In the next couple letters, I'll be doing some music-focused segments. Spoiling what's coming, I want to talk about Over The Line's 1997 Demo.

This is the platonic ideal of music. Fast, straightforward youth crew hardcore of the straight edge variety. Opening seconds of "Speak Your Mind" are very Beyond "Vitality"-esque. The lyrics are also amazing: “So many words go unsaid, too many feelings unexpressed, so many friends never met, too insecure to extend a hand”

In their single release, Over the Line eschews the high-pitched melodic chords that were popular for youth crew during this period and moving into the early 2000s.

Steve Lucuski, who sang in the band, also did the Tension Building fanzine and put out The Time is Now comp that included Floorpunch, Hands Tied, Rain on the Parade, Ten Yard Fight, and Rancor. The Over the Line demo was "Tension Building Records 1.5," I think the final music release under the auspices of the zine.

I think he interviewed Rennie Resmini in the zine's first issue. Welcoming Tension Building/Over the Line/Lucuski anecdotes in honor of this exceptionally underrated demo.