Don't Back Down is the sixth studio album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in August 1996 by Lookout!

president Larry Livermore, who served as executive producer, sought to balance the sounds of the Ramones and the Beach Boys, and enlisted the help of former Queers guitarist JJ Rassler and Cub singer Lisa Marr.

in 2006, Don't Back Down was reissued by Asian Man Records the following year, having been remixed and remastered by producer Mass Giorgini and with the tracks from the Bubblegum Dreams EP added.

albums, while selling well, suffered from rushed writing and production: For 1994's Beat Off, recorded in Chicago, producer Ben Weasel insisted on a no-frills punk rock sound, eschewing the guitar and vocal overdubs which label head Larry Livermore felt "were fundamental to their Beach Boys-meet-the-Ramones style".

[6] Reflecting on these albums in 2007, band leader Joe King (aka Joe Queer) called both "mediocre" and said that they did not measure up to albums being put out by their peers and labelmates, especially Weasel's band Screeching Weasel and the Mr. T Experience, led by "Dr. Frank" Portman: "We knew we were capable of more.

We traded cassettes of song ideas and over the next couple weeks got a core of collaborative tunes that we could add to those he'd already written.

[7] Bassist Chris "B-Face" Barnard had the idea to cover the Beach Boys' 1964 song "Don't Back Down", which became the title of the album.

[7] "Born to Do Dishes" had previously been recorded in a demo session with producer Jim Tierney; the band wrote the song in the studio in only 5 minutes.

[12] Rather than traveling to Chicago or Lafayette, as they had for their previous four studio albums, the Queers wanted to record Don't Back Down closer to their home in Portsmouth.

[8] Livermore insisted that they use audio engineer Mass Giorgini, who had recorded Love Songs for the Retarded, Beat Off, and Move Back Home.

[8] "We had made a conscious decision not to use Mass but at least we were in a different studio", recalled Queer; "He did a great job but we were adamant that myself, [drummer Hugh O'Neill], and JJ produce.

[7][12] "We added Brill Building touches to counterbalance the harder tunes like 'No Tit'", said Rassler, "and layered background vocals like on 'Little Honda'—that was a blast to record.

[7] Chris Horne of Portland, Maine garage rock band the Brood played Farfisa organ on the track.

[10] "Punk Rock Girls" was also chosen to lead off the Bubblegum Dreams EP, which was released a month ahead of the album and also included three outtakes from the sessions: the original song "Never Ever Ever" and cover versions of the Beach Boys' "Little Honda" and the Muffs' "End It All", with Marr singing backing vocals.

[5] Livermore, who was in the studio, objected to this, especially in light of the Queers' previous issues with heroin use, and refused to release the song with that lyric.

Joe is always talking about different cool projects and sometimes they come together, sometimes they don't, but inspired by Dr. Frank and Ben Weasel, riding a wave of successful touring, being clean and just kicking ass, they cut what I think is the band's best album.

"[8] The album's success attracted the attention of Epitaph Records head Brett Gurewitz, who offered to sign the band.

[8] O'Neill, who had been with the band since 1986 (minus a forced leave of absence in 1993–1994 to deal with his heroin addiction), completed drug rehabilitation but was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died in early 1999.

artists in rescinding their master tapes and licensing rights from the label, invoking a clause in their contract citing delinquent royalty payments.