Every now and then, someone from the Atlantic City area emails (not calls, not approaches us in the street, emails) us with trash talk, usually daring us to come out to a show or something where they can mix it up with us. The latest one came from this character out of Lakewood, NJ named Dave who runs something he called ARS (we assume the "A" is for Aryan), who kept trying to get us to come to a Call the Paramedics show. This is a band that because of their associations with the boneheads in the Philly/Atlantic City scene, has been pretty much regulated to playing venues that have no problem with Nazis in the joint. So it was rather curious that the show that we were being dared to come out to was one of the more traveled venues in Philly. Apparently Call the Paramedics have kind of expanded their reach a little, and we are not the only ones to take notice of this. The band is doing what they can to downplay their neo-Nazi leanings and because of that they have been playing better venues. That's not going over well with the rest of the scene, and antifa have been doing whatever they can to let people know what kind of band they are so they are not accommodated. This call came out this weekend, a week after the band was supposed to play a punk festival in New York City. That was the last straw, and it was a sign that the scene needed to be cleaned up a bit. Hopefully each one of the shows listed with this call will be taken away from CTP, but if not, at least it will be that much harder for them to book anything. If anyone feels like sending us emails over this talking smack, feel free. Something tells us you are going to be pretty damned entertaining.

Philly Antifascists

Call the Paramedics, a band based in Atlantic City with ties to neo-Nazi groups in the area, are now getting larger shows and playing with national acts. This is a call to alert show attendees, promoters and venues as to what this group and their members are about and urge all not to patronize or book them.

Call the Paramedics has been around for a number of years but they had stayed particularly underground until recently. They downplay their racist leanings significantly, painting themselves as merely a group that, likes to shock and be offensive. One could make the argument that a tattoo on your behind of a unicorn with a Nazi swastika and the words “White Power” may cross the shock value line, but the drummer Mike Beer has given the standard disclaimer for that in an interview last year: “For the record, I am not a Nazi — I just like to make fun of everything. People need to lighten up, and if they don’t like what I’m about? That’s fine with me. Join the rest of the crowd.”

That however does not excuse the real connections the band, and especially the lead singer Shlak, has with the crew Atlantic City “Skinheads” (ACS). The crew has been around since the 80s, and they saw a bit of press last year, when an ACS associate named Walter Dille was convicted of killing an African-American woman during a botched carjacking in a Hamilton Twp., NJ shopping center. The core of Call the Paramedics’ fan base comes from ACS, and the band has even played a benefit show for ACS member Chris Arlen, who is suffering from Chron’s Disease.

A number of shows from New Jersey to North Carolina have been announced for the band over the summer. On July 23, they were originally scheduled to play Khyber in Philadelphia, a venue that just recently saw the assault of two neo-Nazis at a Murphy’s Law show. That show has unexplainably been moved to the North Star Bar. Whether or not the politics of Call the Paramedics were an issue in the move of the show, the fact remains is that in a multiracial scene that neo-Nazis attempt to take over and drive people out, Call the Paramedics should be unwelcome. Again we call on everyone to take issue with this band in our scene.

Photos (right-click and save to enlarge)

In case anyone tries to play that "Call the Paramedics are not Nazis" routine, here's some pics ya might want to show them…

Shlak from Call the Paramedics, second from right, with other associates of Atlantic City "Skinheads". Left to right is Drew Logan, Cody, some ACS idiot who's name we don't know but we believe might be in Philly these days (if you do, let us know here), a guy we believe is someone named Tommy Turner (you can also help us confirm), Chris Arlen, who suffers from Chron's Disease and had a benefit for himself with Call the Paramedics playing, and on the other side of Shlak is Scott Huston.

Shlak with ACS members Warren Meickle, who is also the lead singer of the white power band Aggravated Assault, and Jimmy Keating, who died of a drug overdose in 2004, happily not leaving any children to carry on his BS.

This pic leaves no question. Shlak and Cody sieg heiling for the camera. We don't know who the grey-haired guy with them is though.

Upcoming Shows (according to the Call the Paramedics MySpace Page)

Jul 21 2010
Sidebar Baltimore, Maryland

Jul 22 2010
Dingbats Clifton, NJ w/ WITHOUT REMORSE, INFERNAL REVULSION

Jul 23 2010
North Star Bar, Philadelphia, PA w/ NECKTIE, HESSIAN, LETHEAN, +1

Jul 24 2010
Retro w/ WAITING MORTUARY, MACERATED, and more Virginia Beach, VA

Aug 27 2010
Hostle City Deathfest, Philadelphia, PA w/ EXODUS, HATE ETERNAL, ORIGIN, MORTICIAN