If you missed your chance to pick up the two Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards albums when they were released around the turn of the millennium, you’re about the get a second chance. Both the 2001 debut and 2004 follow-up by the Rancid guitarist’s side band have long been out of print. That is, until now. This week, both records by the Campbell-bred punk band get a long-overdue vinyl reissue through San Francisco label Pirates Press.
And for fans of 1977-style punk, that’s not all. In addition to the reprints, the band is also releasing their first new recording since disbanding over a decade ago: a live album, aptly titled Live and Loud.
“This is a true testament to what the Bastards were,” Fredericksen says over the phone from his home in San Francisco. “We were a live band. And at that particular time, we were blasting on all cylinders.”
The album, which was recorded the same week their debut was released in 2001, documents what was only the 9th show the band ever played, capturing the group young and hungry to prove themselves on their first tour.
“There were bands that didn’t want to take us on tour because they saw us and didn’t want to play after us,” Frederiksen says. “That’s not ego talking, it’s just the truth. We were a freight train. We brought it every night.”
With gritty songs about street life in the ’80s, their music was refreshing for many at a time when punk was becoming increasingly suburban and radio-friendly. And now with Live and Loud, anyone who missed the band’s powerful live shows during their brief existence—from 2000-2005—finally has a chance to hear them in their natural element.
Many in the South Bay who aren’t familiar with the Bastards will still recognize Frederiksen’s voice and songwriting from Avaya Stadium. “Never Say Die,” which Frederiksen wrote for another of his projects—The Old Firm Casuals—has been the theme song for the San Jose Earthquakes since 2014. Frederiksen is a season-ticket holder and a lifelong fan of the team.
“You don’t have to be from some big city or some ‘cool’ place to represent,” he says, of his favorite team. Indeed. Now, with the Bastards’ albums finally back in print, a whole new generation of punk fans can represent the musicians who put Campbell on the map.
Disclosure: Gordy Carbone, a Metro employee, was a member of the Bastards.
Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
‘Live and Loud’
Out Now
Pirates Press Records
