D Generation is a band for our times

The sound of being pissed off, along with bad hair, leather jackets, black T-shirts, craftily damaged jeans. Rebellious vocals, same timeworn guitar chords, and the old one-and-three ground-pounders coming off the drums. Sound familiar? Not a single new vibe is to be found anywhere in this band’s catalog. Some of you will be comforted by that, others will be put off, and still others are too young to know that this particular musical deportment is older than dirt or the Ramones, even. But what D Generation knows and works better than any band is this: the unspoken truth that most all of you have a repressed scream locked away somewhere deep inside. And D Gen’s lead singer? He’ll let it out for you.

D Generation is regarded as one of the most important and unsung rock bands of the past couple of decades. By the time they hit San Diego, their fourth studio album, Nothing Is Anywhere, will have been released. The album and tour reunites guitarist Danny Sage, Jesse Malin (the vocalist from Heart Attack), Howie Pyro on bass (he spent a little time in Danzig), guitarist Richard Bacchus (he joined after the band was up and running), and drummer Michael Wildwood.

The first three records are masterpieces of torment and here’s why: D Gen had some mighty large production help, first from the Cars’ Ric Ocasek, then later from T. Rex/Bowie producer Tony Visconti. But what a difficult path they led their hard-won fans down. After blasting out of anonymity in New York in 1991, D Generation disappeared after only eight years. There were quick reunions and a ten-inch record, but until now, that was all she wrote. Misfits who are angry about anything and everything still fill a certain void in pop culture. And given the current state of affairs, one can see why D Gen is back, and why they are going over so well.