straight edgers on richrd and judy

B

believekevin

Well-known member
Because hardcore's boundaries are dry cement, innovative groups tend to get bogged down in arguments over to which subgenre they belong. Most older hardcore fans concede that the best records are coming out of eastern europe, central/south america, and japan. Off the top, I recommend these from the late 90's / early 00's:


Nine Shocks Terror "Zen and the Art of Beating Your Ass" (Havoc)
- this is everything you want from thrashy/angry punk. really raw and rad. this record was remixed without compression and later re-released. repping cleveland of all places.

the first Tragedy LP (self-released)
- ex-his hero is gone, portland, oregon.. dirty and punk. really dirgey and tuned down with a triumphant "fuck it" sense of hope

the 2nd Zegota LP/CD (Crimethinc)
- homemade percussion, long guitar jams, song cycles, and a cover of CSNY's "ohio" ! this record and this band rule. they are 1/2 european (stockholm, amsterdam) and 1/2 US (north carolina)

Orchid "Chaos Is Me" (Ebullition)
- THE record to spark the resurgence of the early-90's emo sound.. blastbeats in 3/4 time and totally shredded vocals from beginning to end.

the first Locust LP/3" CD (Three One G)
- birthed from the 90's san diego world. criticized for dancing around DIY dogma. sparked a deluge of copycat "synth-core" bullshit but last time i saw them, they were still wrecking everything.

Refused "Shape of Punk to Come" (Burning Heart)
- this record got a lot of press (even covered by the nu-metal band Crazy Train) and was the product of a band on the verge of breaking up.. still really exciting use of digital studio techniques applied to hardcore.

Catharsis "Passion" LP (Crimethinc)
- the best metal / hardcore there is. along the lines of Acme and other german hardcore, this is really dark and heavy with tons of double bass. the flagship band of the crimethinc. strain of traveler/anarchist punks.

Trial "Are These Our Lives?" LP (Plus Minus)
- same drummer as the catharsis LP. the singer of this band discovered a polyp on his vocal cords and assumed the band was over. they took a year off, during which time he crafted the most solid "political" hardcore lyrics that have ever been laid over mosh breakdowns.



It's worthwhile to mention that with the exception of Refused and Trial, I've seen all of these bands live (in some cases several times) and hardcore has never really been about records for me.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
believekevin said:
nuff bands...
Click to expand...

i'll have to check some of them out. i saw locust years ago and they were pretty poor.
ACME- fcuk me there's a band! all that euro stuff- zorn, hatebreed, fingerprint etc were ace


in terms of my above comment, i was being a bit sarcastic about hardcore- bilge pump, wolves of greece, lightning bolt etc are all excellent.
i'll stand by 1989/90 as a cutoff point for good SxEx (gorilla biscuits 'start today' as last good LP?)
 
M

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
matt b said:
i'll have to check some of them out. i saw locust years ago and they were pretty poor.
ACME- fcuk me there's a band! all that euro stuff- zorn, hatebreed, fingerprint etc were ace
Click to expand...

I saw locust at one fo their first shows and they were the only band I've ever had to walk out of because they were too loud...

Acme were amazing. Great band.
 
M

martin

----
Has anyone considered one of StraightEdge's most redeeming qualities - ie it was a good way for Muslim youth to participate in punk and hardcore
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
i once saw the Locust play in a disused s-bahn station in berlin, having not slept for 2 days.
supercool gig but very...intense.
 
R

ryan17

Well-known member
that list is really spot on and i would say (and as i think believekevin knows) that it is really just the tip of the iceberg for the armies of good hardcore(ish) bands.

just to add a few bands,

Reversal of Man
Hassan I Sabbah
Pg. 99
City of Caterpillar
His Hero is Gone
Limp Wrist
Charles Bronson
Spazz
xbxrx
Los Crudos
Strike Anywhere
American Nightmare

i know i am missing loads but thats just a few.
 
