Judge is a New York hardcore band formed in 1987 by Youth of Today guitarist John "Porcell" Porcelly and former Youth of Today drummer Mike "Judge" Ferraro.
Their first release was a 7" EP on Porcell's label Schism (which he ran along with Side By Side/Gorilla Biscuits guitar player Alex Brown) entitled New York Crew. The record featured five songs, one of which was a cover of "Warriors" by the British oi!/punk band Blitz. On this recording, the band was merely a two-piece, featuring Porcellly on bass and guitar, and Ferraro on vocals and drums. But with the addition of bass-player Jimmy Yu (of Mike's former band Death Before Dishonor, which eventually evolved into Supertouch) and drummer "Lukey" Luke Abbey (Warzone/Gorilla Biscuits), they got together a fully functional live line-up.
The band received much criticism due to their militant Straight Edge lyrics, especially from fanzines like San Francisco's Maximum Rock'N'Roll. The militant lyrics were a conscious move on the band's part, as they were sick of seeing bands like Youth Of Today, who in reality had a very positive message, get slagged for being too militant. So they decided to give the nay-sayers exactly what they wanted – the most militant Straight Edge band imaginable. Mike Ferraro has later on admitted that provocation was an important aim for the band.
Judge was not just heavy in message, the music had very metal-influenced riffing, but remained close to its hardcore roots, without going all out metal, such as bands like Agnostic Front and DRI.
With a new line-up of Sammy Siegler (Side By Side/Youth Of Today/Project X etc.) on drums and Matt Pincus on bass, the band proceeded to record their full-length LP Bringin' It Down for Revelation Records at Chung King Studios in New York City.
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