Dirty Rotten Imbeciles

Houston, TX (USA) Starting off as a 100% pure, lightning fast hardcore punk band, Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.) eventually became one of the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal, along with Suicidal Tendencies and Corrosion of Conformity. As the 1980s went on, they gradually mixed more elements of heavy metal into their sound; as they did so, their songs got longer and featured more sections and more variety in tempo. D.R.I. managed the then-rare feat of crossing over to metal audiences while retaining their skatepunk and hardcore fan bases — they had something for all those audiences to love (or hate). Vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy were the two constants throughout the band’s frequent lineup shifts, and kept them going for well over a decade. D.R.I. were formed in Houston, TX (USA), in May 1982, evolving out of a defunct hardcore band called the Suburbanites. Singer Kurt Brecht, drummer Eric Brecht (his brother), and bassist Dennis Johnson had all played in that outfit, and with new guitarist Spike Cassidy in tow, they renamed themselves Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, after a frequent insult from the Brechts’ father (who objected vehemently to their rehearsals). The band was soon performing live around Houston, and before the end of the year, they issued a 22-song debut, Dirty Rotten EP, on their own Rotten label. Pressed in limited quantities, it was reissued as a 12” LP in 1983, appropriately retitled Dirty Rotten LP. The wider exposure for this version helped make the group’s name in the punk underground, and after a supporting tour that year, they relocated to San Francisco.