The Bad Religion Page News

Minor League news #23

Thu, 16 May 2013 4:45:31 PM -0700

Over a month later, time for another issue of Minor League news: articles and interviews galore, covers, Greg featured in new UCLA spot, Brooks nominated for drummers award, and much more!

Interviews, interviews, interviews!

Jesse Skinner of TORO Magazine (from Toronto, Canada) got to talk to Jay on the eve of the North American tour and had some really good questions to ask him. Really worth checking out! A sample here:

"I can tell you the greatest philosophical question I ever heard: a guy in Germany came up and asked Brett, “What is the colour of touring?” Brett thought about it for 20 seconds, said “Couch,” and walked away.

What do you hope never to be asked again?

“How did you come up with the band name?” That is the most asked, most redundant question. I think people wish it had some deeper purpose, but we were teenagers who just threw those two words together.

Two words that form a provocative phrase. Have you ever regretted it?

Not in the sense of “Oh, we could’ve been more successful if we’d picked a name like ... Jelly.”

After your hiatus from the band (1983-86), when did you realize you’d be in Bad Religion for the long haul?

I think in 1993 ... we’d toured a lot, seen growth, everything seemed OK. Something was working and people seemed to like it. Greg, who'd been a student all his life, called Brett and I and said, “I’m not going back to school. I want to tour all year long.” I was working at the time for Epitaph and I had to make my own choice: did I want to stay behind a desk or keep touring? Brett had to make that choice, too — Epitaph was his label. He was already struggling being away for three months of touring. So he left the band (from 1994 - 2001), and that was the point where I thought “This better work out.”"

http://www.toromagazine.com/music/interviews/a2aa7498-cd7c-bac4-91d7-cc2e223e58df/Bad-Religion/

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Greg also talked to another newspaper from Toronto, The Toronto Star. Many good quotes from this interview as well!

“Now I really shoot for trying to make a better record than the one before,” said Graffin ahead of the band’s Kool Haus gig on Sunday.

“What’s most satisfying is still being able to put out an album that I consider good, one that I want to go out and play for the world, and that’s a rare thing for a band that’s 33 years old.”

“Luckily, the topical material that we chose — me and my co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz have always been nerdy, intellectual types who like philosophy and science — somehow we seized on those as metaphors in our early material.

“A lot of stuff that we did when we were 16 is embarrassing. But some of the real classic songs that we wrote back then, I still stand by. Because we chose those kinds of metaphors, we’re fortunate that we can still talk about some of those things.”

“We’re playing in places that the Sex Pistols never could have dreamed, or The Ramones,” asserts Graffin, 48. “Two years ago we were asked to play Jakarta, Indonesia and it was this huge outpouring of love for Bad Religion. I couldn’t believe it.”

“A lot of the songs on here I wrote from the perspective of a kid who’s running away,” Graffin explains. “The song ‘True North’ uses a map as a metaphor saying that when we’re young, your parents sort of provide you with this map, and there’s open-ended routes you can take, but you better damn well follow the map. And the song ‘True North” is saying, ‘What’s in this map for me? There’s nothing here for me. This is your template.’

“In order to find true happiness in life, I believe every one of us, no matter what age, has to find their own sense of direction.”

“I look at the band as a creative outlet, but none of the guys in the band ever wanted it to be our entire life,” concedes Graffin.

“We never wanted the band to consume us, but we were all sure about one thing: when we wrote our earlier material, even as kids, we wanted it to have some substance to it. We wanted it to be a way of distilling what we saw in the world into creative two-minute sound bytes."

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2013/03/30/bad_religion_still_tackling_tough_issues.html

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Look what Jay told the Oakland Press about the new album compared to The Dissent of Man and the inevitable future for Bad Religion

“If you stop questioning what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, why you’re doing it, I think you start to regurgitate the same thing over and over again,” says bassist and co-founder Jay Bentley. And that, he adds, is what led Bad Religion to start coming up with material for its latest release — “True North,” which came out in January — while its predecessor, 2010’s “The Dissent of Man,” was still fresh.

