that truly examine and personify what they mean by youth as an attitude. These guys are slowly getting grey, yet they put on a show as if they were 20. Music is their life and their ability to entertain proves that statement true.



Youth's 2009 Let Them Know Tour. Soma, San Diego with Dropkick Murphys.

2010 El Rey Theater, L.A. with The Adolescents.

Quite simply, Youth Brigade is one of the greatest punk bands of all time. Their insight into the world is comforting to those in need of reassurance that they are not crazy. Their legacy and generosity to the music world has been outstanding, yet nearly unknown. This band has had much to do with the history of the indy label and the ability to give a good guy a chance, so please listen and support these guys. As they say,

"Have you listened?

Has it helped, then i'm glad

And I want to tell you thank you,

It means everything to me"

 As our world of punk is being overtaken by various mainstream imitators, we must give our respect to those remaining acts from the 70s and 80s who really helped to raise speculation and get Americans thinking about the life they live. We must support these heroes of ours with all that we've got, for as soon as this era dies out, all we'll have left is green day... I don't wanna live in that world, do you?