Hardcore: Wild in the Streets

At the dawn of the 1980s, disaffected American youth, feeling burned by Reagan and left out of disco and new wave's nonstop party, were looking for a noise to give vent to their anger and fear. UK-produced punk rock pointed the way for these kids to bash out the primal tornado that would become hardcore. Hardcore was punk recast into a newer, leaner American form—arty pretensions and glam influences were stripped away in favor of even shorter, speedier songs, leaving only a howl of naked rage and frustration.

Early adopters and standard bearers like Black Flag and Circle Jerks began traveling the country on self-booked tours as early as 1980, spreading the music like a virus. Kids their own age would hear this revelatory racket and realize they could do it themselves. Soon hardcore scenes were springing up across the United States and even in Europe, and the movement became a decentralized but highly interdependent network of bands and fans.

Bands booked their own shows in nontraditional venues, put out records on their own labels, played gigs on bills crowded with their peers, and corresponded with like-minded souls through zines and tape-trading networks. They took the lessons of punk to a logical conclusion, planting the seeds for independent labels and indie rock.

As the first wave of hardcore bands moved on or dropped out, second, third, and fourth waves developed. Along the way, hardcore music crossbred with elements of metal, jazz, noise, and psychedelia, leading to interesting hybrids. All the while, venues in New York City and San Francisco (among others) held weekly "hardcore matinees" for old faithful and fresh fans alike. Though some historians would have hardcore dying out in 1985, there are in fact several successive generations of musicians who rallied—and continue to rally—under the hardcore banner.

The difficulties in compiling a manageable list of "essential" hardcore albums for libraries are legion. Many seminal albums and compilations are out of print, or the material never even made it to CD. The chronological list below is a solid starting point, but definitely branch out from here. Hardcore was decentralized and diffuse throughout America, not just in a couple of large urban centers, so don't be afraid to do some research and add local flair to your collection.