“It wasn’t that we weren’t happy with (‘Dissent.’), but it didn’t really reflect what the band wanted to reflect,” Bentley recalls. “We started talking about having songs that weren’t four minutes long. ‘Let’s have songs that are two minutes long and start cutting things that way — just short, concise blasts, two minutes of angst. That was the direction we started heading in a couple of years before we even got in the studio again.”

It certainly seems to have worked; “True North” debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard 200, a career high for Bad Religion. And, as far as Bentley is concerned, “if this is the last thing we do, I’m cool with it.” But is there really a chance of that?

“Well, it’s just an inevitability, nothing I worry about,” says Bentley, 48. “It’s something that’s going to happen. I’m not sure how prepared everyone else is for it. Greg (Graffin, Bad Religion’s frontman) and I talk a lot about it; eventually this is just gonna have to come to an end. We both seem to be OK with it."

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/04/01/entertainment/doc51520d871c1dd767171441.txt

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In case you were wondering, Brian doesn't consider himself punk anymore. This is what he said to The Washington Examiner

"I'm in a punk band and I play punk music, [but] I haven't been punk since I was 18," said Baker by phone from a tour stop in Atlanta. "It's a young man's game."

He added that his youthful angst has been distilled into that of an adult.

"What I can do is really, really, really love the music and continue to play it," said Baker, 48.

"Bad Religion topically is usually feeding off what's happening in the world, and there's nothing better than an election to get the pen scratching on paper," Baker said.

"I really have no idea," Baker said when asked why the new album has done so well. "I learned long ago that when I think a record won't do anything, it does well; and when I think it's fantastic, it sells a copy. In this case, the only thing I can say is I thought it's a really good record. Surprisingly, other people did too."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/bad-religion-touring-on-new-album/article/2525026

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Both Punknews and Dying Scene have some good lengthy interviews with Jay and Brian together discussing a variety of topics. Pay special attention to Brian talking about Against Me!'s abrupt cancellation. I don't know about you but that Dying Scene has to be one of the best Bad Religion interviews in a while!

Brian Baker: "Considering the potential problems, we turned out to be pretty lucky. Starting out that we found out that [Against Me!] weren’t going to go via social networking four days before the tour could be, you know, somewhat stressful. And then Brooks had to leave for a few dates. So I consider that to be a rocky start. But what was fantastic is that Steve [of Polar Bear Club] knew all the songs and is a fantastic drummer and totally pulled it off. If it weren’t for that, we would have had to go home. I’m not really sure the reason Against Me! didn’t come because I haven’t talked to anyone in that band, but what I read on the internet is that they just weren’t comfortable with their choice of drummer replacement. I’m sure they had replacements lined up, but maybe this one wasn’t wearing the right color shirt and that one’s birthday was not in the correct moon phase or whatever. But I think the idea for me that you’ve committed to a tour that’s pretty much sold out and has been booked for 6 months, the idea would be to go and fulfill your commitment rather than worry about what type of cologne the drummer replacement is wearing."

http://www.punknews.org/article/51233/interviews-jay-bentley-and-brian-baker-bad-religion

http://dyingscene.com/news/interview-jay-and-brian-of-bad-religion-discuss-true-north-band-history-and-their-recent-tour/

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And to cap off this round of interviews, in this one with TONEDEAF from Australia, Greg reveals a possible new tour there in early 2014, plans for a new solo album, and what book inspired him to write We're Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance), amongst many other things.

http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/features/interviews/291905/bad-religion-3.htm

Greg in UCLA's new spot

Speaking of Greg, he is featured in UCLA's new spot as part of their Optimists 2.0 campaign.

He is included on a list of famous UCLA alumni alongside the likes of Bill Walton, James Franco, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Russell Westbrook, Francis Ford Coppola, Rob Reiner, Greg Ginn, James Dean, etc...

Here's Graffin's Optimist profile:

Articles

Melissa Fosum wrote a very comprehensive article chronicling Bad Religion's discography for the Phoenix New Times.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2013-04-18/music/bad-religion-experiences-a-punk-renaissance/

Another Phoenix native, James Callahan aka Jaime' En Fuego aka The Automatic Man, also wrote in his own way a comprehensive article covering Bad Religion's output. Let's see how many references you are able to count!

