The Locust

The Locust, a Southern California rock band, drew frequent praise as the future of hardcore punk thanks to an approach widely viewed as innovative, controversial, and deafeningly intense. Observers both critical and devoted argued over the group’s merits, pointing to the volatile behavior of its fiercely devoted followers, the chaotic nature of its live shows, lyrics that struck many as incoherent, and merchandise selections that some found dubious. Throughout the debate the members kept their distance, choosing instead to highlight the “self-political” content of their words and daily choices while stressing above all their enjoyment of performance itself.

Assembled in San Diego in 1995 from alumni of the influential hardcore outfits Struggle and Swing Kids, the band first attracted notice through prior associations and the extreme brevity of its material, whose individual pieces seldom lasted longer than sixty seconds. Once the earliest singles reached stores, however, committed listeners purchased every copy of the initial runs almost immediately, validating the attention and producing sold-out local appearances across Southern California. Membership continued to shift during those formative years. Even with an unsettled roster the Locust toured the United States and Europe, eventually stabilizing long enough to complete its debut full-length. That album packed twenty tracks into thirteen claustrophobic minutes; its limited pressing of two thousand 12-inch copies sold out within a week, and the May 1999 three-inch CD reissue moved more than twenty thousand units, a platinum-level figure by independent standards.

In spring 2000 the group surprised followers with a double LP of drum’n’bass remixes of its signature song “Well I’ll Be a Monkey’s Uncle,” featuring contributions from Digital Hardcore artist Christoph de Babalon and San Francisco’s I Am Spoonbender. The project challenged perceptions of stylistic narrowness while introducing the music to new listeners. After the 2001 EP Flight of the Wounded Locust, David Astor exited. Reconfigured as a quartet—guitarist/vocalist Bobby Bray, bassist/vocalist Justin Pearson, keyboardist/vocalist Joey Karam, and drummer Gabe Serbian—the Locust maintained a punishing tour schedule that included an opening slot in Japan for Grand Royal act At the Drive-In, extensive U.S. dates, and appearances at South by Southwest. Their first recording in the new lineup appeared on a split seven-inch with like-minded noise band Melt Banana, issued by Gold Standard Laboratories.

A worldwide deal with Anti-, the Epitaph affiliate whose roster included Tom Waits, Merle Haggard, and Nick Cave, followed. Plague Soundscapes, the band’s first release for the label, arrived in June 2003. A series of split records, singles, and side-project activity (including Head Wound City and Some Girls) preceded the March 2007 full-length New Erections. In 2012 the compilation Molecular Genetics from the Gold Standard Labs gathered most of the pre-Anti- catalog, encompassing previously unavailable tracks from early vinyl-only releases. Drummer Gabe Serbian died on April 30, 2022, at the age of 44.