A power trio forming in Vancouver, Canada in 1977, D.O.A. is one of the inventors of the hardcore punk sound and is generally credited with coining the name “hardcore” with their seminal 1981 album Hardcore ‘81. Over their 40+ year reign as the Canadian kings of hardcore, their only constant member has been guitarist / vocalist Joey “Shithead” Keithley, a founding member of the band, who has been responsible for its outspoken political leanings, coining the band slogan “Talk – Action = Zero”. Their numerous albums have dabbled in genres such as thrash with 1990’s Murder. or ska with 2012’s We Come in Peace, but the D.O.A. sound is distinctive and formulaic. With almost 20 studio albums under their belt and a number of singles and EPs, D.O.A. has helped to define hardcore for a long time. In Canada, December 21st is officially National D.O.A. Day.

After briefly forming in Toronto as the Skulls in 1977 with longtime bassist Brian Goble and drummer Ken Montgomery (known as “Wimpy Roy” and “Dimwit”, respectively), Joey “Joey Shithead” Keithley reformed the band as D.O.A. after a move to Vancouver in early 1978. The first incarnation of the band included Chuck Biscuits of Black Flag and Misfits (Dimwit’s brother, too!) on drums, Randy Rampage on bass, a second guitarist known as Randy Romance, and a vocalist known as Harry Homo who was sacked after the first show. With Joey Shithead taking on vocal duties, a second guitarist known as Brad Kent was added for the release of the 4-song EP “Disco Sucks”, which became a hit… in San Francisco. The band met longtime collaborator and Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra while there, however (and kicked out Brad Kent), and returned to Canada to record and release “The Prisoner”, and later “World War 3 / Whatcha Gonna Do?”.

The full-length debut Something Better Change was released in 1980 after the addition of second guitarist Dave Gregg and the ouster and reinstatement of both Biscuits and Rampage. This was quickly followed by Hardcore ‘81 and an explosion of popularity for the band. Rampage and Biscuits would leave the band, returning D.O.A. to its original Skulls lineup, with Dimwit on drums and Wimpy Roy on bass. Wimpy Roy would remain bassist and second vocalist until his departure from the band in 1995. This relatively stable lineup recorded 1982’s War on 45, 1985’s Let’s Wreck the Party, and most of 1987’s True (North), Strong & Free before Dimwit departed, to be replaced by Kerr Belliveau, who would remain in D.O.A. for three weeks before being replaced by Jon Card. Dave Gregg quit after True (North)… was released, replaced by Chris Prohom. After releasing the Jello Biafra collaboration Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors in 1989 and Murder. in 1990, Joey Shithead dissolved the band.

Shithead pursued an acting career in the 19-month breakup before contacting Wimpy Roy in 1992 and reforming D.O.A., adding Ken Jensen as their drummer and John “Big Rock” Wright as producer. This lineup recorded 1993’s “It’s Not Unusual… But it Sure is Ugly!”, 1992’s 13 Flavours of Doom, and the 1993 masterpiece Loggerheads. In 1995, Ken Jensen was killed in a house fire, with his pre-D.O.A. band Red Tide collaborating with D.O.A. to release a single in memoriam. The Black Spot was recorded in 1995 with Big Rock on drums and Ford Pier on second guitar.

Soon, however, it was Wimpy Roy’s time to leave the band. He had no solid replacement and Ken Jensen’s replacement hadn’t been locked down either; the band was reduced to two members with Brien O'Brien on drums and Joey Shithead playing both guitar and bass on 1998’s Festival of Atheists. In this period, Shithead oversaw the remaster and rerelease of several classic D.O.A. albums, including the recovery and release of an early demo, The Lost Tapes. Soon, a new, more stable lineup would record Win the Battle in 2002, including classic bassist Randy Rampage and new drummer The Great Baldini. Rampage quit soon after, being replaced with Dan Yaremko on Live Free or Die in 2004. D.O.A. Day, December 21st, was codified in 2003.

