Leterme Youth

Petit rappel sans doute nécessaire pour beaucoup (inutile pour nos amis flamands et allemands…)

Reagan Youth (a play on Hitler Youth) was a band started by singer Dave Rubinstein (Dave Insurgent) and his friend and guitarist Paul Bakija in Queens in early 1980. They have been labeled peace punk as well as hardcore. An important group in the New York/New Jersey hardcore scene, they performed very regularly at CBGB and toured the U.S. extensively, often with other early punk bands such as the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains and the Misfits.

Though known for their use of Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party imagery, Reagan Youth were a very anti-fascist/racist band, playing with such black bands as Bad Brains. The band expressed its political views through irony, using images from the two hate groups for their album/CD covers. Their intention was to draw the audience’s attention to the perceived parallels between the policies of Ronald Reagan and the Religious Right and the beliefs of the hate groups. Their songs included “Jesus Was a Communist,” a stab at the Christian fundamentalists in the United States, and “New Aryans,” an anti-Ronald Reagan/yuppie and also anti-racist anthem. It should be noted that Dave Rubinstein was well aware of the irony and shock value inherent in these images and lyrics; both of his parents were Holocaust survivors.

Musically, the band played hardcore punk, but other songs have more mellow rhythms with slower tempos, including guitar riffs and solos not seen in many other punk bands at the time.

• Official site for Reagan Youth
• Reagan Youth page at New Red Archives site
• Reagan Youth at CDBaby
• Reagan Youth at LoveCatMusic

Leper House bientôt en concert à Aix-la Chapelle (Aachen)