Hardcore punk

Hardcore punk (also known as "hardcore") is a subgenre of punk rock which was most prominent in the United States during the 1980s. The sound is thicker, heavier, and faster than punk rock. It is characterized by short, loud, and often passionate songs.

Overview

While the origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain, the consensus is that it caught on in the early 1980s and evolved simultaneously from different areas. Vancouver-based D.O.A. have often been credited with the term "hardcore" due to the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81, but Bob Sallese, a New York City producer and manager, also used "hardcore" while promoting a 1981 Mob show at the Camoflauge venue in Bayside, Queens. The common New York term for the faster, newer subgenre of punk, at that time, was "thrash." While Sallese began pumping thrash as "hardcore punk," Scott Eisner, a local writer, picked up on Sallese's jargon and went on to review The Mob in the Queens College publication, Newsbeat. Eisner wrote, "Out of their set came some of the nastiest hardcore-punk tunes to hit Camoflauge or Long Island; songs like 'Rock Your World', 'Zoo Crew' and 'F.A.S.T.'" However, the term was used briefly by Wayne Mayotte, owner of Los Angeles' Club 88, in the documentary Decline of Western Civilazation, filmed through 1979 to 1980 but copyrighted in 1981 and released several years later.

Nevertheless, hardcore originated in the 1980s in North America, primarily in and around Los Angeles and Washington, DC, though New York City, Chicago, Vancouver, and Boston were also important.

Until roughly 1983, the term "hardcore" was used fairly sparingly, mainly as an adjective, not as the name of a defined musical genre; American teenagers who were into hardcore considered themselves fans of "punk", although they had nothing to do with the original punk movement; which had developed in 1977 and was played by bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Damned, Buzzcocks, etc. Like the original punk movement, hardcore was also noted for its do-it-yourself approach, though the image differed, as the hardcore bands brought a 't-shirt, jeans, and crewcut' look to the genre. Fans of the original punk movement have been known to reject hardcore punk.

It should also be noted that in many circles "hardcore" was an in-group term, meaning 'music by people like us,' and included a surprisingly wide range of sounds, from hyper-speed "punk" to sludgy 'dirge-rock,' and often including art/experimental bands, such as Mission of Burma, The Stickmen, and Flipper.

The Big 3

Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life traces hardcore back to three bands: He calls LA's Black Flag (formed in 1976) the music's "godfathers"; he credits the Bad Brains, formed in Washington, D.C. in 1977, with introducing their often astonishingly fast "light speed" tempos; and calls Minor Threat, another Washington, D.C. group formed in 1980, the "definitive" hardcore punk band.

Black Flag has been called "for all intents and purposes, America's first hardcore band". It has also been said that "the group played an essential role in the development and popularization of American punk." The band had a major impact on the scene with their raw, confrontational sound and DIY ethical stance. They were mostly notable for featuring future Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris and former State of Alert singer Henry Rollins.

Bad Brains were a young African-American band from Washington, DC, with a background in soul and funk, but also an interest in bands such as Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols. Their eponymous first album (originally a cassette-only release on ROIR, in 1981), has been called the "holy grail" of hardcore and included three reggae tracks in sharp contrast with the rest of the band's music. A similarly esteemed single, "Pay to Cum" b/w "Stay Close to Me" preceded it in 1980.

Minor Threat formed out of short-lived Teen Idles, in Washington, D.C. Carry-over members of The Teen Idles were Ian MacKaye (who would go on to co-found post-hardcore group Fugazi and emo band Embrace) and Jeff Nelson. The band played an aggressive, fast form of punk that was already being described as "hardcore". The band was also responsible for jump-starting the straight edge movement through their use of the X as a symbol for clean living. After the Teen Idles broke up, MacKaye and Nelson gathered their tour money and founded Dischord Records, initially to release their Minor Disturbance EP on vinyl.

Other early notable bands

Several bands in the Los Angeles area in the late 1970s released records whose style has been cited as functionally identical to what would later be called "hardcore." The most striking is the Middle Class' thrashing Out of Vogue EP from 1978. Another significant California hardcore band, San Francisco's Dead Kennedys, formed in 1978 and released their first single, California Ãœber Alles, in 1979. The song is featured on their first album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. Fresh Fruit is considered a classic of the hardcore genre, and is credited by some as being the first "true" hardcore punk record.

