December  2001

Team Goon / Sk8Shop.com Network

The Faction was a band that was around from 1982 - 85 and making music that was fast and tight without the thrash. Sure, everyone in the skate scene knew that this was the band that Steve Caballero was in, and that it attracted allot of skaters. Many people today say these guys should have kept on playing more that the 3 short years that they were around and put out a few more records. In spite of that, The Faction still made their presence know in the Punk scene. 

I can recall seeing them play about a year after first playing their "Yesterday is Gone" 45 single (vinyl record) to death at a place called the Cathay de Grande back in 1984. This band was Punk Rock at it's best. If you skated in the 80's The Faction was a part of every session.

Now here we are 18 years later and one day while trolling through ebay looking for "real" Punk Rock I ran into this listing for another Faction CD I had not seen before. Not knowing if the auction was a scam or not I figured losing 10 bucks was not a big deal so I bid and won the auction. I got the CD in a few days and was blown away. 

The CD turned out to come directly from AVD Records out of Las Vegas. The CD was titled "The Faction Collection 2 Uncollectable". This CD has 27 songs on it and takes off where The Faction Collection CD leaves off. The new CD has a bunch of live tracks and an interview on KFJC radio. The inside jacket of the CD has some words by Gavin O'Brien on the early days of The Faction and the scene back in the day. The songs that you will find on this recording are as follows: 1.You Are Here  2.Terror in the Streets  3.A U.K.  4.Eternal Plan  5.Black Balled  6.Demons (studio) 7.Change of Pace  8.Running Amok  9.Beyond the Mirror (studio) 10.It Makes Me Sick (demo)  11.Louie Louie (demo)  12.Me (demo)  13.Interview on KFJC  14.Guitar Gets Broken in Michigan  15.No Morals (Adam Bomb demo)  16.Punk Party (demo featuring Charles Norman)  17.The Faction Disc Jockies on KFJC  PEGGED FOR LIVE VIDEO SOUNDTRACK: 18.Tongue Like a Battering Ram  19.Being Watched  20.Corpse in Disguise  21.Pegged for Life  22.Not Mine  23.Skate and Destroy  24.Deathless  25.Dark Room  26.Why Save the Whales  27.I Decide for Me

We found this CD to provide a well needed Faction fix. For you younger guys out there who have not heard The Faction before, you can rest assured that this is the real deal and is no poser "bubble gum" so-called punk rock (I won't waste the web space to list all the those bands names and numbers). You can order this CD directly from the AVD Records website. If you don't have The Faction Collection CD you can get that one from them too.

When we ran up with Steve at the Soul Bowl comp earlier this year he gave us the lowdown on what is up with The Faction. They are currently playing around in northern California. We recently saw an interview on Break Out Mag.com with Gavin O'Brien the lead singer of The Faction where he gives you the full history of the band and what his thoughts are on what is happening now as well as some photos. Click here to read the interview.

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