Al Barile, guitarist with pioneering hardcore band SSD, dies at 63

Al Barile, who played guitar successful the influential Boston hardcore set SS Decontrol — a linchpin of the drink-and-drug-shunning straight-edge country of the aboriginal 1980s that besides encompassed Washington’s Minor Threat — died Sunday astatine Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was 63.

His decease was announced connected Instagram by his wife, Nancy Barile, who didn’t specify a origin but said that her hubby had been diagnosed with colon crab successful 2022 and “passed distant peacefully” with her astatine his side.

With songs that averaged astir a infinitesimal successful length, SS Decontrol — Society System Decontrol for long, SSD for abbreviated — railed furiously against what the members saw arsenic the hypocrisy and the oppressive tendencies of government, the constabulary and organized religion connected albums specified arsenic 1982’s “The Kids Will Have Their Say,” which bore a screen photograph depicting a radical of young radical storming the steps of the Massachusetts State House. The euphony was large and fast, with pummeling guitar riffs that made the thought of a 4th chord look similar an immoral extravagance.

“’The Kids Will Have Their Say’ is truthful unsettling, truthful ugly, that SS Decontrol’s fans needn’t interest astir their champs’ succumbing to creeping commercialism — not adjacent accidentally,” Joyce Millman wrote admiringly successful the Boston Phoenix successful 1982. In the Trouser Press, Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins called the band’s follow-up, 1983’s “Get It Away,” “a definitive hardcore classic.”

Alan Scott Barile was calved Oct. 4, 1961, successful Lynn, Mass., wherever helium grew up playing hockey and “making Dracula movies,” arsenic his woman said successful a statement. Hearing the Ramones inspired him to commencement playing guitar, aft which helium formed SSD (while a mechanical-engineering pupil astatine Northeastern University) with bassist Jaime Sciarappa, drummer Chris Foley and vocalist David Spring, who was known arsenic Springa.

“Al comes retired and makes the large code — and I retrieve this arsenic wide arsenic I retrieve my f— 8th birthday,” Springa said successful a 2024 documentary astir SSD. “‘OK, what this set is gonna beryllium astir — it’s not gonna beryllium a groovy benignant of set wherever radical spell retired connected the creation level and shingle their ass. We’re making a connection here: It’s astir anti-government, anti-society, anti-conformity and breaking down the barriers betwixt the set and the audience.’”

In the documentary, Barile said helium started SSD arsenic a benignant of effect to celebrated Boston bands specified arsenic Aerosmith and the Cars. “It didn’t look similar it was existent sincere, that benignant of euphony — it didn’t look similar it had the benignant of honesty and sincerity that I was after,” helium said. The conception of spurning booze and drugs came from Minor Threat, which released its archetypal EP successful 1981 with a opus called “Straight Edge,” successful which vocalist Ian MacKaye sang, “I’m a idiosyncratic conscionable similar you / But I’ve got amended things to bash / Than beryllium astir and f— my caput / Hang retired with the surviving dead.”

In her statement, Nancy Barile said the straight-edge doctrine “provided kids with a prime from the emblematic ’70s suburban enactment lifestyle.”

SSD enactment retired “The Kids Will Have Their Say” arsenic a associated merchandise betwixt the band’s Xclaim! Records and MacKaye’s Dischord label; for “Get It Away,” the set added guitarist Francois Levesque. The set enactment retired 2 much heavy-metal-leaning LPs earlier breaking up successful 1985. Barile aboriginal formed a radical called Gage and worked arsenic an technologist for General Electric. This year, SSD was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame.