LUSH Radio

There’s one thing punk does better than any other genre: diversity. This is something that Boston-based Run For Cover Records has been proving again and again since it’s creation in 2004 by Jeff Casazza. Since age 17, Casazza has been tirelessly building not just a record label, but a family, warranting comparisons with the likes of Drive-Thru Records.

After nearly 50 releases, it’s clear that RFC has found its niché. Looking at the broad range of acts on offer, from the atmospheric noodling of CSTVT, to the droning alt-punk of Balance And Composure, through to the straight-up pop-punk of The Wonder Years, it would seem at first glance that there is little to tie it all together. When you look at the offerings of other (perhaps larger, more corporate) labels, however, it becomes clear. Every Run For Cover band has taken its own element of punk/hardcore, the kernel around which RFC has been built, and adapted it, reinvented it into something new and engaging. Listen to Tigers Jaw or Hostage Calm, and the influences present are undeniable, yet you would nonetheless struggle to find a single conventional ‘punk’ band on the label.

Perhaps it’s this nurturing of fresh ideas which has kept Run For Cover at the forefront of the post-2000 punk revival, providing a supportive base for such success stories as Man Overboard and Transit, and winning over (for now) modest, yet dedicated fanbases for label-mates in Tigers Jaw and Seahaven. Indeed, the Run For Cover ethos seems to be ‘quality over quantity’.

For a taste of what the Run For Cover family has thus far produced, you can stream the recently released compilation, entitled ‘Mixed Signals’ below.

Mixed Signals Compilation on Bandcamp

Run For Cover Records Official Website

Be sure to catch Hostage Calm when they play Leicester Soundhouse with Apologies, I Have None on Monday 12th December. Tickets are only £4 and available right here.

Author

Rob Cocks