Victims Family

I first heard about Victims Family in 1987 from the Rhythm Pigs, who thanked VF in their liner notes. That was good enough for me, so I went to Sounds Great, the local indie record shop, found VF’s first LP, Voltage & Violets, and bought it. The talent, technical prowess, attitude, and inspired, creative genre splicing contained within the grooves of that record is overwhelming. I couldn’t stop listening to it. It was like nothing I’d heard before. The only thing that came close, and then only in certain ways, was a local band called My Name co-founded by my best friend Trevor Lanigan. I knew he would love Victims Family—so in addition to the awesomeness of their music and the long-standing friendships that came about with Ralph, Tim, and Larry, VF will always be near to my heart because they are one band I turned Trevor on to. Trevor got me into so many great bands, way more than I ever did for him, but I gave him Victims Family, and they became one of our absolute favorites. Later, I ended up joining My Name, and we were lucky enough to get on some bills with the Family. We all became friends. Our bands played more shows. We went on tour together. We all joined different bands and then played shows together in those different bands (Dave Gleza, My Name’s drummer, even ended up joining VF and played on Apocalicious). When Trevor passed away a few years ago, three of the last people to see him alive were Ralph, Tim, and Larry, who happened to be playing some shows up the west coast—they went out of their way to visit him on their way to Seattle, and he died just a few days later. My history with this band is long and deep; I consider these guys to be dear friends; but, at the core, I’m also a fan. Still. All these years later. I drank the Kool-Aid. This band will always blow me away. I based the logo of this shirt off the one on Voltage & Violets, because that’s where it all started for Trevor and me. With the portraits, I just tried to capture some of the frenetic, jazz-punk energy and effortless musical mastery that this band plies its trade with. So here’s to the Family: Ungowa! – Abe Brennan

LIMITED TO 300. Printed on Canvas soft cotton apparel. Ladies’ sizes run small.