Kill Your Idols

by Corey AparLong Island hardcore punks Kill Your Idols got together in late 1995 around vocalist Andy West and guitarist Gary Bennett II, two friends who'd grown up enamored with both '80s NYHC and bands like Black Flag, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, the Descendents, and Poison Idea. They debuted with a 12" EP on local indie None of the Above, which became a success around their hometown scene and sparked the band to begin touring all around the country. Soon enough, Kill Your Idols had signed with Blackout! Records, releasing the eight-song This Is Just the Beginning in early 1999, and on which West and Bennett were rounded out by bassist Paul Delaney and drummer Jim; second guitarist Brian Meehan later joined on as well. The band played out rounds of shows with likeminded hardcore units (i.e., H20, Indecision, Kid Dynamite, Ensign, the Casualties, etc.), setting up a nice buzz for their June 2000 full-length No Gimmicks Needed. Though Kill Your Idols continued to turn heads in underground circles, they reached a low point themselves and almost imploded the following year. They ultimately managed to hold it together well enough to ink a deal with SideOneDummy Records in May 2001.
Their sophomore effort, Funeral for a Feeling, appeared the next month and the guys supported it on the road with Good Riddance and Death by Stereo, passing up a spot on the summer's Warped Tour to do so. Drummer Raeph Glicken, formerly of S.F.A., left Kill Your Idols in the fall of 2002 (he'd been with them since 1999), and the capable Vinnie Value (of Warzone, Grey Area, and No Redeeming Social Value fame) soon stepped in behind the kit. In addition to a handful of full-lengths, Kill Your Idols released countless EPs, live records, and splits over their career, including albums with the Nerve Agents, Crime in Stereo, Full Speed Ahead, Good Riddance, and 7 Seconds, among others. In 2004, Mike DeLorenzo (ex-C.R., Milhouse) signed on to permanently replace Delaney on bass, as he was off to concentrate full-time on his other band, None More Black. Kill Your Idols' next album did not appear until 2005 when the guys issued From Companionship to Competition, again through SideOne. Then in late 2006, the bandmembers announced they would be breaking up after some final shows the following May, the last taking place back home on Long Island.