Iron Boots: 10 (biased and subjective) thoughts

Iron Boots was the band who got Town of Hardcore's esteemed "Demo of the Issue" award with their tape. Maybe you downloaded their work on SLSK and have had to make sense of song titles like "Beachside Pain" and "NeedlesXXX." Maybe you've retroactively sought them out upon exposure to the incessant grooving of Fire & Ice, etc. Either way, here's 10 personal nuggs on my favorite band from Virginny Beach, ever. 

1) Warzone Ambassadors 2003-2008
They wore the sonic influence proudly on their collective sleeve, and if I can be honest for a second, helped me develop a taste for lesser hyped entries in the WZ catalog like Open Your Eyes. 

2) Fried Chicken and 40 oz's
In an ish of Town of Hardcore (that I can't access right now), a member of the boots camp negated edge talk with his declared love of "fried chicken and 40 oz's." The quote has always stuck with me. 

3) Nashville Tennessee
I saw them at a pizza place in Nashville, sharing a bill with Depression (from ATL), Bracewar and locals Discontent and Hollywood. The place was barely bigger than a broom closet, but quite well attended. Boots played heel and covered "Foreign Job Lot", and I procured a Shark Attack "Feeding Frenzy" era shirt from a guy selling off his collection. That's where the joy ended though. I ended up getting in a huge fight with my Mom (LOL) on the drive back because I forgot to tell her where I'd be and the night ended on a bum note for everyone who bore witness to that conversation....

4) Richmond Virginia
I saw them that same year in Richmond on a bill I'll forever compare shows to (Cold World, Righteous Jams, Justice, War Hungry, etc) and at some point during Iron Boots' set, a fight broke out in the crowd. I don't know what the beef was over, but without missing a beat, the bassist began plunking out the riff from "Clobberin' Time." The timing rocked and it killed the fight when everyone started laughing. 

5) Skinhead Art
While the Justice Look Alive EP introduced me to Spoiler's illustration, I think the Iron Boots Skinhead stuff is practically definitive of that era. Very coveted shirts at one point and still some of my favorite work by Spoiler. 

6) EZ Green
A perfect 7" that doesn't get enough credit for being such a spectacular riff record. Yeah, they sounded a lot like Warzone, but that guitar work? Nary a wasted riff in those 4 tracks. Also, "Steam" reminds me of a Pressure Release song.

7) Ocarina of Time
I swear I read that the name was initially conceived in relation to the item in Zelda. Confirm/deny?

8) Bbizarre
For years, I thought that their track on the Rev comp was stylistically supposed to be called "Bbizarre." Nope. Turns out some doofus just mis-tagged it before uploading it on Soulseek. That's what I get for not buying it I guess. Cool that Boots got 2 tracks on that comp.

9) Praying at the Alter [sic] of Raybeez
I found this quip on a blog while doing some research. I can't make this stuff up.

10) The fabled Iron Boots LP
On the aforementioned blog, I found a little nugget about what happened with the LP that was in the works. Apparently it was to be released on Parts Unknown in the US/Powered in Europe. They recorded it twice because they didn't like the first session's production, and the second go-around, all their drum equipment was in storage. The songs were supposed to be the next logical step from Easy Green, but never got to see that official release. D'oh. For the whole interview and to read this nugget in its original context, visit the Soul Craft blog here.