"Come Join BAD RELIGION On The Changing Tide

Longevity validates legitimacy!

When a band of Wrong Way Kids' Supersonic creations can seriously stand the test of Time And Disregard in the planet's pantheon despite the best efforts of the 1,000 More Fools born every day, instead of dissolving into utter Mediocrity, that truly sends a resounding message In So Many Ways. And while it is What It Is that artists with No Substance in the Land Of Competition and Endless Greed like Katy Perry and Nickelback can manage to Get Off on All Fantastic Images of The Fast Life longer than many ever wanted or expected (but oh, What Can You Do?), there's others like the always Looking In melodic hardcore architects in BAD RELIGION, who worry the devoted Leaders And Followers of their Forbidden Beats during every calendar into their three decade career that Slumber will come soon as they finally give an Honest Goodbye and Walk Away leaving the World Without Melody of such a unique variety. Continuing may seem like Too Much To Ask from a group that turned 30 In 2010 to continue revealing Shades Of Truth Along The Way but the last thing BR are currently prepared for is to Cease turning over a New Leaf and maintaining Against The Grain during Operation Rescue..."

http://www.examiner.com/article/come-join-bad-religion-on-the-changing-tide?fb_source=feed&ref=m_notif&refid=52&notif_t=like#_=_

Hottest Live Photos of 2013

The thumbail pic for this Minor League news issue is a photo by Scott Legato that made Rolling Stone's Hottest Live Photos of 2013 feature.

Brooks nominated for Drummies! award

Drum! Magazine nominated Bad Religion's now longest-running drummer in the punk drummer category. Online voting is now closed and winners will be announced in the August 2013 issue of the magazine. He also had his Zildjian Natural Finish signature sticks in the Gear ballot for this year.

Sloan to cover We're Only Gonna Die

Power-pop band from Canada Sloan is set to release a new 7-inch that will come with a downloadable 12-song covers album featuring Bad Religion's classic We're Only Gonna Die as the last song. Here's the full tracklist.

1. Gas Chamber (Angry Samoans)

2. Filler (Minor Threat)

3. Gimme Sopor (Angry Samoans)

4. Bully (7 Seconds)

5. Retrospect (Gray Matter)

6. Catalina (Descendents)

7. Fountains (The Nils)

8. This Is the Angry (7 Seconds)

9. Hot Cars (Angry Samoans)

10. Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag)

11. Wasted (Circle Jerks)

12. We're Only Gonna Die (Bad Religion)

Speaking about covers, you should check out this super medley of covers from the now extinct Your Mother. This song first appeared on their CD album One Big Inside Joke from 1995 and also made their 7'' Sometimes Scott Jones is Our Roadie from 1997.

Lyrics below in case you feel the urge to sing along:

Hello, my name is Greg, I teach at UCLA and I'm the singer for a punk-rock band. I write three-chord songs that sure aren't very long and use big words no one understands. And my bands' been around for days, that's why we have guarantees. "I've seen a lot of things in 5 years. I struggle just to hold back the tears, but every-fucking-where I go..." little brother, don't you know that I follow all emotion with a "fuck"? My hairlines receding rapidly, but I still go Against The Grain and screw society. Mr. Brett's a millionaire and icon for the businessman, and our generation will follow. We're no simpletons, not Bad Religion, but I hope you don't think we're lame 'cause all our songs sound the same. I always loved punk rock, now I got my Ph.D.; we'll never prevail with simplicity. Blender! 6, 9, 4, 12, 18, 7, hike! All harmony makes big money. Voice of God is Government; Fuck Armageddon. How Could Hell Be Any Worse? Just Suffer listening to my big words, I'm just a impulsive thesauratic entity. Go To Hell With Superman. And I'll count in all of our songs. Our words and music are interchangeable, before too long... major label, because by then we'll be the mainstream. Gang-bang, big-brunch, you know there's no free lunch. Sometimes I like Captain Crunch, but right now I feel like...

