False Prophets (band)

False Prophets
False Prophets
Origin	New York City,New York,U.S.
Genres	Punk rock,hardcore punk
Years active	1980–1990
Labels	Worn Out Brothers,Alternative Tentacles,Konkurrel
Past members	Stephan Ielpi; Steve Wishnia; Peter Campbell; Matt Superty; Anthony Sepulveda

False Prophetswere an American,New York City-based,punk rock/hardcore punkband which formed in 1980. The original members were Stephan Ielpi (vocals), Steve Wishnia (bass), Peter Campbell (guitar) and Matt Superty (drums).^[1]

History

The False Prophets were founded in New York in June 1980. The trigger was an advertisement placed by Steven Wishnia in the weeklyVillage Voice,to which Stephan Ielpi and Peter Campbell replied. Ielpi's cousin Matt Superty became the first drummer.^[2]In the founding phase, the band name changed several times, so the members called themselves Glass Asylum, Severed Vains, Charred Remains and Dyslexic Prophets, before the name False Prophets established itself. The band made a name for themselves in the developing hardcore scene with regular appearances in theA7in theEast Village.In their early years, the band was also noticed by the striking appearance of their singer Ielpi, who among other things wore a kind of mustache that consisted exclusively of two braids under the nostrils, which, according toSpin magazine,looked like "two encrusted stalactites".

In 1981 and 1982 the band released two singles on the label Worn Out Records, which they founded for this purpose. Like manyNew York Hardcorebands, they didn't have the money to record a full album. Also in 1982 the band was represented with two titles on the samplerNew York Thrash.In the same year the first drummer Superty left the band and was replaced by Patrick Blank (ex-The Undead).

Jello Biafra,an avowed fan, arranged a record deal with theAlternative Tentacleslabel, and their first LPFalse Prophetswas released in 1986.^[3]Recorded in 1984, the album came out at an inopportune time - Biafra and theDead Kennedyshad been busted for "distributing harmful material to minors" since April 1986, and the investigation and subsequent trial dragged on to December, thus Biafra and Alternative Tentacles paid little attention to promotion.

In 1986 Campbell left the band. A replacement was found in the form of George Tabb and Debra Adele DeSalvo, so that the band from then on worked with two guitarists.

The second Prophets albumImplosionwas produced in 1987 byGiorgio Gomelsky.In the same year Wishnia and the current drummer Ned Brewster left the band after differences with Ielpi during a west coast tour.

Ielpi and DeSalvo continued the band with new members until 1993 and released an EP before the False Prophets finally separated.^[4]In 2002 the band reformed for a concert at New York'sCBGB's to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of New York Thrash.^[5]

Members

Guitarist DeSalvo is a full-time music journalist, has published a standard work onbluesmusic and writes forRolling StoneandHuffington Post.^[6]Steven Wishnia was a part-time writer forHigh Times^[3]and has published two novels and a non-fiction book on cannabis. In the 1990s, George Tabb released two albums and an EP onLookout Recordswith the punk bandFurious George,which he founded. He wrote for the fanzineMaximumrocknrolland has published three novels. Wishnia and Tabb founded the band Iron Prostrate after leaving the Prophets.^[7]Singer Ielpi now lives in San Francisco. Patrick Blanck died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2001.

Style and reception

The False Prophets saw themselves as a political band and were perceived as such by the media; in particular, they were said to be close tolibertarianism.^[8]One of the symbols of their live performances were lengthy political speeches that were sometimes not very popular with the audience.^[3]Visually, the band set themselves apart from the NYHC cliché of shaved machos wearing jeans and t-shirts and showed themselves to be more punk. This polarized the Prophets - while on the one hand their creativity and impropriety were respected, and comparisons were made to the BritishcrustcorebandCrass,^[9]they were sometimes openly rejected by hardcore concert goers. Paul "H.R." Hudson from theBad Brains,for example, once pelted Stephan Ielpi with a garbage can during a False Prophets live set.^[9]On theAgnostic Frontcamp they were stylized as "useless left hippies".^[10]Rob Kabula (Cause for Alarm) called the band "the Dead Kennedys of NYHC".

