Charles Bronson is also the name of a now-deceased hardcore thrash band from Chicago who had an undying hatred for One Life Crew. I don't know too much about this shady group of spazztronaughts, but I thought I'd contribute what little I do know to the E2 database.
They have a notoriously fast sound in the vein of older DC and Boston bands (Gang Green and Void come to mind), and don't take themselves too seriously. They released a multitude of compilations and split 7"s, some of which were put out on their own label, Youth Attack Records, which I believe is distributed by Ebullition. One of their records, a split with Dropdead, comes in a steel box that you have to cut with a torch to get open - thereby destroying the record inside. Only two were made.
The good folks at Youth Attack Records put together a two-disc "Complete Discocrappy", comprised of well over 100 songs of fury-core, most of which are under 1 minute long, and a good many of which are under 30 seconds. In fact, the longest song on the album is only 1:31, most of which is made up of a Charles Bronson movie sample; the shortest track on the album is 4 seconds long, although the actual song only lasts for about 1 second. Additionally, the second CD contains movie clips from actual Charles Bronson movies, videos from shows, a clip from when Ebro was on Jerry Springer, as well as the members of Charles Bronson in a junkyard shooting stuff with shotguns. Just remember not to mosh during the thrash part, or thrash during the mosh part.
An old and long-lost interview with the band, perhaps published in the Disturbing the Peace zine, made it clear that Charles Bronson was not a straight edge band, although three(?) of the members of the band were indeed sxe. In the late 90's, the band parted ways. I met Charles Bronson's drummer, Ebro, at a Punch In The Face show I co-booked at WPI...he's a very nice guy.
Charles Bronson was:
- Ebro Virumbrales - Drums
- Mark McCoy - Vocals
- Jeff Jelen - Guitar
- Jon Arends - Bass
My favorite thing about this band is the poetic eloquence of their song titles...pure literary genius. Here's a few of my favorites:
- One Life Crew Goes on Slimfast
- They Should Legalize Drugs So You Can Hurry Up And Fucking Die
- I Can't Be Friends With You Because You Like Epitaph
- Eazy-E's Fucking Dead And I Think It's Fucking Rad
Lastly, here's a few records they've released:
- All That And A Bag of Dicks - Compilation 7"
- Cry Now, Cry Later - Compilation 7"
- Deadly Encounters - Compilation 7"
- Mandatory Marathon - Compilation 7"
- Self-Title (a.k.a. Diet Rootbeer) 7"
- Split 7" with Ice Nine
- Split 7" with Quill
- Split 7" with Unanswered
- Split 7" with Spazz
- Youth Attack 10"
- Complete Discocrappy 2-CD set