Kill Your Idols

Kill Your Idols is a New York hardcore punk band that started in 1995, built its reputation through constant touring and a steady stream of vinyl heavy releases, then ended its original run in 2007 before returning to play shows again beginning in 2013.

The name and the first step

The band took its name from a song by Situated Chaos, a Long Island hardcore band from the 1990s. Founding members Andy West and Gary Bennett chose it because the song’s lyrics matched how they felt about hardcore at the time. Bennett had released a 7 inch EP with his first band, Big Sniff, on Mint-Tone Records, a DIY label run by Situated Chaos vocalist Vinnie Segerra. After Big Sniff broke up, Segerra connected Bennett with West, and the two started writing together in 1995.

A demo, a label shift, and the first 12 inch

After recording a first demo, captured from their first CBGB show in 1996, Segerra helped the band land a deal with Bitter Sweet Records. The label folded before the release came out, so the band brought the masters to Brett Clarin of None Of The Above Records, and the 12 inch EP was released in 1997. Soon after, Kill Your Idols booked their first summer tour down the East Coast.

Blackout! years and the first LP

Not long after, the band signed with Bill Wilson’s Blackout! Records. Blackout! released the EP This Is Just The Beginning in 1998, followed by the band’s first LP No Gimmicks Needed in 2000.

Touring stretch and what the songs focused on

From 1998 through 2002, Kill Your Idols toured across the United States, parts of Canada, Europe, and also did a short run in Japan and Korea. They toured with bands including H2O, Good Riddance, The Casualties, 7 Seconds, Agnostic Front, Death by Stereo, The Nerve Agents, and Kid Dynamite. Their songs often dealt with depression, anxiety, loss, everyday stress, and the social politics inside punk. The band leaned hard on a DIY approach, avoided having a manager, and only briefly used a booking agent when touring peaked.

SideOneDummy and the bigger distribution push

In 2001, the band signed with SideOneDummy Records, an independent label based in California. That move brought wider distribution, college radio play, and more offers for larger tours and venues. SideOneDummy released Funeral for a Feeling (2001), a split EP with 7 Seconds (2004), and From Companionship to Competition (2005).

How they sounded and what they cited as influences

The members cited Poison Idea, Negative Approach, Sheer Terror, Agnostic Front, Minor Threat, Warzone, Sick of It All, and 7 Seconds as influences. The band played fast, with a metal leaning dual guitar sound and shouted vocals, while still working in small touches of melody in their structures. Even with those outside influences, they are generally regarded as a New York hardcore band.

Collectors, pressings, and the way the catalog was packaged

Across their initial 11 year run, Kill Your Idols released multiple 7 inch EPs, splits, compilation tracks, and full length records, with many pressings appearing on vinyl as well as CD. Some releases came out with different vinyl colors, alternate sleeves, hand numbered tour pressings, and picture discs, which made parts of their catalog especially appealing to collectors.

Burnout, a final EP, and the 2007 ending

By 2003, the band was burned out from the road and shifted to mostly local shows, often at CBGB. They continued recording at times, releasing From Companionship to Competition in 2005 and their final EP of the original era, Salmon Swim Upstream, in 2006. Kill Your Idols officially ended in 2007 and played final shows that May in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York. The last New York show, booked at a VFW hall on eastern Long Island, was shut down by local police and fire officials due to over occupancy. Friends and fans reorganized the show later that night in the parking lot of a rehearsal space in an industrial area, and the band played as many songs as possible before authorities returned.

Coming back in 2013 and key shows that followed

On May 19, 2013, Kill Your Idols reunited to play the Black ’N’ Blue Bowl at Webster Hall in New York City. In 2015, they played two sold out benefit shows on March 20 and 21, with the first at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn and the second at GameChanger World in Howell, New Jersey. Both were benefits for Nate Gluck of Ensign, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and the Saturday show was part of NateFest, with sets from bands including Sheer Terror, Indecision, and Bigwig.

They continued to play occasional shows during the 2010s, including a Warzone tribute event at Tompkins Square Park in 2017. In April 2018, they did a short East Coast run with Fireburn, playing Boston, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, and they also played one off shows in 2019, including at Skid Row Garage in York, Pennsylvania.

