Review: Cro-Mags’ “2020”
By: Ryan O'Connor
Tags: Review, Music, Magazine, Punk

Review: Cro-Mags’ “2020”

The soundtrack of this turbulent year is here and the Cro-Mags are leading the charge

Courtesy of Mission Two Entertainment

The year 2020 has been a harsh one on us all, it’s exposed the nightmarish realities that the government and the elite are willing to put us, the rightful citizens of this world through in order to keep the status quo. People who before the quarantine were able to hide in their privilege and the safety of their lives suddenly had the world thrusted unto their lap the way those who had been oppressed have all their lives. We’ve gone through a global pandemic, lockdown after lockdown and despite the repeated attempts from scientists and the worlds greatest minds to remind us to mask up and stay safe, the death toll from COVID-19 is rising higher and higher every day.

Since the extensive quarantine has hit the globe the music scene has suffered particularly hard. The year 2020 has been devoid of the amazing sound of new music, particularly heavy music. Bands dwelling in the underground have been presented with little opportunity to spread their music to others since live shows are generally how they make their name, so they’ve had to come up with their own inventive ways of keeping their audience and possibly spreading it.

This turbulent year marked a return for one of most turbulent and endearing bands: New York Hardcore pioneers the Cro-Mags. After years of lawsuits and band strife between Age Of Quarrel vocalist John Joseph and founder/ bassist Harley Flanagan the latter finally reclaimed ownership of the Cro-Mags name and in June released the bands first album in 20 years, receiving positive reception and cementing the bands true return in the hardcore world.

It seems like no other band has had a more successful year than the Cro-Mags and the irony shouldn’t be lost on us all. The band has lived through so much turbulence and inner destruction that it seems like 2020 found them in their element. After announcing the release for the new album In The Beginning earlier this year the band got busy booking shows leading up to and after the release. One of the first was their show with Body Count at the famous Webster Hall club in New York City, where 8 years prior Flanagan was arrested for supposedly stabbing and biting his replacement in John Joseph’s incarnation of the Cro-Mags. The show however was cancelled as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had the city put on lockdown just two days before the March 15th show. With no show taking place the Cro-Mags remained undeterred and quickly put together a practice space to perform a livestream that Sunday which thousands tuned into.

Before the Cro-Mags even released their newest full-length Flanagan announced on his social media that he was already writing material for a new Cro-Mags release, hoping to release it later this year. He stated he wanted to release material pertaining to the chaos of this year, something he has certainly been familiar with all his life from living through one of New Yorks darkest times. Less than six months down the line that release has now arrived in time for the holidays in the form of a 20 minute and 20 second long EP tentatively titled 2020

The EP starts off unlike any Cro-Mags affair as it doesn’t explode into a barrage of riffs akin to their “We Gotta Know” introduction on their famous debut. Instead it begins with some funky drumming from Gary “G-Man” Sullivan, akin to a hip-hop beat before a bass and cello intro courtesy of Flanagan and “Lamont” Carlos Cooper, a homeless man from New Jersey and friend of Flanagans whom he met when he saw him playing on the subway to make a living. It’s a beginning that Harlem’s back to Flanagan and Cooper’s collaboration on the “Between Wars” instrumental which was featured on the bands comeback album and Flangan’s acting debut of the same name. After a short time between the three, in comes the steady riff buildups from Rocky George before exploding into the freight train rhythm that has become synonymous with the band. The repeated cries of “Age of quarantine!” along with replies of “A global pandemic,” “Worldwide panic,” etc. set the loose story arc for this EP’s concept before us.

The first song on this EP shows us once again how well the Cro-Mags know how to introduce an album. It’s a common practice for a hardcore band to have their introductions become their most famous songs and this is another excellent introduction by the band as the Cro-Mags appear to be diversifying their songs to avoid soundalikes. After the call and response verses in comes a doomy drum buildup leading into one of the heaviest breakdowns I’ve heard Flanagan dish out into my ears. It made me want to wreck my living room as though it were an open dancefloor at a hardcore show. A desire that has followed me and many others throughout the year.

This track is definitely one of my favorites from the album and dashed any notion of doubt I had before when I first heard the “2020” single which follows the lead song. Listening to the second track “2020” after the incredible opener actually improved my opinion on the single released a week prior. While I was not dismissive of the track deep down I knew it was not the standout, on its own it was enjoyable and the lyrics are relevant to the times, as they will be for the first five tracks (the last track being an instrumental).

Listening to the title track this time around made it one of the key moments for the EP, it brought it all together. The track builds and builds but never truly releases like the opening track or those who follow, it keeps a steady rhythm and just carries us forward as Harley’s lyrics describe the turmoil the world has gone through just this year alone in his dog growl of a voice, he sounds fed up but he knows he’s gotta continue onward. This track sounds similar to the bands song “Two Hours” from In The Beginning as it builds up and leads into the next track. It stands on its own, but the real release comes from the following songs.