R

ryan17

Well-known member
the locust, although entertaining, are hardly a good representation of current (past 5-6 years) US hardcore.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
spazz and los crudos existed pre-1995
i'd add: hella, blood brothers and some more leeds bands, but they're pretty isolated imo
 
R

ryan17

Well-known member
i think hella meddles somewhere between punk(mindset) and indie.

voorhees and the haunting(ed) or something from leeds? i know there are a few more. where is narcosis from? i guess they are more metal though.
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
yeah voorhees etc are from leeds, but they formed pre-95 too!
the trend for retro early-80s h/c is interesting, but is it new?
 
R

ryan17

Well-known member
i wasn't into them because they were retro but more because they were all still around when i first got involved with 'the scene'.

i just didn't know that they had been around for that long.
 
R

ripley

Well-known member
gff said:
a good friend of mine grew up in Washington DC, ground zero of straightedge, and from his stories I've gathered that it's important to recognize some measure of class antagonism in it. sXe kids were usually locals and "the enemy" was embodied in 80s era young GOP hill staffers, budding Reaganites, and above all drunk cokehead Georgetown fratboys. not that guys like that were a <i>physical threat</i> to young punk kids, but with militant skinhead sXe the reverse was definitely true...

imagine a cross btw oliver cromwell and revenge of the nerds.
Click to expand...

Not sure about this.. My impression of most of the DC Hardcore sXe kids I met were that they were almost all wealthy Virginians/Marylanders and children of privilege. Who are "Locals" in DC, anyway? it's pretty much an area of extreme privilege and extreme poverty with not a lot of middle ground. I'd buy a political antagonism, but I found that a lot of the sXe sneakerboys to be angry suburban youth.

I was straightedge at 14 or so.. Coming from Boston, another big straightedge scene back in the day, home of Slapshot (yes, a bunch of clowns) this was a pretty lively scene. i'll vouch as well for the suburban nature of it, being a suburban-ish gal myself (working-class, metro-area suburb, but still). There was a lot of class-drag going on, as well.

It didn't last long as an identity, because I didn't get much of a charge out of lecturing people, or worrying about what other people were getting up to, and its not much in itself to base a 'scene' on. The music was good for me, and the energy.. a lot of fans of guitar-hardcore went straight to Jungle, interestingly.

However, I still don't drink alcohol or smoke or do much beyond caffeine. Looking back, I think it's just my personality, and I think I was happy to find a scene that didn't make a big deal of my choices, or made a positive deal out of them.
 
B

believekevin

Well-known member
maybe it's hometown pride, but i really like slapshot! how can anyone get down on these lyrics?

boston mass is the rippinest town / don't drink don't smoke don't fuck around
kill anyone with a beer in their hand / because if you drink you're not a man

there's enough material for a graduate thesis right there!
 
M

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
believekevin said:
maybe it's hometown pride, but i really like slapshot! how can anyone get down on these lyrics?

boston mass is the rippinest town / don't drink don't smoke don't fuck around
kill anyone with a beer in their hand / because if you drink you're not a man

there's enough material for a graduate thesis right there!
Click to expand...

I love slapshot as well... one of my great losses was a time a skinhead ripped my slapshot shirt... :(
 
R

ripley

Well-known member
Oh I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Jack and the boys.. did you know he was starting to spin techstep a few years ago? heh. cosmic symmetry, really.
 
G

gff

Active member
<i>Not sure about this.. My impression of most of the DC Hardcore sXe kids I met were that they were almost all wealthy Virginians/Marylanders and children of privilege. Who are "Locals" in DC, anyway? it's pretty much an area of extreme privilege and extreme poverty with not a lot of middle ground. I'd buy a political antagonism, but I found that a lot of the sXe sneakerboys to be angry suburban youth.</i>

you're right. i wanted to say more about the specific class makeup here but shorthanded it (my friend himself is well rich, so...)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top