SS Decontrol's Alan Scott Barile Passes Away

04-07-2025

(SpinLab) Alan Scott Barile, the founder of the hugely influential hardcore band, SS Decontrol (SSD), passed away on Sunday, April 6th in his hometown of Boston after a long illness. Barile who played guitar in SSD, along with his co-founders Jaime Sciarappa, Chris Foley and Springa, were a seminal "straight-edge" band, embracing the no drinking/no drugs ethos that provided kids with a choice from the typical '70s suburban party lifestyle.

Through SSD, Al became the catalyst for a thriving Boston hardcore movement, nurturing the scene through DIY all-ages shows at non-traditional venues including Boston's Gallery East and Media Workshop. SSD toured throughout the Northeast, building a strong following and nurturing a growing hardcore movement.

The release of SS Decontrol's first album, The Kids Will Have Their Say in 1981 and its vaunted follow-up Get It Away the following year, won Barile and his bandmates international acclaim in the developing hardcore underground. Although the band called it quits in 1985 after two additional releases, the band's influence within the music community is powerful to this day.

SS Decontrol directly influenced such successful hardcore bands as Youth of Today, BLAST, DYS, Slapshot, Agnostic Front, Have Heart and Fu Manchu. They are also regarded as an important progenitor for the Seattle Grunge scene bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana.

A trained Mechanical Engineer with a degree from Northeastern University who worked for General Electric for more than 35 years, Al returned to the stage with his band Gage in the 90s.

In 2023 SSD resurfaced via a reissue album via Trust Records. The reissue of the long out of print debut album charted on Billboard magazine's vinyl charts the week of its release. Most recently SSD was elected into the New England Music Hall of Fame class of 2025.

While dealing with health issues in his later years, Barile stepped from the shadows to lend his voice to political issues he was passionate about and to continue to steward SSD's growing legacy.

Through SSD, Al met the love of his life, Nancy, when she bought the SSD record in Philadelphia and called Al, hoping to book the band for a show she was promoting. Nancy and Al were together 43 years. Their support of each other was legendary.