DFL aka Dead Fucking Last, the iconic ‘90s hardcore band that featured first wave punker Monty Messex and skater “Crazy Tom” Davis, will reissue their landmark third album Grateful… on August 19 2022 via SBAM Records
Originally released on Epitaph Records in 1997, Grateful… represented a quantum leap for DFL… and also ended up being the band’s destruction. On the LP, DFL tear forward with their iconic early 80s-hardcore-as-filtered-into-the-90s attack. But, while the base of the record is all riffage, screaming, and moshing, the album also found the band pushing their sound to its limit. “We were breaking all the molds, knocking down doors!” says Davis. “Life was one big fucking Eggo waffle!”
As Davis says, the band was expanding their vision of hardcore: “Four + Twenty” features pro-skater Paulo Diaz contributing a tabla and nose-flute freak-out. “Powerless” is a slow-motion crusher calling back to bands like Black Flag and Flipper. “Live For Today” features cowbell from a Balinese fortune teller/Cannabis farmer. ”We are the dead!” features those words screamed over and over and over.
Yet, while Grateful… found DFL merging classic hardcore with far-out ideas, the band was also tearing apart at the seams. Just before the band released the triumphant and daring record… they broke up, without ever touring on the release. Messex explains, “To be honest, I don't know for sure what caused the band to collapse. I'm guessing poor communication and lack of respect had a lot to do with it. When you don't have those things, it's pretty much a shit show!”
Despite the band destroying themselves just before they released their most ambitious record, Grateful… has stood the test of time, remaining a cult favorite among fans for being one of the few records to be experimental while retaining a classic hardcore punk base.
Davis says, “I think Grateful… did transfer over a lot of truth, honesty and freedom from my Point-of-view. At the time, my life was good! I had it all a killer band, hot rods, great friends, and we were having the time of our lives during the recording. But, little did I know that I was foreshadowing the future with my lyrics a long a difficult path I was destined to follow over the next couple of decades.”
Messex adds, “To be honest, Grateful… was a pretty chaotic and turbulent time in my personal life. Ironically, I did not have a lot of gratitude at the time. I think we put out a really good hardcore record, but then we broke up, so I think the songs never got their due. Now, we’re getting that chance.”
Track list:
We Are The Dead
300 Lb Mushroom
Leave Me Alone
The Grateful Song
Prove Me Wrong
Live For Today
Short Breath
Retribution
It’s All In Your Head
Four + Twenty
You Can’t Make Me.
Help Wanted
Ought…To Be A Law
Fourteen Acre Mosh
Cameltoe
Powerless
Autumns Fall