The third song “Life On Earth” brings the Cro-Mags sound headfirst into that old-school thrash sound they were always compared to back in their heyday. Over the bands career they’ve always danced along the thrash metal line and even on their thrashiest outing Best Wishes they still maintained that hardcore edge despite pushing the sound further into the metal territory. With “Life On Earth” the band sounds more like a thrash metal band than ever before and they do it better than some of the most famous thrash bands that survived the 80s. It’s a refreshing and straightforward attack and Harley’s vocals sound more fiery than ever on this track in particular, it’s those vocals that push it into that territory and honestly it suits the band well on this song.

Moving onto the fourth track “Violence And Destruction,” the band flexes their dub skills in the intro, a Cro-Mags dub has not been seen by the band since their 1983 demo but Harley and the gang slide right back into it like an old pair of Doc Marten’s. We get some throaty deep vocals on the dub intro before we are given a right hook across the face into the Motörhead rhythm again, right back to business. Harleys vocals over the charge are reminiscent to some of the singing he did on tracks from their 2000 album Revenge which featured some of his most clear vocal performances, on this track his voice is somewhat obscured by the music, it dwells in the background which makes some of the lyrics indecipherable but that’s what lyric sheets are for aren’t they?

The bands attempts to diversify their sound stand out on this song, not only diversify but create singular tracks which are all superbly molded into each other to form a loose narrative. Tracks such as this one make this EP fun to listen to, ending with the whirlwind guitar solo from none other than former Suicidal Tendencies axeman Rocky George who’s performance on this album is one of the standouts in his career with the Mags. There was never a doubt that Rocky George had lost any of his skill or edge but it’s always good to get a reminder from him.

The fifth track “Chaos In The Streets” brings us back into the Cro-Mags stomping ground that they are usually found within, any casual listener will know what I mean when I say it’s the brand of hardcore they made famous from their debut. Lyrically Harley delves into the themes that drove a lot of the BLM protestors into city streets during the summer as a result of the murder of George Floyd, it seems he agrees with the message of the protests but stresses the fact that what you do unto him will be done unto you as well. “Burn it all down/ Down to the ground/ But stay the fuck away from me.” It’s no doubt Flanagan has had to defend what’s his in the past and is merely looking out for himself while also understanding the reality of the corruption in the world.

The line “Let’s talk racism and politics/ And let’s talk about money” displays the root of this country’s problems and where the oppressors real intentions lie. This is the last track with lyrics on it and it seems as though while Harley maintains that same attitude towards authority that he had when he was younger he also expresses his maturity in that he doesn’t think the same way he did when he was younger. Does he care what you think? Fuck no.

The final track “Cro-Fusion” is the second time in the bands career they’ve ended an album on a jam session, starting with the “Cro-Mags Jam” from the album Alpha Omega released in 1992. The mere element of this song that ties it to the loose concept of this EP is the background sounds of police sirens throughout and recordings of riots from earlier this year. With no lyrics the song relies on the band members to drive a message into our heads, and while it could be just a song the band threw on the EP because it displays how tight of a band they are now I personally see the song as the best way to close out the tumultuous year we’ve been through. Every instrument is played frantically from the bass and drum lead-ins along with Rocky’s guitar licks that make his instrument scream into the heavens, the tight rhythm kept up with guitarist Gabby also continuing onward. It’s a manic session dedicated to a manic year, what better way to close out this EP?

The musical skill displayed on this EP shows us that the Cro-Mags aren’t really concerned with the NYHC brand of musical creation but with their own which they’ve certainly dived headlong into just in these six tracks. They’re not the same band they were when they released their classic Age of Quarrel thirty-four years ago and honestly that’s a good thing because as amazing as that record is we’re not here to listen to the same album get made. They’re a band who’s skill grows with age and they’ve proven that here. Despite some of the EP’s shortcomings in mixing I can’t help but overlook them just from the musicianship alone. From the first listen to the “Age of Quarantine” track it felt like this was going to be a good journey and all I can say I want after listening to this EP is more.

2020 was the year of the Cro-Mag, Harley Flanagan brought the band he founded almost forty years ago to the forefront of the hardcore scene after it had dwelled in inactivity for years. We saw two releases from them assuring us all that the man is cognizant to the world around him and capable of creating art through it. The album In The Beginning released back in June served as Harley’s testament to the last decade of his life, from the chaos of the stabbing at Webster Hall, the following court proceedings and his beefs with former bandmates to rising above these moments with book releases and a triumphant return to music. Fans of the Cro-Mags can rest easily as well knowing that the band is going to release even more music next year, it really is a good time to be a Cro-Mag… finally.