Pick Your King

by Patrick Kennedy Poison Idea's notoriously brief, punishing debut was released in 1983, a few years after the band formed in Portland, Oregon. Thirteen songs in sixteen minutes. Obviously, not a second wasted. At this juncture, the band consisted of founder and enormous frontman Jerry A ., guitarist Tom Roberts ? later to be rechristened Pig Champion , due to his porcine build, bassist Chris Tense , and drummer Dean Johnson . Already, Jerry A . sang like a man in the middle of a heartattack, bellowing furiously, frighteningly. In other words, the template was being created for albums to follow. With Pick Your King ? a reference to Elvis and Jesus, Poison Idea helped establish the paradigm for aggressive American hardcore punk.