The Denver punk scene and the shifting face of Fascist organizing

A Fascist controversy unfolding in Scotland has surprising links to Denver, Colorado's punk rock scene

Social media has been ablaze for weeks with calls to shut down what is being billed as Scotland's "biggest white power concert ever." An upcoming October 2016 concert with Minnesota based Bound for Glory, a white supremacist skinhead band and one of the most popular Fascist bands in the world, has become the target for anti-racists and others in Scotland. The Edinburgh event is expected to draw “an army of fascist thugs from across Europe to Scotland's capital.” Understandably, local leaders of Scotland's marginalized communities, including leaders of black student organizations and community groups, are starting the process of mobilizing against the concert.

The event appears to have its roots with the European born white nationalist skinhead street gang, Blood and Honour. London-based Blood and Honour member Vicky Pearson has been credited with organizing the show, while Blood and Honour members from across Europe have been promoting the event. Tickets are already on sale, though the name of the venue hosting the event has yet to be released.

Bound for Glory: Minneapolis based Nazi punk band

Blood and Honour was founded in 1987 in the United Kingdom by Ian Stuart Donaldson, the singer of revered skinhead oi band, Skrewdriver. Blood and Honour derived its name from the infamous motto of the 1930's era Hitler Youth, Blut and Ehre. Since its founding, Blood and Honour has grown into an international network of Fascists active mostly across Europe and North America. Focusing on street level organizing, Blood and Honour resembles a gang or social club more than a traditional Fascist political party. They function as a street level army of neo-nazi skinheads who focus on propaganda, music and social events, and street level attacks on migrants and marginalized communities.

Blood and Honour in the United States has found itself in the midst of a steady decline since the late 1990's. However, Blood and Honour chapters still exist across the country and a major change within the organization may have ramifications that very few anti-Fascists can imagine at the present moment. What might be more surprising to many is that Denver, Colorado may be on the cutting edge of Blood and Honour's evolution. 

 

The Glorious Five Year Plan

In 1999, the Denver street punk and oi scene revolved around anti-fascist bands like Hardsole, a skinhead band with leftist politics. In the midst of this scene, a young group of street punk kids started a band named Total Annihilation.

Total Annihilation, 2004.

Total Annihilation started off as a pretty generic street punk band, trying to find itself in a larger punk scene heavily influenced by crust punk and anarchopunk. By 2004, the band openly identified as a “Red” band, focusing on communist and leftist politics. In an interview with Mad Butcher Records in 2004, Total Annihilation described itself as having “found [their] calling in Revolutionary Marxist-Leninism”. They also extended thanks to local SHARPS (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) and international RASH (Red and Anarchist Skinheads) “comrades”.

The first acknowledged album by the band, released in 2003, entitled “The Glorious Five Year Plan” screams out as an attempt to be an anti-capitalist manifesto. Released by Seein Red Records, the album features songs like “Hasta La Victoria Siempre”, a nod to Che Guevera and Latin American communist inspired revolutionary movements, as well as “Workers of the World, Unite!”, a foot stomping song about international working class revolution. (We make reference to this being the first acknowledged album by the band because an earlier EP, “Revenge” apparently was so embarrassing that they don't take credit for it some 15 years later.)

Sometime between the release of “The Glorious Five Year Plan” in 2003 and the release of their next album in 2008, there was a major shift in the political ideology of the band. “The Great Patriotic War” illustrated that the band had taken a dramatic change in direction toward a nationalist and even anti-communist worldview. Songs like “American Pride Skins” and “Stomp the Crust” have now become anthems within many Ultra-Nationalist skinhead scenes. The band had decidedly shifted it's pro-working class messages of communist revolution to a new message of nationalism, anti-communism, and overt reactionary politics.

Total Annihilation, 2015.