Rhino 39's 1979 "Xerox" b/w "No Compromise"/"Prolixin Stomp" single has also been noted as a hardcore landmark. The Germs' 1979 GI LP is essentially a hardcore record, not only for its quick tempos but especially for its notably fast chord changes, while the Circle Jerks' first album, from 1980, features both blinding chord changes and tempos. The Germs had actually been called "hardcore" early in their career.

The Misfits, from northern New Jersey, were a '77 punk band involved in New York's Max's Kansas City scene, whose ironic horror-movie aesthetic was hugely popular among early hardcore aficionados. In 1981, the Misfits responded by integrating high-speed thrash songs into their set. HÃ¼sker DÃ¼ was formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1978, as a postpunk/ new wave band, but soon became a very loud and fast outfit. Their first recordings were released in 1981. HÃ¼sker DÃ¼'s early recorded output has been called a "breakneck force like no otherâ€¦ Not for the faint of heart." [1] By 1985, the band morphed into one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the era.

By 1981 and 82, regional hardcore bands began to dominate North America; most notably the Neos, from Victoria, British Columbia; The Fix, from Detroit; Zeroption, from Oakville, Ontario; Necros, from Maumee, Ohio; The Effigies, Naked Raygun, and Articles of Faith from Chicago; The Dicks and Big Boys, from Austin, Texas.

Important records of the period include The Adolescents' first eponymous LP, the NYC compilation The Big Apple Rotten To The Core, the Boston-area This Is Boston, Not L.A. compilation, the Zero Boys' LP, the Detroit-area Process of Elimination compilation EP, Negative Approach's eponymous EP, The Necros' IQ 32, SS Decontrol's The Kids Will Have Their Say, the New York Thrash cassette compilation, the DC-area Flex Your Head compilation, the Northern California Not So Quiet on the Western Front double-LP compilation, the Chicago-area Busted at OZ compilation, and the Fartz's Because This Fuckin' World Stinks LP.

Early support

One of the most influential radio shows was Rodney on the ROQ on Los Angeles' commercial station KROQ. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer played many styles of music, and helped popularize what was, circa 1979â€"80, called "Beach Punk"â€"a rowdy suburban style played by mostly teenage bands in and around Huntington Beach, and in heavily conservative Orange County.

In New York City during the early 80s, Bob Sallese and Jism of the group Ism attempted to bring "hardcore punk" into the mainstream, according to George Hurchella in his book Going Underground: American Punk, 1979-1992. Bob Sallese and Jism released the The Big Apple Rotten to the Core which featured local "punk" and "hardcore" bands. The album garnered nationwide airplay and Ism gained notoriety on college and alternative commercial radio. As a result, WLIR (New York's alternative music station) began adding some hardcore to their playlists and began a late night hardcore show hosted by Ben Manilla. Sallese and Jism persuaded Manilla to feature local hardcore groups from the tri-state area, including the usual crowd from A7, a popular hardcore afterhours hangout on the lower eastside which Ism recorded a tribute song to. Until The Big Apple Rotten to the Core was released, there had been no commercial airplay of hardcore whatsoever in New York. However, as hardcore evolved in NYC, Hurchella pointed out, "new bands wanted to eradicate any taint of older punk from their sound."

The San Francisco-area public station KPFA featured the Maximum Rock 'n' Roll radio show with DJs Tim Yohannon and Jeff Bale, who played the younger Northern California bands. A wave of zines also helped spread the new, younger punk style, including Guillotine, Ripper, Flipside, and in late 1981, Yohannon and Bale's Maximum RocknRoll zineâ€"modeled on Tim Tonooka's Ripper, but with a national circulation and 'scene reports' from around the country. A strong infrastructure of indie labels, linked with already-existing radio outlets and both old and new zines (Slash, Option, Flipside, and others had already covered alternative music for several years), helped to create a functioning, nationwide subculture, if not always one that was appreciated by older indie-music fans.

