Hellcat Records
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| Hellcat Records | |
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| Parent company | Epitaph Records |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Founder | Tim Armstrong |
| Genre | hardcore, oi!, psychobilly, punk and ska |
| Country of origin | US |
| Location | Los Angeles, California |
| Official website | http://www.hell-cat.com |
Hellcat Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. The label, an off-shoot of Epitaph Records, was started as a partnership between the owner of Epitaph, Brett Gurewitz from Bad Religion and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, the latter of whom is generally responsible for signing the bands.
The label specializes in ska, punk, oi!, psychobilly and hardcore bands. Give 'Em the Boot, a Hellcat label sampler which also includes tracks from other up-and-coming independent bands, has been issued every other year since 1997, with the exceptions of the third release which was released 3 years after the second and the last one, which was released one year after the one before it.
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[edit] Movies
In 2005, a Give 'Em the Boot DVD was released, featuring tour footage of numerous Hellcat bands.
On January 15, 2006, the label released Live Freaky! Die Freaky!, a full-length movie produced by Tim Armstrong, and filmed using marionettes. The plot involves Charlie Manson's story being misinterpreted by a nomad in a post-apocalyptic Earth, and features the voice talents of the members of Rancid, Green Day, and The Transplants, among numerous others.
[edit] Bands
[edit] Active roster
This list includes bands which are currently active on Hellcat.
- The Aggrolites
- Tim Armstrong
- Civet
- The Heart Attacks
- HorrorPops
- Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
- Left Alone
- Nekromantix
- Orange
- Rancid
- Society's Parasites
- Static Thought
- Street Dogs
- Tiger Army
- Time Again
- The Unseen
- Westbound Train
[edit] Defunct bands
This list includes now defunct bands that finished their careers on Hellcat.
- Choking Victim
- F-Minus
- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
- The Nerve Agents
- Operation Ivy (band)
- U.S. Roughnecks
[edit] Former bands
The following bands have either departed to other record labels or were dropped.
- Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady Seven
- The Distillers
- Dropkick Murphys
- The Gadjits
- Hepcat
- The Independents
- King Django
- Leftöver Crack
- Los Difuntos
- Mercy Killers
- Mouthwash
- The Pietasters
- The Slackers
- Roger Miret and the Disasters
- Transplants
- Union 13
- U.S. Bombs
[edit] Controversy
Hellcat Records has been involved in a feud with one of its former bands, Leftöver Crack, over censorship issues. Leftöver Crack wanted their 2001 debut album to be titled Shoot the Kids at School, with the cover art depicting a gun-toting arm aiming at a playground. In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, Hellcat refused to allow this, so the band titled their album Mediocre Generica in protest, as a veiled reference to what they viewed as the mediocrity of the bands on Hellcat's label. This incident ultimately led to Leftöver Crack departing from the label.
After leaving the label, Leftöver Crack has accused Hellcat Records of promoting sexism and homophobia within the punk community. Their accusations are based on allegedly homophobic lyrics by the now-departed U.S. Bombs, Hellcat's attempted signing of controversial reggae artist Buju Banton, and Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards' allegedly sexist lyrics and use of naked women in label art.[1]