Fan-made Bad Religion timeline

One of our forum and shoutbox regulars Neil Davis aka recently took to breaking down the eras of Bad Religion's 33-year career. Here's the timeline he came up with. Agree, disagree? I think it's pretty much spot on!

Greg Hetson

As you might know by now if you read our forums regularly, Greg Hetson has missed the last few weeks of the tour. For a few days there was a mix of rumors which Jay was kind enough to dispel in our forums. Mike Dimkich of The Cult fame is filling in for Hetson and will most probably be playing in the European tour as well.

By the way, It's not the first time this year that a band member has missed some shows. Due to personal reasons, Brooks missed a few dates as well in early March. Polar Bear Club's drummer and big Bad Religion fan Steve Port had childhood dream come true as he stepped up for the challenge to fill in for Brooks. Here's a good article about his experience with the band.

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/03/polar_bear_club_drummer_bad_religion.html

Bad Religion appears in Riot Fest lineup

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:52:05 PM -0700

Together with bands such as Rancid, Against Me!, Bad Brains, Blink-182, Screeching Weasel, Violent Femmes, Taking Back Sunday, Pennywise, Flag, AFI, The Lillingtons and The Lawrence Arms, Bad Religion will be performing at this year's Riot Fest.

Riot Fest will take place in Chicago on September 13, 14 and 15. The exact date on which Bad Religion will play is unknown at this point.

Check out the official website for ticket info.

Bad Religion confirmed for Summerfest in Milwaukee!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 1:05:01 PM -0700

Straight from the horse's mouth, Bad Religion is confirmed to be playing this year's Milwaukee Summerfest, self-proclaimed world's largest music festival.

It is yet to be announced what date they will be taking one of the grounds stages, but according to their current tour dates it would have to be some day between July 2-7, 2013.

You can buy tickets now, and at very low prices if you get them before May 5.

Summerfest is an annual music festival held at the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. According to our archives, Bad Religion has previously played this festival three times in the past.

Bad Religion featured on upcoming Tony Sly tribute album

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:11:42 PM -0700

Fat Mike has revealed that Bad Religion is one of about thirty bands/artists that will be paying tribute to Tony Sly on a compilation album that will come out under his label Fat Wreck Chords in a few months.

No Use for a Name's frontman unexpectedly died in his sleep at age 41 last year and is survived by his wife and two daughters. You can read more about his life here.

It is yet unknown which song the band will contribute or whether it will be a Tony Sly or a No Use for a Name song, but these are some of the bands confirmed to appear on the tribute album besides Bad Religion: Lagwagon, Dropkick Murphys, Rise Against, NOFX, Frank Turner, Pennywise, Gaslight Anthem, and Bouncing Souls.

This is what Fat Mike has to say about the whole thing:

"I’ve been putting together this tribute comp for some time. It’s incredible how many bands have called me wanting to be on it. It’s been my absolute privilege to put this together. What I wanted to show on this record is how amazing Tony’s songs are.You can tell a song is great when it can be done in any style and it’s still great. That’s what this comp is about. All the bands are doing No Use for a Name songs or Tony Sly songs with their own take. It’s a real tribute to his songwriting.

I wanted to make a comp that Tony would be so proud of. These bands were his closest friends and his favorite bands. I thank all of them for stepping up and showing their love and respect to Tony and his family. It’ll come out in a few months and we’re gonna have a fucking crazy party when it does. You’re all invited to do the same."

^{Photo by Matthew Reamer}

I am not familar enough with No Use for a Name or Tony Sly's stuff but for those who are, which song/s do you think would fit in best with Bad Religion's style?

Trivia: last time Bad Religion participated in a tribute album was with their cover of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" for the Bob Dylan tribute album Chimes of Freedom two years ago.

And speaking about covers, the latest cover of a Bad Religion song to appear on a (digital) album is Suffer by Senses Fail. Apparently, it is featured on a three song digital EP that was recorded exclusively for the pre-sale of tickets for their last tour. Has anyone heard that one yet???