It's unfortunately not a far leap for communists and anarchists with a strictly class based analysis to shift toward Fascistic idealogies. In situations where anarchists and communists lack a strong analysis of white supremacy and racism, our political ideologies typically rely on a working class political ideology that is easily exploited by Fascists to support a working class revolution not for liberation of all workers, but for the imposition of a working class Nationalist identity. Fascism and Socialism are divergent responses to the rise of industrial Capitalism. The German Nazi Party, (The National-Socialist German Workers' Party, or NSDAP) relied heavily on critiques of capitalism, and used imagery and propaganda based heavily off of Communist pro-working class propaganda to advance its own agenda. Thousands of communists and anarchists withdrew from organizations like the German Communist Party (KDP) to join the NSDAP and the Nazis.

Total Annihilation is a contemporary case study in the same evolution. However, what Total Annihilation may represent is even far more insidious and could represent a marked shift in the politics and orientation of Fascist organizing in North America and beyond.

Yellowside 28

By 2014 it became clear that Total Annihilation had continued its trajectory toward far right wing politics. Their track listing in a split release with Para Elite, a California based skinhead oi band, released that year makes it clear what side of the barricades they find themselves on.

Yellowside Records. 28 stands for B&H, or Blood and Honour.

“In Bed with the Reds” is a song specifically calling out anti-fascists affiliated with International Antifa movements, and calling for violent attacks on anti-racists and others opposed to far right politics. The song also openly condemns homosexuality and queerness. In “Death of a Nation”, the band labels Mexican and Central American migrants as an “alien disease” and Muslims as “degenerate parasites”. In “Criminal Invasion” the band further illustrates their anti-migrant Ultra-Nationalist message while also attacking “the capitalist class” in the United States for helping fuel the “conquest of the nation” by the “criminal invasion” of “illegals”.

Total Annihilation is decidedly racist, xenophobic, anti-leftist, anti-capitalist, and Ultra-Nationalist, falling into line with classic themes of Fascism. So what makes Total Annihilation different from any other Fascist skinhead band? It may shock many who are unfamiliar with Total Annihilation to know that the lead singer of the band, Jimi Yamamoto, is Japanese, not white.

In fact, Total Annihilation represents what may be a developing “Yellow and White Unity” that seems to be taking place not just in the larger Ultra-Nationalist skinhead scene, but in Blood and Honour USA specifically.

Japan is no stranger to Fascist and Ultra-nationalist skinheads. Bound for Glory toured Japan as far back as 2013 on the heals of a release of a split record with Japanese Fascist band Aggro Knuckle. Aggro Knuckle is also the main band behind a record label that distributes Ultra-Nationalist, white power, and Fascist music, called Yellowside Records.

Yellowside Records has been working for years to build bridges between White and Asian Fascists. The logo for Yellowside Records is the traditional SS Totenkopf (Deathhead, the very iconic skull and crossbones of the Nazi elite soldiers in the German SS units of World War II), and also includes the number 28. 28 represents the letters “B” and “H” and has been a call sign for Blood and Honour in street level Fascist shorthand for decades. The combination of the Totenkopf and the number 28 is typically reserved for skinheads that are members or supporters of Blood and Honour.

Indeed, a cursory look at the Yellowside Records website features bands that are big in the white power music scene, including Legitime Violence from Quebec, an overtly Nazi Francophone skinhead band.

"YEAR" An Asian Fascist crew, including Jimi Yamamoto (Total Annihilation, pictured far left) and Jay San (Para Elite, pictured far right)

The links between Jimi Yamamoto and Jay San from Para Elite and Yellowside records are undisputed. In fact, Yellowside Records promotes both bands, and photos of Jimi and Jay are found on several parts of the Yellowside Records website. Jimi and Jay also are close pals with the members of Aggro Knuckle and both promote other bands associated with the label, including Legitime Violence.

Jimi Yamamoto (Total Annihilation) and "Big" Ed Wolbank (Bound for Glory)

Yellowside Records also has a very friendly relationship with Bound for Glory, the Minnesota Nazi band that is causing the stir in Scotland right now. In fact, Yamamoto and “Big Ed” Wolbank from Bound for Glory appear to be pretty close friends and associates, further supporting the case that this purported “Yellow-White Unity” is having very deep seeded effects in the White Power scene in North America.

