The Casualties: Американдық хардкор панк тобының тарихы

American hardcore punk band

The Casualties are an American punk rock band from New York City, founded by vocalist Jorge Herrera, Hank Fischer (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums) in 1990. In July 2017, it was announced on the band's Facebook page that original frontman Jorge Herrera had officially retired from touring. As of 2022, the band consists of members Jake Kolatis (guitarist), Marc Meggers (drums), Doug Wellmon (bass), and David Rodriguez (vocals).

The Casualties were formed in 1990, with original members Jorge Herrera (vocals), Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums). The members aimed to return to what they viewed as the "golden era" of street punk, embodied by bands such as The Exploited and Charged GBH, which they believed had disappeared by 1985. Soon more changes were in the works, with new guitarist Fred heading off to school. C Squat's Scott temporarily filled Fred's shoes until he returned a short time later. During this period, guitarist Hank filled in for a couple of shows, and Steve Distraught also played briefly with the group on second guitar. The Casualties stabilized long enough to record their first demo in the fall of 1991, and the “40 Oz Casualty” EP in the spring of 1992, and was building up a fan base in their hometown of New York City. At the end of 1992, Mark and Fred left the band and were replaced by Mike Roberts on bass and Jake Kolatis on the guitar, followed by the departure of Yureesh and Colin in 1994, to be replaced on drums by Shawn, while the band went down to a single vocalist. They released their second LP that year, Underground Army, and began a world tour. Jon left the band during the European leg of the tour, to be temporarily replaced by Dave Punk Core.

After the world tour, Dave would be replaced by Rick Lopez from the band Manix. The line up was now solidified for the band. The end of the millennium, 1999, saw the band produce a compilation album, Early Years 1990–1995, which included tracks which appeared on earlier EPs, as well as never before released songs, such as the four songs they had recorded on the never released EP Drinking Is Our Way of Life back in 1994. In 2013, The Casualties played at the largest punk rock festival in the world, the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England, where they shared the stage with The Exploited, Special Duties, Chron Gen and Anti Establishment, and others.

On January 22, 2016, the band released their tenth studio album titled Chaos Sound. The album was recorded in Orange County, California at Buzzbomb Studio, produced by Paul Miner and released by Season of Mist. It is the last album to feature original vocalist Jorge Herrera. While no longer associating with The Casualties, there have been no incidents to indicate that there is any bad blood between Herrera and the remaining or current members of The Casualties. Frontman of The Krum Bums, David Rodriguez officially replaced Herrera, changing the band's line up for the first time in 19 years. Guitarist Jake Kolatis and drummer Meggers are the two remaining long term members of the band.