Posted on by Monsoon River

Association of the Cross – Live at Val’s

Association of the Cross
Live at Val’s
198? (no label)
Los Angeles, California, USA

Mike Smith – Lead vocals
Denise Taylor – Guitar
Jamie Malarczyk – Bass, backing vocals
Neal Vorndran – Drums, backing vocals

  1. AOTC
  2. Something Political
  3. [band intros]
  4. In the Silence
  5. Legalized Christian
  6. The World
  7. Free
  8. Silent Scream
  9. Friend
  10. Tears
  11. Down to Earth
  12. Johnny

This is a rare bit of Christian punk history. Someone sent me a mixtape to transfer (I always forget to ask people if I have their permission to put their name in these posts, so I usually err on the side of caution in today’s world and keep these as anonymous as possible) that had this demo on it. The last song cut short – so there may even be more songs (note that there is another song called “No Religion” on Christian Hardcore Volume 1 that wasn’t on this copy). Association of the Cross (also known as AotC) was part of the Los Angeles Christian music scene in the mid to late 1980’s. They were the also last punk band to play at a Calvary Chapel. Mark Salomon of The Crucified remembers AotC as “the first time I ever saw a chick in a Christian band that was full-on punk rock band. She had a six-inch high Mohawk, playing bass. Association of the Cross – their name was painted on my jacket for years” in his book Simplicity (even though this demo says she played guitar – so I’m not sure which it is). Jamie and Neal went on to join Michael Knott in Bomb Bay Babies, and then formed an alternative band called Delirium Blue with Jamie’s brother Alex and others. The music is really rough punk – some people think this is just a sign that punk rockers have no talent, but this is the way so many underground punk tapes sounded back then. This demo does seem to really be a live recording – complete with chatter in between songs introducing each one. But then again, “Val’s” could be someone’s house as much as a club or something. Oh, and the 5th track is a parody of “Institutionalized” by Suicidal Tendencies. There may also be a demo or bootleg out there of AotC Live at Calvary Chapel as well. The image above was taken from A Different Drummer zine – it may be the demo cover, or it may have been taken from a concert flyer.

Missing Information: Cover image, any more songs, date released.

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