During its existence, the band went through many line-up changes, which made it difficult to develop a clear style. Spin magazine placed them at the intersection of hardcore, metal and pop and assessed the band as "too offensive to be politically correct and too politically correct to be trend junkies".^[8]Spin author Charles M. Young described the band's music as an "independent, punk-influenced synthesis of wildness, moodiness, showmanship and versatile arrangements", and the 1987 album Implosion as having a “pleasant, all-encompassing1968feeling ". The blog Vinyl Journey stated singer Ielpi's live performance" gave you a picture of what a Communist Party gathering in a Cambodian madhouse would look like ".^[4]The blog described the band as part of the hardcore scene, but highlighted the occasional use of piano and synthesizer in the music of the Prophets and attested to their closeness to classic British punk, but also toAlice Cooperand theKinks.

According to ex-bassist Wishnia, the band itself found its inspiration both in the music of hardcore bands of the first generation such asHeart Attack,Undead orReagan Youthas well as in the music of British post-punk bands such asJoy Division,Public Image LimitedorGang of Four.

Discography

Studio albums

False Prophets(1986,Alternative Tentacles)
Implosion(1987, Alternative Tentacles)

Singles and EPs

"Blind Obedience" 7 "(1981, Worn Out Brothers)
"Good Clean Fun" 7 "(1982, Worn Out Brothers)
Invisible PeopleEP (1990, Konkurrel)

Compilation albums

Blind Roaches and Fat Vultures: Phantasmagoric Beasts of the Reagan Era(2000, Alternative Tentacles)

Compilation appearances

"Taxidermist" and "Scorched Earth" onNew York Thrash(1982,ROIR)
"Banana Split Republic" onInternational P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation(1984, R Radical Records)
"Never Again, Again" onOops! Wrong Stereotype(1988, Alternative Tentacles)
"Destructive Engagement" onBARK! BARK! BARK!(1988, Dead Issue Records)
"The Invisible People" onWhat Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music)(1990,Shimmy Disc)
"Tompkins Square Park" onManhattan on the Rocks(2000, Pow Wow Records)
"Overkill" onThe Ecstasy of the Agony(2000, Alternative Tentacles)
"Baghdad Stomp" onAgainst Police Injustice(2003, Non-Commercial Records)

References

^"Alternative Tentacles - Bands".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-16.Retrieved2017-06-22.
^"Biography".2020-01-26.
^^a ^b ^cBlush, Steven (2010).American Hardcore. A Tribal History(2 ed.). Port Townsend: Feral House. p. 204.ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2.
^^a ^b"False Prophets: self-titled LB".15 January 2006.Retrieved2017-05-24.
^ "False Prophets at the NY Thrash 20th Anniversary at CBGBs June 2002".Retrieved2017-05-24.
^"Debra Devi".HuffPost.Retrieved2017-05-24.
^Mader, Matthias.New York Hardcore Volume 2. The Sound of the Big Apple.Berlin: I.P. Verlag Jeske/Mader GbR. p. 204.ISBN 978-3-931624-60-6.
^^a ^bSpinNovember 1988, S. 69
^^a ^bRettman, Tony (2015).New York Hardcore 1980–1990(2 ed.). New York: Bazillion Points. p. 61.ISBN 978-1-935950-12-7.
^Hurchalla, George.Going Underground: American Punk 1979–1989(2 ed.). Oakland: PM Press. p. 173.ISBN 978-1-62963-242-1.

External links

False Prophetsdiscography atDiscogs
False ProphetsatAllMusic

[1] "Alternative Tentacles - Bands".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-04-16.Retrieved2017-06-22.

[AT-2] "Biography".2020-01-26.

[BLUSH-3] Blush, Steven (2010).American Hardcore. A Tribal History(2 ed.). Port Townsend: Feral House. p. 204.ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2.

[VJ-4] "False Prophets: self-titled LB".15 January 2006.Retrieved2017-05-24.

[WWD-5] "False Prophets at the NY Thrash 20th Anniversary at CBGBs June 2002".Retrieved2017-05-24.

[HP-6] "Debra Devi".HuffPost.Retrieved2017-05-24.

[MADER-7] Mader, Matthias.New York Hardcore Volume 2. The Sound of the Big Apple.Berlin: I.P. Verlag Jeske/Mader GbR. p. 204.ISBN 978-3-931624-60-6.

[SPIN-8] SpinNovember 1988, S. 69

[RETT-9] Rettman, Tony (2015).New York Hardcore 1980–1990(2 ed.). New York: Bazillion Points. p. 61.ISBN 978-1-935950-12-7.

[HURCH-10] Hurchalla, George.Going Underground: American Punk 1979–1989(2 ed.). Oakland: PM Press. p. 173.ISBN 978-1-62963-242-1.

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Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States
Artists	MusicBrainz