So is Yellowside Records just using the traditional Blood and Honour imagery without Blood and Honour's tacit approval? It seems highly unlikely, especially given Blood and Honour USA's Jon Pressley's relationship with Yamamoto and other Japanese-American Fascists on Facebook and other social media. Pressley is in the top ranks of Blood and Honour USA leadership. Even his social relationship with Yamamoto and other skinheads of Asian descent seems to suggest Blood and Honour's retreat from strictly traditional White Supremacist methods to those more in line with Third Positionism. Far from just supporting a cross collaboration between Japanese Fascists active in Japan, they are now creating unity with Japanese-American skinheads living in the U.S., and toning down overtly White Supremacist language and imagery with a more specific and unique brand of good old fashioned White American Nativism and Fascist ideologies, uniting various racial groups against perceived “outside enemies” like migrants, Muslims, leftists, Queers, and even formations like Black Lives Matter.

What makes this situation all the more insidious is that many of these skinheads and those affiliated with them do not use swastikas or other overt Nazi imagery (other than the Totenkompf), nor are they typically going to be found quoting Hitler or giving Nazi salutes. These aren't your “American History X” style boneheads. This is a regrouping and a rebranding of U.S. Street level Fascist organizing. And it's much more tenacious and much harder to fight than the obvious homogeneously white Nazi skinhead scene.

Chemical X

Fascism seeps into the Denver Punk scene

Total Annihilation has long been a controversial local band in Denver. TA has been reluctant to play local shows, and it has been hard to find venues willing to host them. That said, members of Total Annihilation play in other local bands in the punk scene without any of the same scrutiny.

Local bands with members of Total Annihilation include Chemical X and 4 Minute Warning, local street punk bands that enjoy varying degrees of popularity in the local music scene.

Chemical X

Andrew Scott, member of Chemical X and Total Annihilation. 

Andrew Scott joined both Total Annihilation and Chemical X in 2015, but has been a long time friend of both bands, doing guest vocals, and promoting both bands extensively. Andrew's Facebook wall is filled with links left by Jimi Yamamoto to songs by White Power and Fascist skinhead bands. Andrew also states in no uncertain terms that one of his favorite Total Annihilation songs is “Criminal Invasion” their anti-migrant screed.

Kyle Atwell, Bassist for Total Annihilation and 4 Minute Warning

4 Minute Warning

Kyle Atwell is the most recent addition to Total Annihilation, playing bass for the band. He also is a member of local punk band, 4 Minute Warning, a band that includes former members of other area Oi and street punk bands, including Bad Engrish.

At this point, it has become painfully obvious that both bands know that they incorporate members who are active with an openly Fascist band. Show promoters and other fans have pointed this out, and neither band has taken any action to deal with their connections to Fascists. In fact, a December 2015 show featuring both bands saw a group of members of both bands and their fans tearing down anti-fascist posters at local DIY venue Seventh Circle, and threatening to find and “kick the ass” of any anti-fascists in the crowd.

So how did we end up here? The Denver punk scene has been overwhelmingly forgiving and accommodating in its attitude toward the Fascists within its circles. It seems that it would be far easier to galvanize support for confronting these bands and their members if they wore swastikas and openly used racial slurs than it is when they use relatively obscured Nazi imagery and instead call for attacks on migrants, Muslims, and Queers. Either way, members of Total Annihilation, and now related bands, have enjoyed comfort within the local punk scene.

It's time to end that. It's time for folks in Denver to take a cue from those organizing in Scotland against Bound For Glory. These bands and their members should find no safe space within our venues, within our social circles, and on our streets.

As street level Fascism and right wing reactionary tendencies grow in the United States, bolstered by the rise of Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, we can only expect Fascists and their supporters to grow more bold. 2015 saw a host of right wing attacks and terrorism directed at migrants, Black Lives Matter activists, white anti-racists, and others. It is far past time to start to confront these tendencies growing within our own social circles. We can only hope it's not too late to do so. The consequences could be severe if we fail at this task.