Negative publicity

Unfortunately, the hardcore scene became associated with violence. The relationship between violence and hardcore is difficult to easily quantify. There was undoubtledly an aggressive element to the music and that aggression was often a major appeal for many fans.

Hardcore shows increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers. Many clubs were trashed on both coasts, despite frantic pleas from the fanzines of the time. Henry Rollins, for one, argued that in his experience, the police caused far more problems than they solved at punk performances.

The reputed violence at punk shows was famously featured in episodes of the popular television shows CHiPs [2] and Quincy, M.E., in which Los Angeles hardcore punks were depicted as being involved in murder and general mayhem. This led to the term "Quincy Punks" (from which the punk band Quincy Punx took their name).

Slam dancing

The hardcore punk scene was responsible for creating slamdancing and audience stagediving. The frantic and energetic sound was perfectly suited as well as most hardcore punk shows taking place in some small dingy hall with a small and easy accessible stage. Early New York and London punk gigs gave birth to the practice, but soon after hardcore came to prominence, its fans turned it into an artform. One notable innovation came from Huntington Beach. The circle pit began life as the H.B. Strut, a violent dance that involved participants strutting in a circle around the rim of the pit, swinging their limbs into onlookers. A somewhat accurate representation of the dance can be seen as the Circle Jerks popular logo, created by artist Shawn Kerri; a walking punk rocker with a raised fist.

The 1980s thrash metal scene and then later harder college rock band audiences would imitate this form of dancing. Later, some time in the early to mid '90s, modern hardcore fans took to what is known as hardcore dancing.

Influence

Hardcore had a huge influence on other forms of rock music, especially in America. The San-Francisco-based metal band Metallica were among the first crossover artists, incorporating the compositional structure and technical proficiency of metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore (Metallica would eventually cover three Misfits songs). The new style became known as "thrash metal" -- or, later, "speed metal," and soon became a trend which still exists today, including other bands such as Megadeth and Anthrax. Slayer are also well known for their hardcore punk roots, and released an album formed entirely of hardcore covers.

The rising influence of heavy metal in the hardcore scenedismayed some hardcore punks, especially veterans, who felt that the hardcore bands who were crossing over to metal styles were selling out to some of the very sensibilities that hardcore had organized against. Long-time hardcore punks, who remembered only a couple of years earlier fighting in streets with hostile metalheads, now felt that those same people were attempting to co-opt hardcore. These die-hard hardcore punks argued that the new long-haired interpreters of hardcore were merely mimicking emotions, such as raw anger, that they did not truly feel.

A 1986 concert by the UK band Discharge in New York City generated brief international notoriety when a crowd of roughly 1,500 paid $10 admission and pelted the band with garbage, an apparent response to the band's recent turn to a more metallic sound.

In 1985, New York's Stormtroopers of Death, an Anthrax side project, released the extremely popular album Speak English or Die. Though it bore similarities to Thrash metal, such as a characteristic bass-heavy guitar sound, and fast tempos and chord changes, the album was distinguished from Thrash metal by its lack of guitar solos and heavy use of crunchy chord breakdowns (a New York hardcore technique) known as "mosh parts". Other bands, most notably Suicidal Tendencies and DRI played music similar to that of Stormtroopers of Death, which came to be known as crossover.

Many hardcore bands branched out and began experimenting with other styles, moods and concerns as their careers progressed in the 1980s; the music of many of these bands are some of the earliest examples of what became known as alternative rock. HÃ¼sker DÃ¼'s artistic growth from Land Speed Record to their final album Warehouse: Songs and Stories is a chief example of this development. Grunge was especially heavily influenced by hardcore. The sense of liberation that many of the grunge bands gotwas at least as important as the music. Even though the early grunge sound was more influenced by Black Sabbath and Black Flag's My War album than hardcore punk rock, bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana would instill a traditional hardcore influence as well as take the sound into more conventional pop-oriented territory. (Kurt Cobain once described Nirvana's sound as "The Knack and The Bay City Rollers being molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath.") The popularity of grunge ultimately resulted in renewed interest in American hardcore in the '90s.

