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Hardcore Punk
This nOde last updated November 27th, 2004 and is permanently morphing...
(9 Ix (Jaguar) / 17 Keh (Red) - 74/260 - 12.19.11.11.14)

• ambient pop track _I Must Soon Quit The Scene_ MP3 (192k) by American Analog Set off of _Golden Band_ on Emperor Jones (1999)

this genre is a hard one to describe, as enough time has passed (20 years plus) for it to be rendered meaningless.  so i'll try and keep it to a tight pure definition of "hardcore" w/o any of the offshoots of straight edge, thrash, metal, crossover, grind, etc... it's a strictly musical definition, and political (in)correctness is not a factor.  it is by no means definitive, it is simply a list that stands out out of the hundreds of records and experiences i've come across... my personal filter ran when i discovered Minor Threat in 1987 which weaned me off of speed/thrash metal into crossover to finally pure punkdom.  my faith in punk ended when i became active in the scene and found out it was a microcosm of normal social dilemmas (around 1994).  my personal list of superlative hardcore punk objects:

• DRI (1982-1985)
• DRI - _Violent Pacification_ 7"on Dirty Rotten/R-Radical (1984)

(a)
• _Violent Pacification_ MP3 (160k)
(b)
• _Running Around_ MP3 (160k)
• _Couch Slouch_ MP3 (160k)
• _To Open Closed Doors_ MP3 (160k)

• DRI - _Dealing With It_ CD on Metal Blade (1987) (original on R Radical 1985)
• important to note that Mikey Offender plays bass on a lot of the tracks and gives it that weird fluid structure which pushed the raw live factor over the top and made it gel...  the record influences Dave Lombardo, the greatest drummer of thrash, which blossoms into the almighty Slayer release _Reign In Blood_ 12" a year later...
• _Snap_ MP3
• i'd rather be sleeping
• marriage
• yes ma'am
• soup kitchen
• mad man
• stupid, stupid war
• counter attack
• _Couch Slouch_ MP3
• god is broke
• _Karma_ MP3 (160k)
• nursing home blues
• i don't need society
• give my taxes back
• the explorer
• reagonomics
• how to act
• shame
• argument then war
• evil minds
• slit my wrist
• busted again
• equal people
• on my way home
• bail out
• the fastest pure hardcore band alive at the time.  sloppy at first, they got better and pursued technical proficiency and invented the "crossover" genre in 1986, eventually moving onto full fledged speed metal.  texas basement punks wearing plaid and hightops, they were so angry you can smell the sweat in their recordings.  22 songs on their first 7" release with muddy production that sounded like it was recorded on two tracks.  _Dealing With It_ might be the epitomy of recorded hardcore punk, along with _Violent Pacification_ 7".  what made them stand out was the twisted arrangements that went into the short spurts of insanity.  riding the lyrics as melody, Kurt Brecht crammed a novel inside 20 minutes.  no metal leads, just hardcore grind and an occasional slow down mosh, but mostly the tightness came from the lyrics bashed out in tune.
• MDC (1982-1984)
• very thin production makes them stand out.  angry vegetarian political gay ex-hippies from TX then SF.  lyrically sharp attacking cops, christians, corporations, and all other "c" words.  second full length found musical chops branching off into country, surf, classic rock and more melodic intrigue, but _Millions Of Dead Cops_ was pure rage.  standouts are _John Wayne Was A Nazi_, _Corporate Deathburger_, _I Remember_, _My Family Is A Little Weird_, _Greedy & Pathetic_
• interesting tidbit: They Might Be Giants mentions the band in the track _Rhythm Section Want Ad_