True North American tour posters available online

Tue, 2 Apr 2013 1:32:25 PM -0700

Update (4-24-2013) - The Marilyn poster that was sold at the 04-18-2013 show at the Hollywood Palladium is now available as well, courtesy again of the Invisible Industries store. It was also made by Munk One and is a very limited edition of 50. Thanks to frod79!

Update (4-20-2013) - The other two posters are also available online! F4D Studios is also selling Mark5's chess poster, and you can find Munk One's devilish teacher here. Thanks to MONOLITH!

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The folks at F4D Studios posted in our forums to let us know that they have a few official Bad Religion True North American Tour posters for sale on their studio website!

According to them, these are two of the four official posters approved by the band that were available during the tour.

Both posters are color screen prints with an edition of 100 signed and numbered by the artist, and they are selling for $35 plus shipping. Hurry up while they are still available! Last time this type of posters were for sale online, they sold out in a matter of hours...

Maxx242's Bad Religion True North American Tour Poster
_{18” x 24” 4 color screen print with an edition of 100 signed and numbered by the artist}
Available now!

Brandon Heart's Bad Religion True North American Tour Poster
_{18” x 24” 5 color screen print with an edition of 100 signed and numbered by the artist} Available now!

Update (4-4-2013) - More info: these are the other two posters. The one on the left is from Munk One, who you might also remember for making the 30 Year anniversary posters for North America and Europe. The poster on the right was created by Mark5. Thanks to frod79, Keevhren and frank420!

More Bad Religion items on eBay for benefit auction

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 2:07:00 PM -0700

Update (4-20-2013) - Auctions have just gone live! (they will close on April 30 at 20:00 PDT)

There is not only the electric guitar autographed by the band and the bass guitar autographed by Jay and Brian (amongst many other bass players) but also two limited edition hand signed "All Ages" watches from Vannen Watches (sold separately) that are currently sold out and not available in stores, and a Punk Rock Bowling package consisting of 2 weekend festival passes for the 15th Annual Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival in Las Vegas on May 24-27 (Bad Religion is playing this year), 2 signed BYO 25 year anniversary box sets, and 2 hand screened Punk Rock Bowling show posters.

Hand signed Fender Squier. Guitar is brand new and was signed by all six members of the band on 03-13-2013.

Used red Fender Squier P Bass signed by Jay and Brian and many many other bass players. Check out the auction for the full list.

Bad Religion limited edition "All Ages" watch from Vannen Watches (2 watches for sale; sold separately). Box is signed by the band.

2 weekend festival passes for 15th Annual Punk Rock Bowling on May 24-27

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Update (4-4-2013) - More details have surfaced about the auction. As far as Bad Religion is concerned, there is going to be one electric guitar autographed by the band, and also one bass guitar autographed by Jay and Brian (let's not forget he was also the bass player in Minor Threat in the early days), amongst many many other musicians like Steve Soto, Mike Watt, Chuck Dukowski, Randy Bradbury, Matt Freeman, etc, etc. For the full itemized list, check out the Unite the United Foundation homepage.

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Loudwire is reporting that Bad Religion is one of many bands that will be teaming up to donate items to raise money for China
White's guitarist Frank Ruffino, who needs to get a life-saving liver surgery.

According to Loudwire, there will be autographed electric guitars from Bad Religion, The Adolescents, TSOL, Rancid and Pennywise, amongst others. It is yet unknown whose guitars or how many are going to be auctioned in the case of Bad Religion.

Also, there are going to be skate decks and memorabilia donated by some of punk and metal’s biggest bands, including a Social Distortion autographed acoustic guitar, a TSOL's Ron Emory's guitar and Slayer's Kerry King autographed BC Rich Warlock Electric Guitar, as well as signed posters, DVDs and CDs from Pearl Jam and signed prints of Kerry King and Lemmy from Motorhead.

The benefit auction will be hosted by the Unite the United Foundation, formed by Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, and the items will be displayed at two separate events in Los Angeles prior to the actual eBay auctions that will begin on April 20 and will be accessed via the Unite the United website or their eBay page.

