(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

From the legions of bands attempting the most daring stylistic hybrids, Victim’s Family, fronted by Ralph Spight (who hailed from Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco), stand out if only for having been among the earliest (they have been active since 1985).

Their album Voltage And Violets (Mordam, 1986), with the funk-punk skirmishes of Sir Onslaught, Song X and World Of Hate, and the spasmodic tension of Balderdash 93, was one of those records that helped launch the trend of fracturing punk rock’s vehemence with the rhythmic hiccups of funk.

Things I Hate to Admit (1988) and White Bread Blues (1990) added further spices to the recipe.

On The Germ (Alternative Tentacles, 1992), representative of their noisy and articulated punk rock are the title track and the breakneck instrumental Baklava. Spight prefers the role of the psychotic figure in vitriolic, sarcastic vignettes such as 3 Piece Loincloth, I'm Such A Jerk and My Evil Twin, and is able to match the political hardcore of the Dead Kennedys in New World Hors D'Oeuvre (in the middle of which a recording error was left in, with a hilarious effect). Competing with the Red Hot Chili Peppers are ultimately only I Pissed On A Tree and especially Who Needs It, the songs that best integrate violence, sophistry and dance.

Headache Remedy (Alternative Tentacles, 1993), with Maybe If I and Powertrip, attempts a more mature fusion of punk, funk, jazz, pop and heavy metal, which—although highly eclectic—is neither as sophisticated as in the case of Minutemen nor as commercially viable as in the case of Faith No More.

4 Great Thrash Songs (Konkurrel, 1994) is a posthumous live album.

Guitarist Ralf Spight and bassist Larry Boothroyd would later form Saturn's Flea Collar.

Ralf Spight and Larry Boothroyd re-formed Victim's Family for Apocalicious (Alternative Tentacles, 2001).