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The first time I heard 7 Seconds was in 1983 on the epic compilation fanzine Maximum Rock and Roll released, Not So Quiet on the Western Front. On a record with forty-seven bands their song “Fuck Your Amerika” stood out with its sing along chorus and catchy simple little riff. Like most songs on the record it was less than a minute long. Aside from some of the bigger bands like Dead Kennedys, MDC, Crucifix, and a few others most of the bands on that compilation fell into obscurity, at least in my world.

When I came across their 7” record Committed For Life at Newbury Comics a few months later I had found my new favorite hardcore band. Seven songs in eight minutes that encompassed everything I loved about that first song I heard. Where that song was yet another angry political song in a sea of angry political songs, I now had a few more songs to take in and see what they were all about. That 7” is pretty much a blueprint for everything I loved about the band and what I always thought the band was about: positive thinking, some anti-drug lyrics, songs about “the scene” and “tough guys”, all themes that would remain in their world for at least a few more releases anyway.

When someone lists their top hardcore records of all time and doesn’t include “The Crew”, the bands full length from 1984, I have to think they don’t understand hardcore music. When this record came out, everything about it was exactly what I wanted in a hardcore record. The epitome and a building block of the hardcore scene and what it was for many years. Even the album cover with its dark picture of the band on stage surrounded by fans on stage would be something bands would use for years. More themes like anti-racism and anti-sexism came out on this record with “Colourblind” and “Not Just Boys Fun” respectively. I spent all of 1984 with my best friend at the time listening to this record. Thirty years later every lyric is still embedded in my brain.

They followed The Crew with the slick sounding “Walk Together, Rock Together”, recorded at Inner Ear Studios by Dischord’s unofficial engineer, Don Zientara. This record included their cover of “99 Red Balloons” which became a pretty big “hit” (at least in the underground hardcore scene) and live staple for the band.

Right around this time is when a good amount of hardcore bands started incorporating metal into their sound, something most people, myself included enthusiastically embraced. When 7 Seconds released “New Wind”, it was the complete opposite, in between a few faster hardcore songs was a number of slower melodic poppy songs. They still maintained their catchiness, and as I was also growing, the album became one of my favorite albums for years. I felt like I was growing with the band, which is an important thing for any music I love. The album even included a song aimed at said bands called “I Still Believe” I always thought that song was aimed squarely at the Boston bands that had “gone metal” especially with the line “they’re playing better music with a message aimed at other crowds/and they don’t include the lyric sheet ‘cause what they say ain’t proud” In the midst of an album of songs about relationships, growing older they also manage to throw in a “fuck you” to bands who turned their back on hardcore. That was an amazing point in this band’s history.

Last night’s Boston show of course, opened with “I Still Believe” which doesn’t hold the same weight it did at the time it was released, especially in Boston, but if you look at the last line of the song “an empty pedestal and all these heroes, where’d they go? When I find myself a hero I’ll be sure to let you know” Well, Kevin Seconds is that guy. I haven’t really followed the hardcore scene as much as I did thirty years ago, but I still regularly listen to all of the bands I listened to in my formative years. Kevin Seconds err, in my eyes, is larger than life; up there with Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, Keith Morris, Glenn Danzig, Jello Biafra and any of the other iconic front men from American hardcore bands. Kevin is a hero, an icon and someone who deserves all the respect he gets. He still looks like pretty much the same guy I saw live for the first time thirty years ago at The Paradise, still has the same charisma and ability to work a crowd.

The set they played last night included songs from their whole history including a number of ones from their newest record that fit perfectly in with old staples like “Young Til I Die”, “Regress No Way”, and the extremely old “Skins, Brains and Guts” which I was amazed they still knew how to play. Kevin, along with his brother Steve Youth, long time drummer Troy Mowat and guitarist Bobby Adams (who also doubles as a smooth jazz guitar player!) gave me exactly what I needed, a quick trip back to what it was like in the 80’s at hardcore shows, a good time. No fights, hanging with friends and good music. I’m glad I made it out. I took some videos of the show I’ve posted here.