The hardcore punk scene had an influence that spread far beyond music. The straight edge philosophy was rooted in a faction of hardcore particularly popular on the East Coast. Hardcore also put a great emphasis on the DIY punk ethic, with many bands making their own records, flyers, and other items, and booking their own tours through an informal network of like-minded people. Radical environmentalism and veganism found popular expressions in the hardcore scene.

Early history in Europe

Outside of North America, the influence of Hardcore has been less universal. The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Germany had, and continue to have, notably active and prolific scenes, but in the United Kingdom, more traditional punk bands like The Exploited, GBH, Discharge, and The Anti-Nowhere League occupied the cultural space that hardcore did elsewhere. These UK bands at times showed a superficial similarity to American hardcore, often including quick tempos and chord changes, and generally had similar political and social sensibilities -- but they represented a case of parallel evolution, having been musically inspired by the earlier London street-punk band, Sham 69, and/or the proto-speed metal band, MotÃ¶rhead.

Additionally, Discharge played a huge role in influencing the Swedish hardcore scene with bands such as Anti Cimex and other European bands. To this day. many hardcore bands from that region still have a strong Discharge and even MotÃ¶rhead influence, which is considered by many to be the standard Swedish hardcore sound. The band Entombed is also cited as a huge influence of the sound, songwriting and production of Swedish hardcore bands from the early '90s onward.

In much the same way, Anarcho-punk bands like Crass, Icons Of Filth, Flux Of The Pink Indians and Rudimentary Peni had little in common with American hardcore other than an uncompromising political philosophy and an abrasive aesthetic. American hardcore punks listened to and supported many of these British bands (shows by bands such as GBH were considered special events in America and drew large crowds), even while upholding a strict regionalism, deriding them as "rock stars" and anyone too fond of them as "poseurs." (Expressive fans of the influential UK anarcho-punk collective Crass, were called "crassholes.")

American hardcore bands who visited the UK (such as Black Flag, in 1981) encountered equally ambivalent attitudes. Visiting European hardcore bands suffered no such prejudice in the U.S., with Italian bands Raw Power and Negazione, and the Dutch BGK, enjoying widespread popularity.

It should also be mentioned that there in the more underground part of the UK scene, around the same time and a little later than the already mentioned bands existed, grew a hardcore sound and scene, inspired by continental European/Scandinavian, Japanese and U.S. bands. It was started by bands like (and the people in) Asylum, Genocide Association and Plasmid, that from their material and inspiration would evolve into bands like Heresy, Ripcord, early Napalm Death, Hellbastard, Doom, Satanic Malfunctions and Extreme Noise Terror.

The most important influences among late '80s UK bands was (among others): GISM, Confuse, Siege and Septic Death, as well as Discard, Anti Cimex and more metallic bands such as Celtic Frost and Metallica. They had a solid background in the Anarcho-punk sound, scene and way of thinking, as well.

About the continental European hardcore sound and scene(s), there was a huge number of bands that could be described as something in between the dominating UK bands and US bands. The band that had the biggest influence among them all, was the already mentioned Discharge. But also Circle Jerks, Bad Brains and Black Flag left their mark on European hardcore (especially in Italy). Other key influences were: Dead Kennedys, Disorder and Millions Of Dead Cops. Some notable bands from that era and these countries were Wretched, Raw Power, Declino, Negazione, Indigesti (Italy), H.H.H., MG-15, Eskorbuto (Spain), Inferno, Vorkriegsjugend, Scapegoats (Germany), U.B.R. (Slovenia), Kafka Process, Barn Av Regnbuen (Norway), Heimat-Los (France), LÃ¤rm, BGK (Holland), Vi, Enola Gay, O.H.M.(Denmark), Dezerter, Armia, Moskwa, Siekiera (Poland), Kaaos, Rutto, Kansan Uutiset, Terveet KÃ¤det, Appendix (Finland), Headcleaners, Asocial, Missbrukarna, Sound Of Disaster and Anti-cimex (Sweden).

