The Devil Dogs

In 1989, while laying down tracks for a new record, the New York City punk outfit the Rat Bastards fractured over familiar creative clashes, prompting guitar-and-vocals member Andy Gortler and bass-and-vocals member Steve Baise to continue under the name Devil Dogs. The group’s sound drew heavily from 1960s trash rock by the Sonics and Wailers, Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound,” and the expansive 1970s New York punk style of the Ramones, New York Dolls, and Dictators, leading Devil Dogs to issue a steady stream of LPs, EPs, live albums, and 45s. Gortler had earlier started Gilligan’s Revenge in the early 1980s; after his exit that band became Token Entry and later Black Train Jack. Baise’s prior stint was in the New Jersey-based surf/punk combo PT109, the same group that supplied drummer “Mighty” Joe Vincent when he joined Devil Dogs in 1991.