Half Off – The Truth

In 1987 Orange County had a budding straight edge hardcore scene with bands like Uniform Choice, Doggy Style, and Insted gaining attention on both a local and national scale. While Half Off were not as well known as some of these other bands they nonetheless were deeply involved in Orange County's hardcore scene. Vocalist Billy Rubin was particularly noted as being a staunch supporter of all things O.C.H.C. and expressed this support through his involvement in the band and through his fanzine, Think. "The Truth" which is Half Off's only full length record showcases the band in their classic form- playing snotty thrash with the occasional pause or brief breakdown. As history has shown this record has often been regarded as generic by critics. This is an easy statement to make as it is true that there is nothing in particular that sticks out as being unique in Half Off's sound. That is there are no arty interludes, unusual time signatures, or experiments with other styles of music. However it would actually be a real challenge to find any other record that truly sounds like "The Truth." Half Off's already raw sound is only further emphasized by the lo-fi recording which is an early example of the production techniques of Final Conflict's Ron Martinez.

Part of the band's charm is the complete disregard for professionalism and the sense that their songs could fall apart at any point if they just were a little less careful. It's hardcore in a pure form with no ambitions to be anything that it isn't. While every song on "The Truth" is either good or great, Half Off will always be remembered for "Rain on the Parade," a song which caused controversy within the straight edge community as it called out certain prominent members of the scene in a not so subtle manner for preaching the straight edge message to a point of being overzealous. While the song is meant to be anti- obsession rather than anti straight edge some people nevertheless took it to heart. Regardless of any controversy that the song may have inspired at the time the song absolutely rocks with an evil moshy intro and fast verses. Plus it's hard not to get wrapped up in the message when Rubin shouts out "With a narrow mind you can't claim to have an edge!" Beyond "Rain on the Parade" the record has some other jewels including "What Seems Right" which starts out with a catchy drum beat and also has some great gang style back up vocals during its bridge. "Not Afraid" has a grimey guitar sound and throat ripping vocals. The cover of D.Y.S.'s "No Pain, No Gain" is classic in its "fuck what you think" attitude. There certainly are not to many other bands who would choose to record a cover of a song off of D.Y.S.'s second record! Unfortunately I know of no reissues of any of Half Off's material. However "The Truth" is not terribly hard to find at punk record stores in the used vinyl section and is almost painfully easy to find on Ebay. Their "Shoot Guns Eat Pussy" 7" is even easier to find though it might be a little more difficult to find the band's self titled 7" that came out with It's Alive fanzine. Billy Rubin went on to start Haywire with some other former members of Half Off and went into a more dark/serious direction.

 

-Ditch-
Big Wheel Online Magazine
 

 

 

 

Music from the Used Record Bin