Examples of bands who continued to play that style of hardcore in the '90s include: Seein Red, Uutuus, Kirous, Health Hazard, Slapshot, TotalitÃ¤r, Los Crudos, Sin Dios, and Detestation. It also become popular in Asia in the late '80s and early '90s, with bands such as Disaster Funhouse, Chronic Mass, Basic Righs, Noisemonger, and Cramp Mind from Malaysia, 4-Sides and Stomping Ground from Singapore, Agony of Destruction, Death from Above, Mutual Assured Destruction, and Biofeedback from the Philippines, and both Disclose and Death Side from Japan.

Hardcore in the 1990s

In the 1980s hardcore was strictly a style of North American punk rock. By the end of the '80s and into the '90s, hardcore became much more diverse, branching off mainly into two sounds, one traditionally punk-based, the other metal-based. The traditionally punk-based sound retains much of the style and feel of the original hardcore bands, while the metal based-sound, now known as "metalcore," tends to be more innovative. It is important to note that many fans of traditional hardcore do not consider metalcore a form of hardcore punk.

Metalcore

Being a chiefly urban phenomenon, hardcore often reflected the life of its players and fans. The incorporation of heavy metal (both musically and mentality-wise) led to a sect of hardcore bands branching off into heavier, more brutal directions. Over time, the mixture of metal and hip hop beats, brutal and unforgiving depictions of urban life, and syncopated musical breaks gave birth to what is variously called heavy hardcore, new school, metalcore, and tough guy. Notable bands who helped spur the genre on in early years include Madball, Biohazard, Judge, Edgewise, Raw Deal, Maximum Penalty, and the infamous Carnivore. Today, the most well-known representative of the genre is, most likely, Hatebreed.

Essentially, the sound is an amalgamation of deep, hoarse vocals (though rarely as deep or guttural as death metal), downtuned guitars, thrashy drum rhythms inspired by earlier hardcore bands, and slow, staccato low-end musical breaks, known colloquially as "breakdowns," with some tending to focus more on breakdowns than others. Thrash metal and hip hop elements are also common. Sworn Enemy and Boxcutter are two current respective examples of such.

It would be impossible to have a discussion on metalcore without mentioning some of the aggressive bands that came out of the early '90s, particularly the Northeast, who helped pioneer the mixture of hardcore with death metal. Brooklyn, NY's Merauder and Confusion along with Jackson Heights, NY's Dmize are perhaps the finest examples, crossing bands like Kreator and Obituary with New York hardcore. Darkside NYC, formed by Alan Blake of Sheer Terror fame around the same time, was often compared to Celtic Frost meets Sheer Terror musically and Negative Approach meets Crumbsuckers vocally. They were also known for incorporating blastbeats; a direct death metal/grindcore influence. Dmize, Confusion, and Darkside NYC managed to achieve cult status in the U.S., Europe, and Japan while only playing shows in the Northeast during their short existences. Merauder went on to sign to Century Media and tour the world, and still performs today, albeit with various lineup changes. In upstate NY, All Out War, formed with ex-Merauder members, gained an extremely violent reputation as members of their audience would pummel each other - many shows often ended in a full scale riot! As a result, many clubs were loathe to have these kinds of bands perform, yet most metalcore bands today cite these groups as an influence.

Though certainly not representative of all listeners, this particular scene is known (and sometimes looked down upon) for its stereotypical image and attitude of inner city street thugs. With the popularity of inner city fashion and image, and the similarities of some of the heavier bands' music to hip hop, it is not surprising that the two would end up crossing over. Of course, actual hardcore/hip hop crossovers were most likely the catalyst of much of the image, such as Biohazard's general sound and collaborations with Onyx, KRS-One's appearance on a Sick Of It All song, Madball's streetwise attitude, and New Jersey's E.Town Concrete.

Progression and experimentation

In the late '80s, bands like NoMeansNo (British Columbia, Canada) and Victim's Family (Northern California) created a new style of powerful music by blending aggressive elements from hardcore with other influences such as psychedelic or progressive rock, noise, jazz, or math rock (a development sometimes termed jazzcore). This path was followed in the early '90s by Mr Bungle, Candiria and lesser known bands such as Deep Turtle (Finland), Ruins (Japan), and Tear of a Doll (France). The noisecore played by Melt-Banana (Tokyo) was probably a separate evolution. Other important hardcore-based or influenced bands in this area included the avant-garde Naked City, formed by saxophonist John Zorn, and Neurosis, who started as a hardcore band before exploring slower tempos and dark ambiance to evolve a style of their own.

