With bands like Snapcase, Zero Tolerance, and Spaced all coming out of the Nickel City throughout the years, no one needs to convice you that the Buffalo hardcore scene has been a vital one for decades now.
G.O.A. (Gentlemen of Age) is comprised of veteran musicians from the Buffalo community with a penchant for the classic '80s hardcore punk sound that emerged almost a decade ago before things got complicated. "The Pandemic really took the wind out of our sails," drummer Mike Jeffers told me via email. "When we did finally start rolling again with shows and writing, we lost our guitarist due to a car accident.
"We had upcoming shows so we had to scramble to find a guitar player. Luckily, Griffin, our current guitarist, has been a fan of the band since our inception. I asked him to learn ten songs in two days. He came through for us in a pinch and we extended an invitation to join the band. We started playing out and writing new music immediately."
The new lineup of G.O.A. hooked up in the studio with Don Fury, a NYHC legend who has also been behind seminal recordings by the likes of Judge, Quicksand, and Madball. "My bands in the past always tried to record with Don, but it never came to fruition," Mike told me. "So finally having the opportunity to make it happen was bucket list worthy. If anything, we punished him with our excitement over the session and our questions about his back catalogue!"
The resulting EP, More! More! More!, finds G.O.A. digging deeper into their love for old-school hardcore. "Before we even recorded a single note, Don and I carefully planned out our approach for the recording. From how many days we needed, to the formats it was to be released on, and our timeline. He definitely familiarized himself with our past releases.
"We both wanted it to sound like the record could’ve come out in the 1980s. I also think he enjoyed the fact that Rich and I are originally downstaters. We spent a ton of time talking about NYC and the [Long] Island."
Since G.O.A. was never meant to be a full-on touring kind of band, I asked Mike what their plans were for the future. "When we started the band the goal was to hang out, have fun, and do as much or little as we wanted without the business aspect getting in the way. We’ve put all of our major releases out on our own DIY label. We didn’t want to answer to anyone but ourselves. We also wanted people to find us rather than us going to them.
"We wanted to be a band that only those in the know could claim as their own. Yet, after the Pandemic and lost time we said, 'fuck it,' and decided to have another label (Triple Hammer Records) release the 7”/digital. Since we have somebody ponying up money for the release, we’re going to hit the road doing more shows in other cities. Jorden and I are also in Juggernaut, and Griffin in Selfish Act, so we’ll probably do some touring together."
***
More! More! More! is available on 7" vinyl via Triple Hammer Records.
G.O.A. on social media: Facebook | Instagram
Tagged: don fury, g.o.a., juggernaut