Warzone

And at first, like the first few months I was in the warehouse and then I moved right into sales.

Um, At the time, we had the Bad Brains Quickness record, you know, the Warzone records, a bunch of other things.

And then near the tail end, you know, there was Primus, there was...

And at one point, I had a band called Smashing Orange that I was trying to get us to sign.

The things I never

knew.

That's why in the 80s, there were so many questions about Warzone outside of New York City.

Because a lot of those guys... who are very happy about the way they were born uh would wear a lot of anti-communism shirts

You know, this whole thing about being able to, like, meet, you know, people.

I'm trying to think if Warzone played that.

But, like, seeing, you know, like, or I think it was Bold's first show as Bold.

Whoa.

Like, hence having, like, you know, I think Nausea or, like, you know, YDL dudes were hanging-

Mm

... out, and, like, Warzone was kind of like, you know, skinhead, American pride or, you know.

[laughs]

Today we're digging into the story of Revelation Records, from its first hand-pressed seven-inch in New Haven to its role in launching the emo hardcore wave.

The story of Revelation Records begins in the autumn of eighty-seven when Jordan Cooper, fresh out of high school and itching to bring a taste of New Haven into the underground, and Ray Cappo, already steering his hardcore outfit, Youth of Today pooled their scrimped cash for one tiny pressing run and slipped a seven-inch of Warzone's Lower East Side crew straight into the hands of a packed CBGB crowd.

That first single was more than a record.

It was proof that you didn't need a major label to get your music out, and it set the tone for the label's DIY ethic that would become a punk staple.