HEAVYHEX is hitting the road in Europe and the UK with Love Letter starting next week! They’re B9’s latest band so check them out if they come through your city!
CEREMONY 20 Years Shows: CA & NYC
H2O on tour with the Bouncing Souls!
Fastbreak 'Fast Cars, Fast Women' LP: Bridge Nine Exclusive Variant
In the late 90s, no one carried the torch for Youth Crew hardcore like FASTBREAK. Formed in 1994, the Connecticut band quickly made a name for themselves in the New England area, thanks to their explosive approach to fast-paced hardcore music and unrelenting positivity. Their sound was a true successor to the upbeat style of bands like Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today. Their energy made them a staple in Connecticut hardcore, as they became a fixture playing alongside bands like H2O, Bane, Ten Yard Fight, Right Brigade, and more.
Despite their significant impact on the hardcore scene, Fastbreak's recordings had long been out of print and unavailable on streaming services. We are so excited that Iodine Records is able to re-release Fastbreak’s seminal debut album, Fast Cars, Fast Women, and that we are able to offer an exclusive variant (limited to 200). Originally released in 1998, every idea, riff, and rhythm on the record feels as fresh as ever. Songs like “Said and Done” and “Places Trades” are bursting with pure exuberance and energy. In a time when bands were getting darker and gloomier, Fastbreak was a breath of fresh air, bringing a more inviting energy to the genre.
Fastbreak’s ideas were extremely ahead of their time, predicting the future fusion of hardcore and pop-punk that would go on to take over the world. Their influence can be heard in countless bands that followed, blending the raw energy of hardcore with the immediacy of a positive attitude and approach. It’s a painfully underrated record, but thankfully, listeners now have a chance to realize just what was going on.
Fastbreak’s Fast Cars, Fast Women features Patrick Rorick on vocals, Steven Pica and Neal St. Clair on guitar, Don Raymond on bass, and Luke Garro on drums. The album was produced by Dean Baltulonis and mastered at Metropolis Studios, and features liner notes written by Chris Wrenn (Bridge Nine Records) and Rama Mayo (BWR).
Due out March 28, 2025 - pre-orders will begin shipping on or around that date.
In Memory of Rich Hall (& fund to assist his family)
The Bridge Nine crew is incredibly sad to acknowledge that Rich Hall has passed away at the age of 48. Rich was a punk rock lifer that went from touring with bands, to booking insane shows at CBGB and other NYC venues, to becoming an accomplished artist and family man.
If you’re not familiar with Rich, check out this interview that he did about his time booking bands with Brooklyn Vegan HERE and dig into his art via Decibel HERE.
A GoFundMe that was created to help support his wife and young son during this heartbreaking time can be supported HERE.
This Is LA: A Benefit For the California Fires (Sunday, 2/2)
Incendiary Device with 7 SECONDS, NEGATIVE APPROACH (Punk Rock Bowling)
INCENDIARY DEVICE will be opening up a late-night Trust Records-sponsored Punk Rock Bowling club show on May 23rd featuring the mighty 7 SECONDS and NEGATIVE APPROACH at Fremont Country Club. Details are HERE (though tickets aren’t going on sale for it until March)
H2O "Faster Than The World" 25+ Year Re-Issue (Expanded 2xLP) Pre-Order NOW!
Bridge Nine is proud to re-issue H2O’s classic third album, Faster Than The World, on vinyl for the first time in twenty-five years! Originally released on Epitaph in 1999, this nineteen-song album has been expanded to include a 2nd LP featuring the band’s previously unreleased seventeen-song demo, which was produced by Tim Armstrong (Rancid) in 1998 and remastered by Paul Miner. H2O’s F.T.T.W. 2xLP lands in stores on February 28th, but you can pre-order two versions of it from Bridge Nine directly, today! Available on super-limited spatter vinyl (/200 copies) and this amazing-looking pinwheel vinyl (/550 copies):
Available in select record stores on February 28th:
Indie Store Exclusive (North America): 1 Red LP, 1 Blue LP / 750
Cargo (Europe): Red/Black/Blue, Green/Black/Yellow / 300
F.T.T.W. FUN FACT: In 1999 Bridge Nine was just four years old and had only four releases under its belt. Label founder Chris Wrenn's day job was working in the art department of Boston's Tower Records, so Chris cut the "3" cover logo out of foam core by hand and painted this four-foot-wide display to promote their third release for Epitaph Records!
