Stand Up were a melodic hardcore band out of Pennsylvania in the early 90's. I don't think that they got much attention but they definitely fit in with what other bands like Billingsgate and Up Front were doing at that time. The majority of their records were released on the singers label, CI Records, but I wonder if they would have made more of an impact if they'd ended up on New Age or the early Victory years. Tragically, Stand Up came to an early end when their two guitar players were killed in a car accident on Thanksgiving morning in '93. I hadn't really thought of the band too much over the past 20 years or so, but when I was picking up a Sinking Ships record on Discogs, I noticed that the seller also had a split 7 inch that Stand Up did with some band named On Life. I didn't know this record existed and so I didn't hesitate to add it to my cart.
The Stand Up songs are pretty good, although Prepare To Die ended up also being recorded for their album Words In Motion, and I was already familiar with Come Alive from their live 7 inch. I'm just happy to be reminded of this band again. I've been listening to a lot of early 90's hardcore lately, and this band fits in perfectly. The cover design on this record, however, is pretty bad even for early 90's DIY hardcore standards.
The On Life songs aren't really that good. The singer, Joe Onlife, apparently co-founded Youngblood Records, so I had higher hopes for these three songs, but they are a bit awkward and fall kind of flat. Meh, I'll probably still spin the On Life side of this record from time, but it isn't too exciting.
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