“To think that we started out as a few kids in Haifa, Israel!” said Yotam Ben Horin, Useless ID’s vocalist, bassist, and main songwriter, as he reflected back on the band’s incredible 29-year career.

Formed in 1994, Useless ID has been an integral part of the global punk rock scene for as long as a good number of punk rockers have been alive. Horin explained Useless ID’s secret to success and longevity this way: “It’s our love for punk rock, which doesn’t start and end with music. It’s a whole culture, community and, more than anything, a family. All the friends we have made from all over the world – many of them have stayed with us for the entire ride. Now some of them even bring their kids to our shows, so the next generation grows up as fans of the band.”

Ishay Berger, one of the band’s two guitarists, added: “I think that the band life helped create some space for us to live outside of the world, so maybe that’s a big part of how we have made it work for this long. Of course, we’ve been in it for so long that sometimes I’m not even sure what that other/real world is like.”

After closing out 2022 traversing the European Union on tour with Descendents and Good Riddance, Useless ID –Horin, Berger, guitarist Guy Carmel, and drummer Corey Ben Yehuda – is kicking off 2023 with the release of Live In Tel Aviv, a double LP featuring 28 songs that span the band’s lengthy career. The band’s first-ever live album, Live In Tel Aviv was recorded at a single Useless ID live show at The Barby in Tel Aviv, Israel on August 20, 2019, and it showcases the ferocity of a prototypical Useless ID live performance – this one made particularly special because it was in front of their loyal hometown crowd.

“We had just wrapped our 25th-anniversary European tour with a few shows with Descendents,” explained Ben Horin. “The plan was to end that run in Israel with a big party and to capture it on recording. We had never done a live album and we all knew it was the best we had ever sounded in all our years, so why not release it? Also, it was the last show in Israel before Covid hit so I’m happy we got this one in.”

Today Useless ID offers up a taste for those who want to experience the evening’s events with the live recording of ‘Blood Pressure.’ Horin says on the song, “Blood Pressure” was originally written about the struggles of being in a band. We made many sacrifices with our lives to keep going with Useless ID. As the years passed, the song took on some new meanings like being in any relationship for long enough. It’s never going to be easy. The question is how to overcome it if it’s important enough. ‘Blood Pressure’ on ‘Live In Tel Aviv’ is almost identical to the album version as far as sound and performance go. It also shows that after so many years, we still have a meaningful relationship with the song.”

On Useless ID’s energy that night in Tel Aviv, Berger said, “The band always works towards a tight live show – we take the studio experience and try to recreate the passion and energy of the albums when we hit the stage, and on that night we were kind of at our best.”

Live In Tel Aviv was mixed and mastered by Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room, where so many of these classic songs were originally produced and recorded by Bill Stevenson (Descendents, ALL, Black Flag) and Livermore.

“The studio time with Bill and Jason at The Blasting Room was probably the most important set of experiences that the band ever had,” said Berger. “We all learned so much from working with them. Touring is fun but you learn more about the art of making music in the studio, so the whole Blasting Room influence was super important to our band.”

Asked about Livermore’s importance to Useless ID, Horin said, “Jason is somewhat of a distant band member in the sense that he, along with Bill, helped shape the sound of the band as we know it today. When I asked Jason how it was for him to work on this live album, his answer was, ‘Well, I know what you guys sound like,’ so he innately knew how to take the live tracks he received from us and make them sound amazing.”

Spread across sides A, B, C, and D of the double LP, Live in Tel Aviv’s 28 songs open with “Land of Idiocracy” the incendiary album opener from 2016’s State is Burning (Fat Wreck Chords). On this song, Ben Horin calls out close-minded idiots at home and abroad, singing: I’m a loose cannon brat / Our lives interact / And you’ll never convince me to be / We live inside a box / And quickly we rot / In the land of Idiocracy.

“I have always loved the song Nightshift [which appears on Side B of the live album],” said Berger. “I just think it’s cool as hell and has a special melody to it. Also, I don’t think we have many songs like it, so for me it always stands out.”

Pre-orders for the album are out now.

Photo Courtesy: Stephen Jackson