Previously published in Law and Order zine #2, 2010

“This ain’t 1983. This ain’t 1984. This ain’t 1985. This is our time.”
The latest couple of years have seen what has almost felt like an avalanche of books covering the history of hardcore punk, its scenes and sub-genres. Why now? My guess is that the time is right. There have been enough generations since the start of it all for authors to gather war stories and be able to compare the different waves and scenes in order to determine what scenes had the most impact, what bands truly left their marks and on the other side of the spectra what trends and posers proved to be short lived.

I personally welcome these books for several reasons. Obviously, they are generally a great read. While they have taken the insider enthusiasm of the fanzine format a whole lot further, they have certainly not left it behind. These are stories that have been collected from blood and sweat soaked venue floors along with pieces of cracked skulls and broken teeth, that have been heard through the torment of tinnitus. More than that though, they are tales of love and dedication.

In addition to the reading pleasure in itself, I also welcome the books because they serve an important purpose: to connect the present with the past, to help us learn from it and put things in perspective. No one outside the scene is going to do it for us; no one outside the scene could have done it for us.
In that sense, these books can be something much more than just nostalgia for those who came and went and only look back on hardcore as something that they were once a part of. Though dealing with the past, they can be a part of the living, breathing organisms that collectively, through both friendships and beefs and through more or less loose networks, make up hardcore in 2010 and the years to come.

“I have watched friend after friend over the past 20 plus years become enthralled and almost obsessed about the past and how much ‘better’ it was. You know what that told me? That hardcore/punk was now dead to them”. / Rob Fish in the foreword to “Burning fight”.

American hardcore
“As for the current hardcore renaissance, I don’t wanna deny the legitimacy of today’s teen angst. I just feel like, ‘Yo, make your own fucking music! Why just ape the music of my salad days?’. I can relate to those old Jazz or Blues cats who played back when it was all about innovation rather than formula, and who now see a bunch of complacent umpteenth-generation beneficiaries claiming the forms as their own. Face it, hardcore ain’t the same anymore. It can still make for powerful music, but it’s an over-with art form. It’s relatively easy to be into now, but back then it was an entirely different story”.

There is a lot that can be scrutinized and questioned in that paragraph, taken from Steven Blush’s foreword to his book “American hardcore – a tribal history” (from now on “American hardcore”). Was hardcore ever supposed to be an “art form”? Wasn’t it rather a reaction, by the outcasts and rejects, who found no place either in contemporary popular culture or the fine art galleries; an explosion in the face of everything accepted and/or highly valued? And if it indeed was an art form, then it follows that there must have been “formula” even during those “salad days” of his. It can also be claimed that it’s a bit silly and narrow-minded to claim that everything that happens once a phenomenon has left the stage of infancy becomes a watered down, formulized version of the inventive work of the pioneers.

Now, while “American hardcore” makes for an absolutely stunning read, the conclusions I would make from it would definitely not be that hardcore died with the demise of the founding bands. Suggesting such a thing sounds a lot more like a desperate attempt to hide the fact that most of the originators disappeared within a couple of years from the “art-form’s” birth. Went metal. Lost their edges. Chose to pursue rock n’ roll stardom. Overdosed. Caved in and sold out. Became professional assholes.

With that said, I am perfectly aware of the fact that this development is not something unique for the early hardcore years. Every era has produced an army of temporaries and just a few remaining diehards. Fact of life, people move on. 1980-1986 was no exception. But why hide the failure of one generation to discredit the next?

Still, “American hardcore” should be read by anyone with an interest in the origins of hardcore, as it tells an absolutely amazing story.

New York hardcore
Perhaps it was the provocative challenge formulated in the above quoted foreword that inspired a number of people to tell their own stories, from their own generations and scenes. David Koenig’s unfinished, online available “New York hardcore 1986-1993 – a time we’ll remember” (from here on: “New York hardcore”) takes off where Blush ended his story. Through more or less the same formula, extensive interviews with a large number of scene participants combined with the author’s personal accounts, the book (or rather, pdf file) paints a great picture of a specific time and place in hardcore. Koenig actually refers to Blush’s book in his foreword:

“A previously published book covering American Hardcore seems to harp on the ‘fact’ that hardcore was a no longer valid form of music after this year. To me, this music was just picking up steam. 1986 was the year that Youth Of Today exploded, Sick Of It All released their demo beginning their 20 year and counting run as a band and The Cro-Mags, a band from NYC’s earlier years, recorded their legendary LP, The Age Of Quarrel”.

