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Artist
Junior Achievement
5+ albums
punkpunk rockskate punkazhc
about
Junior Achievement were an Arizona hardcore band that existed from 1981 to 1984 and they’re so damn obscure that even the mighty Kill from the Heart doesn’t have any info on them. Despite their obscurity, Malt Soda Records (the folks who brought you tribute comps to RKL and DRI as well as a few solid newer releases) has reissued the band’s one and only album, Fade to Black, along with seven bonus live tracks recorded at one of the band’s last gigs. Considering how many mediocre-to-bad hardcore bands there were floating around the US during this time, it’s quite surprising that Junior Achievement’s sole recording is so obscure because it really is quite good. I was expecting full-on skate-fueled thrash because these dudes were friends with JFA and avid skaters, but what I got was something much more akin to the melodic, atmospheric California punk sound of bands like the Adolescents, TSOL and (early) Social Distortion. Junior Achievement rarely play at the thrash tempo so popular during their time, instead preferring to keep things more mid-paced and let their inspired and well-written songs shine through. While Junior Achievement never managed to record an “Amoeba” or a “Playpen” (the closest they get is the album-closing “Future’s Past,” a very dark song with an epic (for hardcore at least) guitar solo that reminds me a lot of 45 Grave), Fade to Black’s lack of an all-time punk classic is more than made up for by its consistency. Junior Achievement’s song structures are su
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