Law And Order
Anything But The Critic's Choice
Between 1980 and the summer of '81, early hardcore, following in the fast and noisy footsteps of Teen Idles, traveled the short distance between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. The starting gun was fired by the meeting of two local punks, drummer Beat Digger and guitarist William Dagher, also members of the Bollocks, with classmates David Clark (bass) and Mike Finnegan (brother of Sean Finnegan, drummer for Void). Thus, Law and Order soon shared stage with the first wave of hardcore from the neighboring city, alongside Bad Brains, Minor Threat, S.O.A., Red C, Youth Brigade, and Iron Cross. Some of their tracks were supposed to be included on Flex Your Head, the legendary Dischord compilation, but a technical problem ultimately prevented them from making the cut. Far from being discouraged, they launched Fetal Records with this 7-inch EP featuring 12 songs (!) encased in a marker drawing of a policeman (by Finnegan himself) as cover, photocopied on various sheets of paper. This was enough for Flipside Magazine to place L&O among the best bands of the moment alongside Dead Kennedys, Descendents, and Black Flag. Although perhaps the biggest milestone in their short life was playing on April 4, 1981, at the Wilson Center, in the concert booked by HR of Bad Brains to present the S.O.A. 7". In any case, the fact is that they soon disappeared spontaneously, remaining in the limbo of cult bands.