The F.U.'s

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The F.U.'s were an early-mid 80's Boston Hardcore punk band consisting of John 'Sox' Stocking, Steve Grimes, Bob Furapples (Robert Hatfield), and Wayne Maestri. They took their name from a comment Wendy O. Williams made in an interview in which she said something to the effect that "Punk rock is a way of saying 'F you' to society." They played fast, snotty thrash/hardcore, although like many '80s hardcore bands (and especially Boston hardcore bands), they later switched to a more hard rock/heavy metal sound.

Their first recorded output was on the 1982 Modern Method compilation, This Is Boston, Not L.A., which also featured Gang Green, Jerry's Kids and The Freeze, among others. A companion 7" EP, Unsafe At Any Speed, included another F.U.'s track.

Later the same year, their debut LP, Kill For Christ, was released on X-Claim Records, featuring cover artwork by legendary artist (and Septic Death frontman) Brian 'Pushead' Schroeder.

Their second LP, also on X-Claim, entitled My America, earned them a reputation as right wing nationalists due to its Rambo-patriotic lyrics (which were half-sarcastic), and artwork. The band used a stock album sleeve, available pre-printed in bulk for cheap record projects (q.v. the Flex Your Head "wheat field" cover), featuring a sentimental American landscape on the front, and George C. Scott as General Patton, in front of an American flag, on the back.

The band were mentioned in a song by The Dead Milkmen entitled "Tiny Town". The song is about a conservative smalltown in a southern US state. The verse that references them has the song's narrator [a redneck Klansman] stating "...We hate blacks, and we hate jews, and we hate punks, but we love the F.U.'s".

The LP Do We Really Want To Hurt You? followed in 1984, on Gasatanka/Enigma. This record showed hints of the band going in a more rock direction, which was finalized by their changing the band's name, beginning with the next release, to Straw Dogs.

F.U.'s material has been re-released several times, and all three records are currently available on CD from Taang Records.

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