1. The Germs. (GI). 1979. Rhino Encore. UPC 0-81227-98998-9.
   L.A. punkers whose lightning-fast tempos and palpable anger were somewhat tempered by Darby Crash's near-poetic lyrics.
2. Circle Jerks. Group Sex. 1980. Frontier. UPC 0-18663-10022-7.
   Fourteen songs in 15 minutes! 'Nuff said.
3. Dead Kennedys. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. 1980. Manifesto. UPC 7-67004-29072-0.
   A San Francisco-based band that injected an astute political consciousness (and black humor) into its hyperspeed hardcore.
4. Black Flag. Damaged. 1981. SST. UPC 0-18861-00072-5.
   These Californians brought a frightening physicality and focus to their deeply troubled and constantly evolving music; iconic.
5. Bad Brains. Bad Brains. 1982. ROIR. UPC 0-53436-82232-6.
   Inspirational, confrontational D.C. rasta punks who blew both minds and speakers.
6. Misfits. Walk Among Us. 1982. Rhino/WEA. UPC 0-81227-99472-3.
   NYC's finest; hardcore velocity combined with late-night horror imagery.
7. Agnostic Front. Cause for Alarm/Victim in Pain. 1984. Relativity. UPC 0-88561-80492-3.
   The swaggering stance of these street-tough godfathers set the tone for New York's hardcore scene for years to come.
8. Gang Green. Another Wasted Night. 1986. Taang. UPC 7-22975-00132-4.
   Among the first wave of Boston hardcore bands; their frenzied music provided the soundtrack to skateboarding.
9. Bad Religion. Suffer. 1988. Epitaph. UPC 0-45778-67012-3.
   A breakout album combining hardcore rage with keen political commentary.
10. Gorilla Biscuits. Start Today. 1989. Revelation. UPC 0-98796-00122-6.
    New York’s straight-edge icons injected humor into the usually dour straight-edge ideology (i.e., no drinking, no drugs).
11. Minor Threat. Complete Discography. 1988. Dischord. UPC 7-18750-73042-8.
    The collected works of these D.C. punks brought the straight-edge philosophy to the world at large, with great tunes to boot.
12. Rites of Spring. End on End. 1991. Dischord. UPC 7-18750-72712-1.
    This D.C. band shoulders much of the blame for the emo genre, but its personal, blistering music makes it hard to hold the grudge long.
13. Hatebreed. Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire. 1997. Victory. UPC 7-46105-00632-4.
    A Connecticut-based band with a winning formula: the simplicity of early hardcore combined with the overload of death metal.
14. Refused. Shape of Punk To Come. 1998. Burning Heart. UPC 0-45778-20012-2.
    This Swedish band’s swan song is credited with rewiring the hardcore template to include experimental and electronic elements.
15. Adolescents. Adolescents. Frontier. 1981. UPC 0-18663-10032-6.
    This seminal Orange County band bashed out sneering and furious hardcore that helped define the genre’s overall sound and tone.
16. DOA. Hardcore ’81. 1981. Sudden Death. UPC 6-52975-00492-9.
    With this epochal release, these Canadians may very well have named the movement and certainly helped to define the sound.
17. TSOL. TSOL/Weathered Statues. 1981. Nitro. UPC 7-94171-58142-9.
    Superviolent, but superflamboyant, OC band that pioneered the hardcore sound, while engaging in all manner of crime and audience baiting.
18. Descendents. Milo Goes to College. 1982. SST. UPC 0-18861-01422-7.
    This album by the much-loved and overcaffeinated punks lamented singer Milo heading off to college (for real).
19. Suicidal Tendencies. Suicidal Tendencies. 1983. Frontier. UPC 0-18663-10119-4.
    These Cali-punks’ first album dabbled in gang-related imagery and gritty lyrics coupled to memorable tunes; later, they made it big as a metal band.
20. Seven Seconds. The Crew. 1984. Better Youth. UPC 0-20282-00052-9.
    The long-lived SoCal hardcore band’s fiery debut, full of brief dispatches about the state of the scene.
21. Dag Nasty. Can I Say. 1986. Dischord. UPC 7-18751-79192-3.
    A second-wave D.C. hardcore outfit that walked the narrow line between fury and melody.
22. Youth of Today. Break Down the Walls. 1986. Revelation. UPC 0-98796-00082-3.
    Heading the second wave of straight-edge bands, this New York group reveled in a surprisingly muscular sound.
23. SSD. Power. 1993. Taang. UPC 7-22975-00502-5.
    For a few halcyon years, SSD was the standard bearer of Boston hardcore: straight edge and spoiling for a fight.
24. Dicks. Dicks 1980–1986. 1997. Alternative Tentacles. UPC 7-21616-02002-1.
    These Texas punks ripped it up and were not afraid to shout out lyrics about being young and gay in America.
25. Sick of It All. Sick of It All. 1997. Revelation. UPC 0-98796-00032-8.
    The Koller brothers’ early New York hardcore output takes the “tough guy” style of Agnostic Front and CroMags and makes it their own.
26. Poison the Well. The Opposite of December. Trustkill. 1999. UPC 8-24953-00272-6.
    This young Florida outfit’s roaring debut combined metal thrashings with hardcore power and helped to makeits name.
27. Born Against. Patriotic Battle Hymns. 2003. Kill Rock Stars. UPC 7-59656-03942-0.
    Compilations of material from these passionate and political early 1990s NYC hardcore stalwarts.
28. Fucked Up. Chemistry of Common Life. 2008. Matador. UPC 7-44861-08072-5.
    This critically lauded album by the Canadian upstarts merges raucous live shows with an experimental bent.

1. Recommended Resources

2. Whereas American Hardcore (both the 2001 book, below, and 2006 documentary) stood pretty much alone as the hardcore history of record for several years, there has since been a rash of new material looking at the evolution of the genre.

    

   Anderson, Mark & Mark Jenkins. Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation’s Capital. Soft Skull Pr. 2001. 420p. ISBN 978-1-887128-49-0. $19.95.

   An enjoyable oral history of the Washington, DC, hardcore punk scene, told by the people who lived it. Currently o.p.

    

   The Anti-Matter Anthology: A 1990s Post-Punk & Hardcore Reader.

   Judiciously chosen selection of interviews from Brannon’s passionate mid-1990s hardcore zine. Judge rubs shoulders with Rage Against the Machine—Brannon’s tastes are catholic and his interview style is stellar, focusing on art rather than trivia.

    

   Blush, Steven. American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. 2001. 336p. ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2. $19.95.

   One of the first books to compile the triumphs and travails of the first wave of hardcore bands, in the words of the musicians, with gritty images to match. (LJ 11/1/01)

    

   Maximumrocknroll (maximumrocknroll.com)

   This San Francisco–based punk zine has been going strong for 20 years now, covering the seamy underground of punk and hardcore in its inimitable independent and opinionated style.

    

   Nedorostek, Nathan & Anthony Pappalardo. Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music. MTV Pr. 2008. 224p. ISBN 978-1-57687-472-1. $29.95.

   Less a linear history than a visual narrative told through hardcore memorabilia; it’s stunning to see how much art was created in such a short period of time by kids in a DIY fashion.

    

   ed. by Norman Brannon. Revelation Records. 2007. 250p. ISBN 978-1-889703-01-5. $15.

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