Clif "Hanger" Croce

Clif Croce died in his sleep early on the morning of Saturday 17 October 2026. His friend Pat Hernandez announced the news on Facebook, and his aunt, Sheila Galvin, confirmed it. His bandmates in The Freeze said he had died of natural causes and promised further information. His age was not given in reports.

"As Clif's friends and bandmates, we were constantly amazed by how his mind worked," bassist Tom Reardon said. "He loved performing our songs and he wrote some of the greatest punk rock lyrics ever. There was truly no one like Clif and he will be sorely missed." Guitarist Bill Close called him an incredible talent, a singer, guitarist and songwriter who had been a huge part of his musical life since he was about 13. The hardcore band Sheer Terror sent condolences to his family, friends and fans, and his death was reported by Punknews.org and NextMosh. No funeral or memorial details had been announced.

Clif Croce grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His life in music began in 1977, when he heard the Ramones on WKKL-FM, the radio station of Cape Cod Community College, according to a history of the band by former WBCN disc jockey Carter Alan for the Music Museum of New England. The discovery sent him to the local record store, where he began collecting early punk records from New York, Los Angeles and London.

By late 1978 he had recruited a group of his high school friends to form a band, The Freeze, built on the politics and power of the Sex Pistols and the Clash and the caustic approach of California bands such as Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. He took the stage name Clif Hanger.

The Freeze rehearsed and played wherever they could, and by 1980 had saved enough to record a debut single, "Don't Forget Me Tommy", backed with "I Hate Tourists". The band pressed 2,000 copies to sell at gigs and give away. It was the B side that caught on: a Christian group reportedly tried to have it banned, and The Boston Phoenix voted it one of the top local singles of the year. In 1981 the band played the WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, Boston's leading local band competition.

Croce wrote "This Is Boston, Not L.A." as an appeal to bands to find their own voice rather than imitate others. It became the title track of Modern Method Records' 1982 compilation of New England hardcore, which included eight Freeze songs and went on to sell more than 40,000 copies; the band also appeared on the Unsafe at Any Speed compilation. Back on the Cape, The Freeze persuaded the Mill Hill Club in West Yarmouth to host hardcore nights.

As the first wave of Boston hardcore broke up, The Freeze carried on. Their albums included Land of the Lost (1983), Rabid Reaction (1985), Misery Loves Company (1991) for Taang! Records, Crawling Blind (1994), Freak Show (1996), One False Move (1999), whose cover featured Cape Cod artist and author Edward Gorey, and, after a twenty year gap, Calling All Creatures (2019) on Slope Records. The band also made more than 70 appearances on compilations. Croce's lyrics often dealt with alienation, drug use, paranoia and distrust of those in authority, and with people willing to give up their freedoms for a sense of security.

More than 40 musicians passed through the band over the years, but Croce remained its singer throughout. Guitarist Bill Close became his principal songwriting collaborator. In the mid 2000s Croce moved to Phoenix, Arizona, keeping the band alive with Close based in Los Angeles.

Croce kept his private life largely out of public view. Friends described him as warm and generous; Pat Hernandez, a close friend, recalled that Croce would stay at his home when visiting and spend time with his family, and called him one of his punk rock heroes who had become a friend. Bandmate Bill Close said Croce was happiest in the recording studio.

Croce's song "This Is Boston, Not L.A." became a byword for the independence of the early Boston hardcore scene, and the compilation that bears its name remains one of the best known documents of American hardcore. Writing for the Music Museum of New England, Carter Alan noted that The Freeze had almost single handedly built a scene on Cape Cod and outlasted the classic Boston hardcore bands, arguing that the band could claim to be the heavyweight champion of Boston hardcore.