Hardcore: Wild in the Streets (web-exclusive; continued)
-- Library Journal, 03/31/2009
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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 make its 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.
Recommended Resources
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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