According to stereogum.com, Al Barile, the guitarist and creative mastermind behind the early Boston hardcore band SSD, has passed away. As Pitchfork reports, Barile’s wife Nancy posted on Instagram that Barile died on April 6. Back in 2022, the artist revealed that he had been diagnosed with rectal cancer. Barile was 63 years old.
Barile formed SSD in 1981 while working as a General Electric machinist and studying at Northeastern. The band’s name stood for Society System Decontrol and their name appeared as SS Decontrol on the cover of their first two records before they officially changed it to SSD. The band took early inspiration from Minor Threat, who are known for their rigorous short-song immediacy of music and the fiery straight-edge viewpoint that they stood for.
SSD’s wild live shows quickly became largely notorious because of the support from the Boston Crew, which were a group of friends and supporters who would show up at every gig. Barile and singer Springa would famously throw themselves around stages by bringing a physicality that would help set the hardcore standard.
Barile started X-Claim Records, which is the Boston hardcore label that released SSD’s 1982 debut album, The Kids Will Have Their Say and Minor Threat’s Ian MacKaye co-released the album through his Dischord label. That record and SSD’s 1983 EP Get It Away, are considered classics within the hardcore community.
X-Claim also released important early Boston hardcore classics from the FU’s, DYS and Jerry’s Kids. SSD moved in a more metal direction on 1984’s How We Rock and 1985’s Break It Up, before disbanding later in 1985.
Barile later started the band Gage and he continued to work as a mechanical engineer at General Electric for decades. In recent years, Barile worked on putting out a series of reissues and there is a great 2023 interview with him and Nancy in David Anthony’s Former Clarity Newsletter.
Photography by Glen E. Friedman
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