After a brief hiatus from recording (but not touring), D.O.A. released the 30th anniversary album Northern Avenger in 2008, with Randy Rampage having returned as well as new drummer Floor Tom Jones participating. Rampage would leave again, leaving Yaremko to record the new tracks featured on the 2009 compilation Kings of Punk, Hockey, and Beer. This lineup also recorded 2013’s Talk – Action = 0. Subsequent to this release, D.O.A. dissolved again, with Joey Shithead announcing his run for Premier of British Columbia.

Following the loss of that election, Shithead reformed D.O.A. once again with drummer Paddy Duddy and bassist Mike Hodsall. This lineup recorded 2015’s Hard Rain Falling as well as the 2016 single Fucked Up Donald and the 40th anniversary album Fight Back in 2018. In 2019, Shithead, following an extensive dive through the Sudden Death Records archives, retrieved the true first demo tape recorded by D.O.A., released as 1978. In early 2020, D.O.A.’s eighteenth studio album Treason was released, first on streaming and CD, followed by a vinyl pressing.

Members
Joey Shithead – Guitarist and vocalist (1978-), bassist (1998)
Mike Hodsall – Bassist (2014-)
Paddy Duddy – Drummer (2014-)
Past Members
Randy Rampage – Bassist (1978-82, 2000-02, 2006-09), died 2018
Chuck Biscuits – Drummer (1978-1982)
Dave Gregg – Second guitarist (1979-88), died 2014
Brian “Wimpy Roy” Goble – Bassist and vocalist (1982-95), died 2014
Ken “Dimwit” Montgomery – Drummer (1982-95), died 2014
Jon Card – Drummer (1986-90)
Chris Prohom – Second guitarist (1988-90)
Ken Jensen – Drummer (1992-95), died 1995
John “Big Rock” Wright – Keyboardist (1992-95), drummer (1995-96)
Ford Pier – Second guitarist (1994-95)
Brien O'Brien – Drummer (1997-99)
The Great Baldini – Drummer (2000-2008)
Dan Yaremko – Bassist (2003-06, 09-13)
Floor Tom Jones – Drummer (2008-10)
Jesse Pinner – Drummer (2010-13)

Iconography
D.O.A. has used a number of different logos and icons throughout their career. Their slogan, “Talk – Action = 0”, first appeared on the back of the “War on 45” EP.

D.O.A.’s two longest-lasting logos, the “arrows” logo and the pointed gun, first appeared on the single “General Strike / That’s Life”, a limited edition release from 1983.

The “pointed gun” logo reached its full level of realization on the cover of 1990’s Murder. The hand was made skeletal and a laughing skull was added behind the gun.

This logo appeared on the live album Talk Minus Action Equals Zero in 1991 and much later on the back cover of Win the Battle in 2002 and the front of Hard Rain Falling in 2015.

It would be parodied for the vinyl edition cover of 2016’s “Fucked Up Donald” single.

The long-lasting “arrows” logo appeared on many releases.

The back cover of Loggerheads

The back cover of the original release of The Black Spot

The back cover of a split single with Dog Eat Dogma

The cover of Win the Battle

The “arrows” appear as Joey Shithead’s necklace on the cover of We Come in Peace

The cover of 2008’s Northern Avenger changed the A in D.O.A. to an anarchy symbol.

The cover of a split album with Potbelly

The back cover of a split single with Hard Core Logo

1999’s split single with Dog Eat Dogma also featured a small, highway sign-style logo near the arrows logo. This would reappear 10 years later on the cover of 2009’s Kings of Punk, Hockey, and Beer.

Kings… also showed off a new winged skull logo that appeared on the back and the CD of Northern Avenger as well as the cover of the single “Human Bomb / Crossfire”.

Festival of Atheists from 1998 also used a one-off, circus-style scheme for its cover and its single “World Falls Apart / Used to be Revolution”.