This is a quick post, and something I don’t normally put on the weblog, but here we are. Lou Koller, lead vocalist of Sick Of It All (by all objective measures the greatest hardcore band to ever exist), has announced he has adenocarcinoma cancer. Which is a fancy way of saying he has a cancerous tumour in his oesophagus. It’s not great, but his bandmates and family have setup a fundraising appeal to help with medical costs. If you have some of the folding stuff available, you can donate to it here. And if you’re in the right part of the world, or happy to pay a little extra for shipping, various bands are also putting out t-shirts with profits going to help Lou. In Australia, Artist First has the NOFX shirt available.

It’s hard to say just how important Lou and SOIA have been to me over the years in terms of having a group of positive punk rock role models, but I have a difficult time imagining a world where Lou isn’t present. I’d seen advertisements in Thrasher magazine when I was in primary school for SOIA albums, but didn’t have the opportunity to hear them until I managed to get hold of a copy of Scratch The Surface when I moved to the big city. The band sounds scary, but is relentlessly upbeat, and has provided a positive influence to thousands and thousands people since they first started playing in 1986. And I’m sure he’ll be able to beat this and get back out there to do what he loves to do. I had the good fortune to get along to see SOIA in Brisbane earlier this year. It had been a few years since I saw them, but they were excellent. Here’s a video of Sick Of It All playing two of my favourite tracks (Scratch The Surface and Step Down) at Area4 Festival 2012. Here’s hoping that Lou beats this and they can get back out on the road soon.