Crucifix

Crucifix was an American hardcore punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1980 to 1984. They were among the most popular acts of the San Francisco punk scene of the early 1980s. Fronted by Cambodian-born singer Sothira Pheng, Crucifix were distinct among American underground bands for their strong D-beat musical characteristics and anarchist lyrical content and graphic design. The band's debut 1983 full-length album Dehumanization on Crass Records‘ offshoot Corpus Christi Records, is considered by many critics and fans to be a cornerstone of political punk music. After their breakup, Crucifix’s members went on to form the bands Loudspeaker and Proudflesh. Band history Crucifix was formed by three members of Subsidize Mess, a short-lived band from Berkeley, California comprising vocalist Christopher Douglas, guitarist Matt Borruso, and Cambodian-born bassist Sothira Pheng. His family had fled their homeland when the Khmer Rouge seized power. The band reconfigured themselves and changed their name to Crucifix with Pheng switching to vocals, Douglas taking over the drums, and Borruso sticking to guitar for the time being while Bryce Kanights joined on bass guitar. This lineup recorded the band’s eponymous five-song debut 12” EP, released by Berkeley-based label Univrrsal Records in 1981. By the following year, Kanights departed from the band and with the addition of Francis “Jimmy Crucifix” Schmidt on guitar, Borruso moved over to playing bass for the recording of the band’s second EP, a three-song 7” entitled Nineteen Eighty-Four, released in 1982 on Crucifix’s own label, Freak Records. Schmidt then parted ways with Crucifix to be replaced by guitarist Jake Smith for the recording of what would be the band's only full-length LP, Dehumanization, released by Crass Records imprint Corpus Christi Records in 1983. This album proved a landmark effort for the band and is widely regarded to be their definitive work as well as a cornerstone of American political punk.