American Nightmare & Foundation at TIED DOWN FEST (Detroit); May 31st-June 1st
It’s going to get a little crazy again in Detroit on May 31st and June 1st with the annual TIED DOWN fest. This year AMERICAN NIGHTMARE & FOUNDATION will be headlining alongside Speed, Fiddlehead, Judge, and so many more great bands. Grab tickets HERE!
Roger Miret & Vinnie Stigma (AGNOSTIC FRONT) on Toby Morse's ONE LIFE ONE CHANCE Podcast!
Roger Miret and Vinnie Stigma from AGNOSTIC FRONT just sat down with Toby Morse (H2O) and his One Life One Chance Podcast to discuss the release of both of their new books! Give it a listen HERE!
Bridge Nine: 2024 Review
When I first started renovating the building that became Bridge Nine’s record store and HQ in Beverly, Massachusetts, I wanted to make a place where cool things could happen. It wasn’t going to just be a record label office, we’d already had that for over 25 years in a succession of spaces, starting in a bedroom and an evolving in a series of warehouses, each bigger than the next. They had their own character and let us work on records and mail them to people, but we were hidden away, hard to find, and unable to be a space where our community could gather and grow. By the time the pandemic started, I wanted something that fostered connection. And 2024 showed that we have become that space and so much more.
Bridge Nine is a record label first and foremost, so finding and supporting artists that inspire us is our most important role. We were excited to invite HEAVYHEX onto the label and support them with the release of their debut album, True To You, recorded by Jay Maas (Defeater, Love Letter).
We were also proud to get new pressings of Ceremony’s Rohnert Park (in time for their insane show at the Hollywood Palladium where they played the album front to back; the DYS Brotherhood LP (on green!); and Have Heart’s The Things We Carry and Songs To Scream at the Sun albums in time for their reunion shows this summer!
We were also happy to collaborate with our friends at Blackout!, Iodine Recordings and Trust Records to release Bridge Nine exclusive color vinyl pressings for a half-dozen albums for bands that we dig like S.S. Decontrol, Love Letter, B9 alums Crime In Stereo, Further Seems Forever, Stretch Armstrong, and coming very soon: Piebald!
We also celebrated the release of new books by our favorite artists: Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids), Ray Cappo (Shelter, Youth of Today), Vinnie Stigma, and Roger Miret (Agnostic Front):
and invited a whole bunch of great artists to exhibit throughout the year, like Alyssa Watters, Lori Dawn, Mike Gallo, Christopher Michon / Failed Imagineer, Timmy Tanker, Alyssa Driscoll, and Meesh Dumas / Bold, Old, and Gold!
We partnered with The Vegan Market THREE times throughout the year, and packed our warehouse (and in August, the street next to our building) with delicious vegan food vendors:
The Vegan Market: August 2024 Edition
We also turned the B9 warehouse into a movie theater for two film premieres: Don’t Forget To Leave (about Tim Landers of the band Transit) and Join Or Die, about the importance of being an active part of your community!
Frank Turner cameo in the film Don’t Forget To Leave about Tim Landers of the band Transit
But the thing that got us the most excited, was to invite some of our favorite bands to perform the most intimate of sets in the B9 warehouse. HEAVYHEX celebrated the release of their new album on B9 back in May with their friends The Promised End and Spite House:
another highlight was having Calling Hours (ex-Farside) perform our two-year anniversary of the store being open show:
But the absolute banger, the “how are we going to top this” event was NYHC-pioneers Agnostic Front performing live as part of the release of Roger and Vinne’s new books:
Agnostic Front performing live at Bridge Nine Records on December 7th, 2024. Photo by Dave Boccio.
with a special half-New York, half-Boston AF lineup that featured Mark McKay (Slapshot) on drums and Jaime Sciarappa (SSD) on bass with Chris Foley (SSD) hopping on the drums for a cover of S.S. Decontrol’s song “Glue,” and Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello) helping Vinnie sing “Power.”
Also special shoutouts to Lenny Lashley, Keith Bennet, Smooth Brain, 5Ever, Return Address, Hyber, and Marley Brown for their special performances at B9 this year!
We want to extend a special thank you to Larry Kelley, Katherine Wrenn, Chris Padgett, Katie at Soy Much Brighter, Crystal Rose, and everyone who has made these events happen. We dreamed of a space where we could do stuff like this, and it’s become our reality. We’ve got a TON of things in the works for 2025, so make sure to keep up with what we’re doing and be a part of it!