• Jerry's Kids - _Is This My World?_ 12" on XClaim (1983)
• boston madness before they went a bit more polished metal on their second release (7 years later).  insane machine gun drumming, (Lucky from Circle Jerks was frantic and crisp, but this is insane even for hardcore standards), seething vocals. _Viet Nam Syndrome_ proves harmonies can work within brutal hardcore.  it's the best work (harmonies) in punk next to Screeching Weasel's Danny Vapid era power pop.  faves: _I Don't Belong_, _Crucify Me_, _Vietnam Syndrome_, _No Time_, _Is This My World?_
• _I Don't Belong_ MP3
• _Cracks In The Wall_ MP3 (160k)
• _Tear It Up_ MP3
• _Crucify Me_ MP3 (160k)
• _Break The Mold_ MP3
• raise the curtain
• _Viet Nam Syndrome_ MP3(ed2k128k)
• _Build Me A Bomb_ MP3
• _New World_ MP3
• _Lost_ MP3
• _No Time_ MP3
• _Is This My World?_  MP3

 
• Minor Threat - first two 7"'s (1980-1982)
• polkacore folks.  the perfect voice for suburban hardcore, and lyle preslar is underrated.
• filler
• i don't wanna hear it
• seeing red
• straight edge
• small man, big mouth
• screaming at a wall
• bottled violence
• minor threat
• stand up
• 12xu*
• in my eyes
• out of step (with the world)
• guilty of being white
• steppin' stone*

• Life Sentence - s/t 12" on Walkthrufyre (1987)
• buzzsaw production, lyrically meandering, which is a plus, because once bands focus on lyrical style, then they've picked a genre.  topics cover politics, emo, personal... it's too bad the energy lasted for only one release, as the second one was a joke.  i believe they were from Chicago. slight short spurts of metal leads... faves: _Men In Blue_, _Figured It Out_, _Punks For Profit_
• _Problems_
• _Race To Die_ MP3 (192k)
• _Election Day_ MP3 (192k)
• _Men In Blue_
• _Punks For Profit_ MP3 (192k)
• _Peacetime Death_ MP3 (192k)
• _Unemployment_
• _In The Streets_ MP3 (192k)
• _Figured It Out_
• _Take A Stand_ MP3 (192k)

• "emocore" came as a sort of backlash against the direction of hardcore punk - a more intelligent, slowed down,  melodic music with a presence of strong personal emotional expression as opposed to pure politics.  definitely born in DC, but debatable whether it was pre-Rites Of Spring One Last Wish, or early live Moss Icon ca 1984.

• it's hard to say what exacty was the genesis of "hardcore" as opposed to punk, but the birth of "thrash" style music either came from the Bad Brains tracks in '79 (i.e. _Pay To Cum_ MP3) or an obscure Orange Country band called Middle Class that released the _Out Of Vogue_ 7" (_Out Of Vogue_ MP3), which in 1978 was absolutely startling, even compared to the same era Germs.  esp. since they were composed of three brothers and look totally suburban normal.
• note: guitarist Mike Atta of Middle Class now runs Out Of Vogue vintage wares in Orange County

Others of note:
 

• Rorschach on Vermiform
• Fearless Iranians From Hell - irony was never more seething
• Bad Brains - late seventies highly innovative hardcore/thrash/rasta band from DC
• Born Again$t - the epitome of drugless burnout
• Crucial Youth - beyond straight
• Code Of Honor - funky political skatecore
  • _Death To You_ MP3 (192k) off of _Code Of Honor/Sick Pleasure_ split 12" on Subterranean (1982)

• Heroin - s/t 7" on Gravity (1993) - this might have kickstarted the desperationcore of san diego post emo. there is no irony in their name, as at least one of them was completely hooked. the release was innovative - handscreened, indecipherable, illegible, and printed on a grocery bag.
  • _Leave_ MP3 (192k)
  • _Wander_ MP3 (192k)
  • _Blind_ MP3 (192k)
  • _This One Has No Name_ MP3 (192k)
• track _Ashes To Ashes_ MP3 by Neon Christ off of _P.E.A.C.E._ compilation 12" (1984) - one of the few political songs i can stand, simply because of the soft interlude, launching into blistering hardcore, and ENDING with a mosh part that has NO power chords.  great structure, to the point, and a fluke.

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