There were also many bands who started to incorporate emotional and personal aspects into their music, influenced by the sounds coming out of Washington, D.C. and Dischord Records, which by the late 90s had grown and fused with more traditional punk to create emo (a contraction of 'emotional hardcore'). The Nation of Ulysses was one of the most influential bands to come out of D.C., combining dissonant guitars similar to those of Black Flag, elements of jazz, and a seemingly absurdist (or situationist) political ideology. Their sound and fashion sense would be of particular influence on the San Diego or 'Chula Vista' hardcore scene. Arguably, in response to this "emotional hardcore", bands with a heavy political bent began to appear, such as Struggle, also from San Diego.

Ebullition Records, founded in 1990 by Kent McLard in Santa Barbara, California, was a record label with bands often presenting a broad critique of the American political and economic system, frequently straying into the arena of outright hostility, and giving far less attention to personal issues. Their sound featured screeching vocals, heavy distortion with thick chord progressions, busy drums, and contained few, if any, guitar solos. Examples of these bands would be Manumission, Downcast, and Nation of Lepers. East coast bands, such as Rorschach and Born Against, from New Jersey and New York respectively, also played a similar left-wing, almost Marxist leaning political hardcore.

The San Diego Band Heroin splintered into many new bands, most notably, Antioch Arrow and Clikatat Ikatowi. Antioch Arrow, were brutal and spastic, combined with a goth aesthetic, while Clikatat Ikatowi combined pounding tribal drums and dissonant guitar with a post-punk aesthetic, and became one of the most unique bands of the '90s hardcore scene. The Locust, who started out as a fairly conventional hardcore band would develop their own sound, which is fast, brutal, and spastic. Some have described the Locust as free jazz meets hardcore.

Today, another common, heavier sound is represented by bands such as Mosquitos Can Kill, From Ashes Rise, and Tragedy who play a brand of melodic crustcore.

Gravity Records was an important record label of the '90s hardcore scene, releasing bands like Antioch Arrow, Clikatat Ikatowi, and The Locust; the label was later associated with the powerviolence genre.

Straight edge also became prominent in the 1990s with the youth crew revival and hardline.

A recent subgenre is Gaelic punk which first gained media attention in Scotland in 2005 with veteran anarcho-punks Oi Polloi starting to record in Scots Gaelic. They have been joined by Seattle's Mill a h-Uile Rud who play tuneful hardcore but sing entirely in Gaelic. Their repetoire includes a Gaelic version of 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker'.

Hardcore today

There are still many bands today that follow the lines of original hardcore. It has evolved somewhat since the '80s but still follows many of the ideals.
There are also many contemporary bands who play hardcore in an original, purist sense while attempting to add even more intensity to the music. These bands often adhere to a specific local flavor of hardcore. Another common trend is to try to capture the sound of influential bands from an earlier era. One example of this would be D-beat bands who emulate the early music of Discharge, like Deathcharge, Dischange and the Japanese band Disclose.

Many hardcore labels continue today and keep the tradition of the music alive. Among these are Bridge 9 Records, Deranged Records, and Revelation Records.

Additionally, the term "hardcore" has been applied with increasing frequency to what most would consider metal. Groups such as Inside Recess, Inner Surge, and Poison the Well have fused the aggression of traditional hardcore with the musical stylings of metal. Typical of this new genre are breakdowns and harshly delivered vocals, sometimes verging on death metal growls. As this music has evolved, so has the subculture associated with it; for example, fashioncore. In the 1990s the name "hardcore" even came to be applied to a genre of electronica having nothing in common with hardcore punk.

Hardcore bands

References

American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Steven Blush, Feral House publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-922915-717-7)
Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1992 (George Hurchalla, Zuo Press, 2005)
Smash the State: A Discography of Canadian Punk, 1977-92 (Frank Manley, No Exit, 1993)