Chris Wrenn
B9
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 (Recap)
On Saturday, December 7th, Bridge Nine had the honor of hosting the Godfathers of Hardcore, Vinnie Stigma and Roger Miret of Agnostic Front, for the highly anticipated release of both of their new books at an event that culminated with a very special performance.
To properly launch Vinnie’s memoir The Most Interesting Man In The World and Roger’s With Time: The Roger Miret Archives, Bridge Nine hosted a conversation with Vinnie and Roger (Howie had to cancel due to illness) that was moderated by Drew Stone (Incendiary Device). For over an hour, the three talked about the early years of the band, how it shaped their lives in the 4+ decades since, and the importance of properly documenting that early spark, the output of which became part of the foundation that Bridge Nine and many of our artists have been inspired by.
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9. Photo courtesy of Dave Boccio (12/07/2024)
Billed From A7 to B9 to reference the iconic A7 venue that is known as the birthplace of New York Hardcore where Agnostic Front played their first show, Bridge Nine wanted to recreate the intimate experience of seeing the band perform on the floor of a backroom as they once did in the early days while supporting the release of their first album, Victim In Pain, forty years ago. Mike Gallo and Danny Lamagna were unable to make it for the weekend, so Roger recruited A7-era peers Mark McKay (OG Slapshot, The Long Wait) to play drums and Jaime Sciarappa (S.S. Decontrol, The Long Wait) to play bass in what became an iconic, one-off half-Boston, half-New York lineup of Agnostic Front. They ripped through a fourteen-song set made up of AF’s earliest material:
With Jaime helping round out Agnostic Front, they included a cover of S.S. Decontrol’s song “Glue” in the middle of the setlist, and recruited SSD drummer Chris Foley to perform the song, making it the first time since 1985 that Chris and Jaime (and SSD) had played it together.
L to R: Craig Silverman, Vinnie Stigma, Mark McKay, Roger Miret, Jaime Sciarappa.
Photo courtesy of Steven J. Messina
As caught on video by Drew Stone here:
They also invited longtime fan and friend Eugene Hutz of the band Gogol Bordello to join Vinnie Stigma in singing “Power,” which Vinnie had originally written in 1977 for his band The Eliminators, but had never recorded. It became an Agnostic Front song when finally recorded during the Victim In Pain recording session with Don Fury.
Vinnie Stigma and Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello) performing “Power.” Photo by Dave Boccio.
To help commemorate the event, Bridge Nine made a limited-edition T-shirt and poster. We have some leftovers and they are available to purchase while supplies last HERE.
Agnostic Front finished the set with their cover of “Crucified” by the band Iron Cross (footage courtesy of Drew Stone):
A lot of people worked behind the scenes to make this event happen and run smoothly. From left to right in the below photo you have Larry Kelley, Craig Silverman, Roger Miret, Todd Huber, Drew Stone, Mark McKay, Vinnie Stigma, Jaime Sciarappa, and Chris Wrenn:
Photo courtesy of Steven J. Messina
Not pictured but equally important to making this event happen (and run smoothly) was Kat Batten, Chris Padgett, Chris Foley of S.S. Decontrol, Anthony Moreschi, and Zach Weeks / Godcity!
Check out the full set as captured by Dirt The Sixth for their Youtube channel:
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 photo gallery courtesy of Chris Padgett:
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 photo gallery courtesy of Dave Boccio:
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 photo gallery courtesy of Adam Tanner:
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 photo gallery courtesy of Steven J. Messina:
Agnostic Front: From A7 to B9 video courtesy of Steven J. Messina:
Were you one of the lucky few that made it in to this event? Got some good photos or video? Hit us up so we can include them in this recap!
American Nightmare celebrating 25 Years: Feb 2025 / NYC (UPDATE: SOLD OUT)
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE is starting its 25th year with a show in Brooklyn, NY on February 25th, 2025. Special guests include NO WARNING! Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 6th HERE!
Agnostic Front / Murphy's Law New York Blood 2025 Tour
AGNOSTIC FRONT and MURPHY’S LAW are teaming up again to bring the New York Blood tour through the U.S.A. next March/April. Tour date info & tickets can be found HERE!
War On Women supporting HELMET on tour (Feb/Mar 2025)
HELMET is hitting the road in support of the 30th anniversary of the release of their album Betty, and they’re taking WAR ON WOMEN with them! Tickets go on sale this Friday, make sure you grab them before they sell out.