Alex(Lead Vocals & Guitar), Bryan(Bass & Vocals), Neshawn(Lead Guitar & Vocals), Manny(Drums) 1208 is the latest band to emerge from the hallowed streets of Southern California’s South Bay; the original home to bands such as Black Flag, The Descendents, The Circle Jerks, Pennywise and others. This region has become notorious for producing some of the most original and influential punk rock music of all time and 1208 has their roots deeply set in this tradition. Forming in 1995, 1208 has become the common meeting ground for four guys that want to (as the band puts it), “Make this our job and our life.” Being from the South Bay definitely has its perks, but also has its setbacks: the fact that a majority of the venues out there are twenty-one and over, young punk bands have a difficult time landing numerous gigs on their own “home turf.” However, 1208 saw their good friends The Deviates get the break they worked so hard for and this inspired them to never stop the pursuit of their collective goal. Well now that chase has paid off and the band has received the opportunity to accomplish what they have always longed for: the chance to play, record, tour and release a record. That record is finished: it’s called Feedback is Payback and it just might change the way you think about punk for a long, long time.
Produced by Darian Rundall and Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise), the record can best be described as slightly heavy, speedy, “South Bay Melodi-core" melding with the contemporary "post-punk" sounds of bands like Fugazi and At The Drive In. Their lead singer (Alex) is reminiscent of early Dexter Holland (Offspring) with a touch of Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), but with an attitude all his own. Combined with a pair of guitars forming barbed wire riffs, some seriously dense bass lines, and the perfect amount of thrashing drums, 1208 has found a great combination of sound: hard hitting, intense and progressive. Not only is this band well on their way to becoming a force on the scene, the lead singer Alex has some serious punk rock pedigree in him. His mother just so happens to be the sister of Greg Ginn who played guitar for arguably the best punk rock band of all time: Black Flag. As if that weren't enough, his other uncle is an artist named Raymond Pettibon who did their album art and has done countless punk rock album covers and posters over the past twenty years or so. 1208’s emergence on the scene is bringing the South Bay punk rock cycle full circle twenty years after their singers uncle Greg Ginn gave it the initial spin.
Source: http://www.punkuponastar.com