If you missed out on these other Bad Religion auctions on eBay last month (as a matter of fact, they have been relisted for less!) or simply thought they weren't worth the money, here's another chance and for a good cause!
^{Disclaimer: thumbnail image is for illustrative purposes only}

Trivia: Bad Religion and China White shared many gigs in the early eighties, as evidenced by some of the flyers you can find in our Tours&Shows archive.

Bad Religion to Rock on the River on July 12

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 10:21:55 AM -0700

A couple of weeks ago, Rock on the River announced that on Friday, July 12 Bad Religion will be taking the stage of this festival that is held in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Also playing and closing the second night will be Sublime with Rome.

You can order your tickets here. Get them before the price goes up on May 1st.

Knowing that Sublime has covered We're Only Gonna Die From Our Own Arrogance (included as a live version on their Badfish EP and also as a studio version on their first album 40 Oz. to Freedom) and that they usually play it live, I'm wondering if the bands might get together and treat their fans to something special?

Sublime (sans Rome) with original singer/guitarist Brad Nowell live in 1995

Bad Religion live in the Hurley Studios

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 9:03:36 AM -0700

A couple of weeks ago Bad Religion already posted a photo of the Hurley Studios on their Facebook page. Apparently Hurley let the band rehearse for free for their upcoming True North US/ Canada Tour that started on March 8.

On March 22 Hurley posted a live video of the band playing True North on their Youtube channel along with a short interview with Brian, Brooks and Jay.

Also have a look at this funny "Pop Quiz" Brooks, Brian and Jay did for Music Choice.

Chicago ticket giveaway from Digital Tour Bus

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 2:22:17 PM -0700

We're sorry we were late to find out about this one from purevolume last week (please don't hate us... and don't bother, that contest is over, really!) but don't fret, we have another ticket giveaway to spread the word about!

Digital Tour Bus will be giving away a pair of tickets for one lucky fan in the Chicago area to see Bad Religion (and The Bronx and Polar Bear Club) at the Congress Theater on April 5th.

~~To enter the contest, you have to put your e-mail address in the box here~~. Update (3-20-2013) - Contest closed, winner contacted.

After the winner is announced and e-mailed, they must respond within 24 hours or they forfeit the prize.

Note: since it wasn't quite clear whether this contest was open to anyone in the US or just the Chicago area fans, we contacted the guys at Digital Tour Bus and they were kind enough to make it clear that indeed anyone in the US can enter, as long as they provide their own travel arrangements (of course!). Also, despite that little black banner for the contest, bear in mind Against Me! is not really part of the tour anymore. Instead, it is The Bronx (together with already confirmed Polar Bear Club) who will be supporting Bad Religion on this tour.

^{PS: Btw, while you're at it you might want to RT this campaign on Twitter I've just started involving Digital Tour Bus and their Bus Invaders feature!}

Updated 2013 Tour flyer with The Bronx as last-minute addition joining the tour starting from
D.C. show onward as replacement for Against Me! who unexpectedly pulled out at the last minute.

Loudwire-diffuser.fm contest: win a CD, T-shirt and hoodie

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 5:43:55 PM -0700

Loudwire, who have recently been giving Bad Religion much love by way of a near-perfect review, an exclusive video interview and a best songs of 2013 pick, are teaming up with diffuser.fm to give away a Bad Religion "True North" 2013 tour merch prize pack consisting of:

- a copy of True North on CD
- a Bad Religion T-shirt
- a Crossbuster hoodie

To enter the contest, all you have to do is follow both @loudwire and @diffuserfm on Twitter and retweet their announcement of the contest (here or here) by April 20. A lucky winner will be chosen at random.

Loudwire&diffuser.fm contest: CD, T-shirt and hoodie

The contest does not specify it but from the picture it is apparent that the Bad Religion T-shirt is the Anvil 80-85 demo tape model, while the hoodie is the Tultex zip-up design featuring a crossbuster on the left side of the chest and "Bad Religion" on the right sleeve in red.