National Razor (band)

National Razor (also known as National Razor, F.D.I.C.) is an American punk rock band that formed in 1998 in Baltimore, Maryland. Influenced by Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash, the Ramones, they experimented with New Wave and hardcore. For their early recording career, the band consisted of Erik Sunday (lead vocals, bass guitar), Frank Burgess (lead guitar, occasional lead vocals), Dee Settar (rhythm guitar, occasional lead vocals), and Morphius Records founder David Andler (drums, backing vocals).

History

National Razor was a success on the U.S. East Coast from the release of their Finally Death Is Coming debut album in 1999. The album received critical acclaim from publications like Maximum Rock'N'Roll and Hit List, and toured the U.S. with Italian hardcore band Raw Power.

Settar left the group shortly after the first album, to be replaced by David Israel (lead guitar, backing vocals). Their next release, Friends Don't Invite Cops (2001), included the anti-drug anthem "Do You Wanna Get High Tonight?", widely considered the band's most meaningful contribution to the lexicon of recorded punk music.^{[citation needed]} The release was packaged together with the UK Subs song "The Revolution's Here", and the two bands performed in the U.S. together on a variety of occasions.

Following performances with many other national acts, including The Casualties, MDC, Funeral Dress, and others, and a brief 2002 tour, internal friction led to Andler's departure. The group continued with Jim Schaffer (formerly of the punk band Trusty) as his replacement. Burgess left in 2005, to be replaced by Carl Weigel.

Recordings engineered by Charley Jamison in 2003 and 2005 have never been released with the exception of the song "123 Go!" which is supposed to be released on a Ramones compilation.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to Mapleshade's release of Naked Before God and Country, music photographer and art critic Eldon Baldwin summed the band up as "a surly, uncontrived blend of The Ramones, Stiff Little Fingers, the Beatles, Johnny Cash and The Clash".

The band's politicised lyrics and rebellious attitude influenced the post-2000 resurgence of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area bands influenced by early US/UK punk rock.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Andler reunited with the band for one show at a weekend festival at Talking Head Club in Baltimore, with Schaffer playing bass for most of the set, and played a second drum kit on some songs. In 2008, Burgess played guitar with the band for one show, shortly after becoming a Baltimore City Firefighter.

Andler still operates Morphius Records in Baltimore. Israel works for NASA, and is currently working on Internet in Space Technology. Sunday is a high school teacher who founded an experimental school in Baltimore.

The band continues to play in 2009, and is nearing completion of a new album, tentatively titled Four Dollars in Change recorded with Drew Mazurek, who engineered the band's second release.

Members

• Erik Sunday – Bass, lead vocals
• Dave Israel – Guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Jim Schaffer – Drums, vocals
• Carl Weigel – Guitar, vocals

Former members

• Frank Burgess – Guitar, vocals
• David Andler – Drums, vocals
• Dee Settar – Guitar, vocals

Discography

Discography

• Finally Death Is Coming (1999, Morphius)
• "Tear Me Down" on Our Voices Must Be Heard compilation (2000, Silent Records)
• Friends Don't Invite Cops – split release with UK Subs (2001, VMS/Morphius)
• "Do You Wanna Get High Tonight" on Food Not Bombs compilation (2002, Silent Records)
• Naked Before God and Country (2006, Mapleshade Records)
• Unreleased "123 Go!" on Full Breach Kicks Ramones Compilation (Full Breach)

External links

• National Razor