Vinnie Value’s passing and a new drummer

On January 20, 2020, drummer Vinnie Value died unexpectedly. The band dedicated their February 29, 2020 show at Revolution in Long Island to his memory, with Anthony Corallo of Sheer Terror filling in that night. Corallo joined the band later in 2020.

New material in the 2020s

During the COVID 19 pandemic, the band worked on new music through online communication. In mid 2020, Kill Your Idols announced their first new material in more than 15 years, including a new 12 inch vinyl release on Triple B Records and split EPs with The Path and Rule Them All. The split with Rule Them All was released on March 4, 2022 through Flatspot Records and included two new songs titled “Tragic” and “Simple, Short, & Fast.”

Related bands and side work

Several past and present members have remained active in New York and Long Island hardcore since the 1990s. Guitarist Gary Bennett and drummer Anthony Corallo both play in Sheer Terror, with Bennett joining that band in the late 1990s. Corallo is also an audio engineer and runs Chronic Death Records. Bennett formed the crossover thrash band Deathcycle with original member Ron Grimaldi, and later Paul Delaney joined. Delaney went on to form the black metal band Black Anvil with Bennett and former Kill Your Idols drummer Raeph Glicken after the 2007 breakup.

Before joining Kill Your Idols, Raeph Glicken played drums in bands including SFA and Cause For Alarm, appearing on Cause For Alarm’s final album Beneath The Wheel. Current bassist Mike DeLorenzo and former guitarist Brian Meehan both played in the Long Island band Milhouse, and they were also members of Celebrity Murders. DeLorenzo and Vinnie Value formed Skinheads Still Scare People, a hardcore and Oi style project that also featured Corallo on drums, and it ended after Value’s death. Vocalist Andy West joined Too Many Voices in 2011, sang on their demo that year, and later left.

Members

• Andy West, vocals
• Gary Bennett II, guitar
• Mike DeLorenzo, bass
• Anthony Corallo, drums

Past members

• Jim Conaboy, drums (1995 to 1999)
• Joe Martin, drums (1999 to 2000)
• Raeph Glicken, drums (2000 to 2003, 2013 to 2015)
• Vinnie Value, drums (2003 to 2007, 2016 to 2019), died 2020
• John Leonardi, bass (1995 to 1997)
• Paul Delaney, bass (1998 to 2003, 2007, 2013 to 2015)
• Brian Meehan, guitar (1998 to 2007, 2013)
• Hugo Fitz, guitar (2019 to 2021)
• Dave Oster, drums
• Ron Grimaldi, drums
• Mike “Chickie” Walter, guitar
• Jon Abarno, guitar
• Mike Disseto, guitar
• Dan Lerch, bass

Discography

• No Gimmicks Needed (LP, Blackout!, 2000)
• Funeral for a Feeling (LP, SideOneDummy, 2001)
• Kill Your Idols (LP, Grapes of Wrath and Reflections Records, 2002), Europe only, re recordings of tracks from past compilations and split EPs
• From Companionship to Competition (LP, SideOneDummy, 2005)
• Live at CBGB’s, July 30th, 2000 (LP, Blackout!, 2005)

EPs

• 12 inch E.P. (None Of The Above Records, 1997)
• This Is Just The Beginning (Blackout!, 1998)
• Funeral for a Feeling (EP, SideOneDummy, 2001), three tracks from the LP plus one unreleased track
• For Our Friends (Lifeline Records, 2003)
• Salmon Swim Upstream (Vicious Circle Records, 2006)

Split EPs

• I Hate the Kids, split with Fisticuffs (Motherbox Records, 1998)
• Split with Full Speed Ahead (Hellbent Records, 1999)
• Split with The Nerve Agents (Mankind Records, 2000)
• Split with Voorhees (Indecision Records, 2000), part of the Indecision Records split series
• Split with Good Riddance (Jade Tree Records, 2001)
• Split with Crime in Stereo (Rocket Punch and Blackout!, 2003)
• Split with 7 Seconds (SideOneDummy, 2004), all songs from From Companionship to Competition
• Live on WLUW, live split with Modern Life Is War (Lifeline Records, 2005)
• Split with Poison Idea (TKO Records, 2007), all songs from Funeral for a Feeling
• Split with Rule Them All (Flatspot Records, 2022)