Keonig does recognize that there was some sort of shift taking place halfway through the decade, and refers to 1986 as the year of the 2nd wave of New York hardcore. The invention was re-invented, new kids took over when the old turned out to be disappointments. This new breed, and some of those who survived Blush’s proclaimed end of hardcore, are given the chance to speak their minds on certain subjects. Every chapter includes the question Keonig posed, and then the unedited answers of people like Rob Fish, Tim McMahon, Mike Bullshit, Djinji Brown, Chris Daily, Fast Ali, Gavin Van Vlack and Jordan Cooper. For example, the chapter on CBGB’s starts with Koenig’s account for the questions raised:

“CBGB’s was ‘the place’ to see punk and hardcore shows esp. in the mid-late 1980’s. What was you first show there? What memories or stories do you have? Did you ever have a problem with getting in due to a young age?”.

While some of the answers get a bit too focused on the specific formulation of the questions rather than the broader subject itself, it is in this case still very funny to read all the tales of the young underage kids doing their best to sneak in every week. The fact that the same questions were asked in every interview does come in handy when more controversial issues are raised, such as the religious involvement in the scene and the violence that increasingly plagued shows (or, as some of the interviewed claim, didn’t).

Opinions differ quite violently at certain points. The passing of time has probably both led to strengthening of some subjective impressions of scene participants, as well as softening of others. While some try to tone down the presence of violence in the scene, Frank Cassidy of Kill The Messenger fanzine lets us know that “when I saw someone with a machete at an Icemen show, that was definitely the peak of the violent times”. Rob Fish recalls a rather funny story from the violent times:

“One group of skinhead types who started to get their name out was DMS. Later their style changed and I believe this was sometime during that metamorphosis. Generally if there was a fight at CB’s they were involved in one way or another and as a skinny kid from NJ they were always a scary presence. Well at this show pushing and shoving starts inside and heads outside. I am probably 15 feet from the action. It is Tommy Carrol who was the singer for Straight Ahead (who also played in Youth of Today) who was naturally a figure a straight edge kid like I would be rooting for. He is facing off with this DMS kid Saab. Things are being said and about to happen. In the flash of a moment Tommy has knocked Saab to the ground and is smashing him in the face… it was fucking brutal and the DMS kids looked on in horror as their friend is dismantled in front of their eyes. Later of course we all learned of Tommy’s boxing career but for that moment it felt good to see a guy from ‘our scene’ stand up to a group we all found rather intimidating.”

The set up of “New York hardcore” was apparently that Koenig would write an intro to each chapter, and then present the answers from others. As the book wasn’t finished, these introductions are limited to a couple of chapters, which is a pity since his personal stories make for an extremely entertaining read.

One of the most interesting chapters is the one that deals with ABC No Rio, and the scene around that venue. Mike Bullshit from Go! obviously shares his fond memories, while others remember the hazardous place in almost horror. There is also a full transcript from the infamous Born Against/Sick of It All radio “debate”.

Just like “American hardcore”, Koenig’s spawn includes an extensive discography. More than that though, it also presents a mind blowing list of show bills from CBGB’s, the Pyramid, the Anthrax and ABC No Rio, something that will have you sobbing if you weren’t there to witness it yourself:

7th of December 1986 at CBGB’s: Youth Of today, Bold, Slapshot and Gorilla Biscuits. 3rd of December 1988 at the Pydamid: Gorilla biscuits, Judge, Nausea, Absolution and Beyond. 25th of November 1988 at the Anthrax: Judge, Hogan’s Heroes and Alone In A Crowd. 4th of May 1990 at ABC No Rio: SFA, Yuppicide, Citizen’s Arrest, Go!, Rorschach and Quicksand.

So why did Koenig choose to end his story in 1993?

“1993 to me is the year where things really started to change for the worst. Don’t get me wrong, things musically in the scene didn’t ‘end’. I look at this year as the year people who were coming from all over to support and take part in the NYC scene, started to stay home and build up the scenes in their own areas. NYC’s hardcore and punk scene continued on in its own way but this book has to have some kind end right?”.

In this sense, Koenig’s conclusion is less self-centered, pompous and self-righteous than Steven Blush’s. It should also be noted that the year where he stops in the book is the same year that he started printing the lovely Hardware fanzine, that had a 10 issue run during the 90s. All of these, along with masses of other great fanzines, as well as his book, are available at Koenig’s blog, the Digital Fanzine Preservation Society. Much respect!

