Album review: Poison Idea – “Young Lords: Live at the Metropolis 1982”

TKO Records / American Leather – 01 May 2023

Young Lords provides a fascinating early snapshot of future hardcore legends Poison Idea.

TKO Records has quietly been releasing ridiculously deluxe reissues of Poison Idea’s back catalog. The remastered sound, monster booklets, bonus inserts and expanded track lists have old punks excited to buy records they probably already own. For those who want to dive deeper, TKO has also been giving key Poison Idea live shows the deluxe vinyl treatment. 

Young Lords: Live at the Metropolis 1982 captures the Portland band in their formative years, before the release of their now classic debut EP, Pick Your King (1983). The first thing you’re likely to notice is how good this record sounds, especially for a 40 year old live recording. The second thing you’ll hear is that this is Poison Idea on the brink of becoming the nihilistic hardcore machine that you know and love. 

They were already a potent musical force, and the core was in place. Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts’ guitar chops are solid throughout, and a young Jerry “A” Lang’s raspy howl was already in place. Some of the songs on Young Lords would end up on Pick Your King. (“Thin Twice”, “Underage”, “In My Headache”, “Castration”, “Reggae” and “Give It Up”.) Many others were from the 1980 demo that would finally see the light of day as Darby Crash Rides Again (1989). For the PI completist, a few songs are exclusive to this record. 

The interaction with the local audience is priceless, and the Ronald Reagan references alone are worth the price of admission. Jerry knew how to work the (likely small) crowd, and he was consistently rewarded with a smattering of applause! There were two covers in the 20 song set. The first was the JFA (Jodie Foster’s Army) classic “Beach Blanket Bongout”, which was dedicated to the skateboarders in the crowd. The other was “Public Defender” by SOA (State of Alert), the Washington DC hardcore band fronted by a young Henry Garfield. 

If you’re just starting to explore Poison Idea, this probably isn’t the best place to start. Check out Kings of Punk (1986) and Feel the Darkness (1990), and branch out from there. If you’re lucky enough to already be a fan, Young Lords is a fascinating moment in time. It captures the band before they become entirely consumed with self-destruction. It will undoubtedly become a favorite addition to your Poison Idea record collection. 

For vinyl fiends: Young Lords comes in a wide spine, gatefold jacket. The full sized 12”x12” booklet is packed with photos of the band and era appropriate flyers, and is attached right to the jacket. There is also a 12”x24” promo poster, and the record itself comes in one of those fancy, static free plastic sleeves. The 100 copies on pink and black splatter are long gone, but you can still get one of the 1500 on classic black wax.