Since its 1982 formation, McRad has garnered comparisons to Bad Brains. Both are East Coast punk bands (with McRad based in Philadelphia), and both play a dislocated style of hardcore blending jazz, reggae, and metal. But what set McRad apart was that it was much more deeply imbedded in skateboarding, and in skateboarding the group found a bigger fanbase and community. Guitarist and singer Chuck Treece even got sponsored by industry giant Stacy Peralta, who prominently featured McRad songs in the now-classic Bones Brigade skate videos Ban This, Propaganda, and Public Domain. McRad’s 1987 debut album, Absence of Sanity, opens with “Prevent That Tragedy”: a hyper-tense explosion of thrash metal and hardcore punk that became a war cry for a generation growing up with Thrasher magazine. “Broken String Dub,” “Words of Life,” and “Dub for Andy” all pump heavily delayed and reverberated elements of dub reggae through trashed punk amplifiers. The standout instrumental “Tom Groholski” pays tribute to an aggressive professional vert skater nicknamed “The Jersey Devil.”