When it comes to the ‘80s hardcore scene, there are a handful of releases that have legendary status: Minor Threat’s Out Of Step, Black Flag’sDamaged and Bad Brains’I Against I all come to mind. However at the same time that these bands were making music, a lower profile yet equally influential act from Reno, Nevada, called 7 Seconds were quietly crafting an album that would eventually achieve this vaulted status. Originally released as an EP on Better Youth Organization in 1985,Walk Together, Rock Together fused a West Coast sensibility with East Coast production. The album was produced by Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye at D.C.’s legendary Inner Ear Studios, to craft a seven-song collection of songs that were as catchy as they were cathartic.
“On the ’84 tour, we stayed at Dischord House and recorded with Ian and Don [Zientara],” the band’s frontman Kevin Seconds explains in the book that accompanies the LP. “We did everything in one little session. Everything was recorded and mixed in two nights and that was when Don’s studio, Inner Ear, was at his house. On the recording, you can hear at the beginning of ‘99 Red Balloons’, you can hear this little wind-up toy that belonged to one of his daughters; that was because her toys were all over the studio, spread out all over the place.” Bassist Steve Youth adds, “Kev and I were two dirt-poor kids from Reno, Nevada that finally had the opportunity to drive across America and play some shows. We had done some great shows down in L.A. and Phoenix and the Bay Area, but that was nothing compared to driving in a ’58 Volkswagen bus across and then finally ending up at the Dischord House. My brother and I were such huge Minor Threat fans and finally being able to record with Don and Ian was a dream for us. I was only 18 at the time. I was just a snotty-nosed kid!”
The feeling was mutual as MacKaye is quoted as saying that “7 Seconds were a band that really spoke to me” as the band helped fill a void in the hardcore scene leading into the Revolution Summer. While the D.C. post-hardcore scene has been well-documented, the history of Walk Together, Rock Together hasn’t… until now. After releasing a deluxe edition of 7 Seconds’ 1984 full-length "the crew" in 2021, Trust Records is excited to announce that they are giving the same treatment to theWalk Together, Rock Together LP, which will feature an aforementioned Gatefold 20-page full color book continuing the oral history of the band from 1984 – 1986, including commentary from Pushead, Ian MacKaye, Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand), Norman Brannon (Texas Is The Reason), Milo Aukerman (Descendents), Tony Hawk, Shepard Fairey, Christian Jacobs (Yo Gabba Gabba!), Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise) and more.
This version of the EP also includes a fully restored version of its iconic yellow-and-black cover art as well as 20 brand new original cartoons by Brian Walsby. “For me and Matt Pincus, the co-founders of Trust, 7 Seconds is in our Mount Rushmore,” Joe Nelson explains. “The point of Trust Records is we want the releases to be first pressings, original mixes. We'll remaster it like we did with this, but for the most part, we want it to stay true to the original concept of the record.” Trust Records worked closely with Seconds and MacKaye in every detail of this release from the remasteringfrom the original analog tapes by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Sound to the packaging in order to accurately represent these songs’ original intention.
“That song ‘Walk Together, Rock Together’ really addresses the fracturing of the scene in Kevin’s mind at the time and the fact that the shows were becoming so divided in the sense that if you had long hair, you would get pummeled,” Nelson says of the iconic title track that also served as a battle cry to help assuage the violence of the California’s hardcore scene. Alternately, the album contains a cover of the early eighties pop hit “99 Luftballons,” which certainly didn’t endear 7 Seconds to stage-diving purists. “If you listen to the lyrics to ‘99 Luftballons,’ it’s a protest song,” Nelson continues, “and 7 Seconds just made it their own. No matter how violent the show was, everyone would sing along for that song live.”
Walk Together, Rock Together is an important release not just because of the songs and cultural context, but because these songs could only be created under a certain set of very specific consequences. However maybe most impressive is the fact that 40 years later, songs like “We’re Gonna Fight” and “Regress No Way” sound just as relevant—if not more relevant—than they did back then. Whether you saw 7 Seconds back in the eighties or are just discovering this classic EP, this deluxe edition from Trust Records finally does justice to a collection of songs that are as inventive as they are incendiary. “Me and you, we’re gonna fight the narrow minds,” Seconds sings during “We’re Gonna Fight.” In many ways, that struggle is still raging on… and Walk Together, Rock Together continues to be an apt soundtrack to that battle.