Postscript:
There seems to be some controversy over the article we posted. People seem to be rolling their eyes and claiming that the article was made up. Interesting, as all the photos represented were straight from band members own Facebook pages... But why don't we let the lyrics from Total Annihilation's songs speak for themselves?
 
From "Criminal Invasion":

There's a battle raging in America's land
As the patriots fight to make their stand
To defend our country in the culture clash
As third world nations send us their trash
They come to our streets where they murder and rob
While the capitalists reward them with American jobs
Sell us their drugs and poison our youth
While the traitors in power cover up the truth
It's the Criminal Invasion
Undermining our security
It's the Criminal Invasion
Leaching off our economy
It's the Criminal Invasion
Can you hear when your nation calls?
It's the Criminal Invasion
Curb Immigration or the nation falls
Illegals are criminals by definition
The conquest of America is their mission
They don't learn the language or salute our flag
They got our kids running scared from their gangs
They don't pay taxes that they deprive the nation
They make no effort toward assimilation
We have to do something to stop the invasion
Mass immigration is the death of our nation

And now, what about these amazing lyrics from "In Bed with the Reds":

Don't give me no bullshit about homophobia
Because I just don't want to hear it
Just because I find something completely disgusting
Doesn't mean that I fucking fear it
What lies behind your propaganda really is white guilt
You shit all over your ancestors and the once great culture they built

Or, maybe this classic set of lyrics from "Death of a Nation":

They open our borders to the alien disease
They've beaten the U.S. worker down to his knees
Gave away our jobs and now they want our liberties
What the fuck has happened to the land of the free?

It's the death of a nation
The writings on the wall
It's the death of a nation
America will fall

So, Total Annihilation, by their own lyrics, is an anti-migrant, anti-gay band. They also use images of people the viewer is to assume are Muslims in their music video for "Death of a Nation", at the same time as the lyrics "degenerate parasites" leave Jimi's mouth. Okay, so they're anti-migrant. Anti-gay. Anti-muslim. They're also opposed to Anti-fascists, as illustrated by these telling words from "In Bed with the Reds":

So fuck you and fuck your Anti-fascist Action
Just another false label for another red faction

And also try to galvanize the "reverse racism" logic of the right wing with this line from the same song:

You say you're against racism and I can tell you that ain't true
Because racism and violence directed at whites never seems to bother you

What other kinds of bands are anti-migrant, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, opposed to anti-fascists, and try to stir the pot against the infamous "communist" boogey man, while also portraying whites as victims of racist attacks?

These lyrics should speak for themselves. But for fans of Total Annihilation who are in denial about their support for fascists, there are several questions that should be asked:

1) Why do members of the band have a very friendly and cozy relationship with well-known and self proclaimed Fascists and Nazis like Ed Wolbank from Bound for Glory or Jon Pressley, a known leader of Blood and Honour USA (a neo-nazi street gang)?

2) Why does Total Annihilation rep record labels and bands that use Nazi imagery and have racist, homophobic, and Fascist lyrics or who outright identify as Nazi bands, like Bound for Glory, Legitime Violence, and Aggro Knuckle?

3) What does the number 28 mean on the clothing in various pictures of members of Total Annihilation, and what does that same number stand for in the logo of a record label they are closely affiliated with, Yellowside Records? And why does the band rep the Totenkopf, or SS deathhead?

We challenge Total Annihilation to publicly answer these questions, and put the minds of their confused fans to rest.

We also challenge the other bands in question, Chemical X and 4 Minute Warning to ask the same questions of their members who also play in Total Annihilation, and to hold them accountable. We would further challenge these bands to publicly disavow these members if they continue to play in Total Annihilation, or risk becoming supporters for Fascism.

This isn't a game. In a reality where political candidates like Donald Trump are galvanizing adherents of these same exact ideologies, we stand at a very dangerous moment historically. Which side of history will the participants of the Denver punk scene stand on?