In 1986, the quintessential Filipino punk label Twisted Red Cross released the first George Imbecile And The Idiots album on cassette tape. A snotty, irreverent, manic hardcore explosion with a tightly wound balance between short/fast/loud scorchers and tuneful mid-tempo boppers. Emman says this is "the Filipino answer to The Stupids", which is very accurate, but I also see so much classic USHC at play here. For me, this isn't so far from the Germs, Circle Jerks, early Descendents, Adrenalin OD, Flag of Democracy, maybe even Dead Kennedys.....which, you know, this all fits right in with The Stupids, so you get the idea!
While most Filipino bands of this time were playing a more '77 influenced and rocking sort of punk, GI & The Idiots were thrashing hard at a million miles an hour, and that's what makes this album my personal favorite of the TRC catalog.
We're pleased to screenprint some covers for the leftover vinyl of the 2015 vinyl reissue by a consortium of Philippines' finest punk labels and try to spread the good word of Filipino punk here in our dumb country.