Burning Fight
Focusing on a scene that took off more or less around the same time that Koenig’s story ends, Brian Peterson’s much anticipated “Burning fight – the nineties hardcore revolution in ethics, politics, spirit, and sound” (from now on: “Burning fight”) quite excellently lives up to its title. The sold out book release show in Chicago almost felt like a sort of redress by and for a time in hardcore that some people quickly bypass or even consider the middle ages, located in between the great 80s and revivalist 00s. Well, I say fuck that. The 90s was the time I got involved in the scene. Bands like Strife, Abhinanda, 108, Shelter, Earth Crisis and Battery will always occupy a special place in my heart. Sure, there were some bands that were more pretentious than good. Some that might have tried to do music they weren’t quite the musicians to be doing. But I think it was both necessary and inevitable for hardcore to try and re-invent itself at this time. To search for new ways both sound wise and in spirit. In many ways, the bands that are represented in Peterson’s book were all a part of this. Some might have hated what they stood for, some might have mourned the fact that this was a time when divisions between different sub-genres within hardcore sort of got cemented, but I firmly believe it had to happen the way it did. It was not just the work of certain important individuals, even though this time in hardcore history surely did not lack influential and controversial spokespersons. These could only have their voices heard and messages put across within a specific and given frame work. The “nineties revolution in ethics, politics, spirit and sound” happened the way it did not for some sort of mystical “reason” or “purpose”, but because what had happened prior to this time led hardcore kids to that place. And while I don’t have all the answers just how this came to be, books like those of Blush, Koenig and Peterson certainly help make the picture clearer.

“Burning fight” is almost entirely made up of quotes from people that were involved in the 90s American (with a few exceptions, like Refused’s Dennis Lyxzén) scene. The first 140 of the almost 500 pages deal with the subjects indicated in its title: politics and social awareness, straight edge, animal rights and spirituality. Peterson gives the quotes a nice flow by tying them together with his personal reflections. Then, as the book enters the realm of “sound” after dealing with the ethics, politics and spirit parts, Peterson chooses to present a little more than 30 bands with one sub-chapter each. Each band is given a presentation by the author, and then their whole story is told by the band members themselves.

While far from every band covered in the book were straight edge, most of them had at least some members who were, and the book is in this sense a little more narrow content wise than “American hardcore”  and “New York hardcore”. I have no problem with this. As already mentioned, hardcore got both diversified and more split up in sub-scenes during the 90s. It is not at all strange that this is reflected in literature covering the subject. Two bands, however, that bridged gaps between different scenes and thus could have broadened “Burning fight” a bit, were Infest and His Hero Is Gone. These bands did speak to all kinds of people and were highly influential, and would’ve fit perfectly in the book. Apart from them, I’d say Battery is the only band I miss in the book.

Together with “The Anti-matter anthology: a 1990s post-punk & hardcore reader”, which collects chosen parts from Norman Brannon’s famous 90’s fanzine (and through his very personal and revealing interviews give a nice subjective historical outlook), “Burning fight” paints a very telling picture of the scene it is focused on. It is written in an informative yet passionate way. The bands included in it changed, radicalized and fulfilled the lives of a whole generation of punk kids.

The decade has to be looked back upon with scrutinizing eyes: there were some pretty weird things going on. As Seein Red pointed out in a song off their split 7” with Stack: “Do my eyes deceive me, or is it true what I see? Punks into Hare Krishna, must I take this seriously?”.
But still somehow, as fucked up a sect I consider the Krishnas to be, the 90s just would not have been the same if it wasn’t for Shelter, 108’s bone crushing song “Opposition” and the presence of various holy individuals. The decade wouldn’t have been what it was if Sean Muttaqi had not started his Hardline movement, and that whole story would not have been as interesting if the members had not converted to Islam.

But more than that, the 90s hardcore scene that is portrayed in “Burning fight” was thought provoking, polemic and a generally very interesting thing to get involved with. Also, it was a decade that gave birth to records like “In this defiance”, “Firestorm”, “Over the James”, “Systems overload”, “Attaining the supreme”, “Are these are lives” and so many more, about which you can read in this fantastic book.

The past, the present
In Europe, the 90s saw the first real wave of straight edge hardcore. There had been edge bands and people in the 80s, but it was not until the new decade that the phenomenon really spread out and became a force to be reckoned with. Several of the best bands came from The Netherlands, and it is pretty logical that it is two Dutch men who set out two write a book on the subject: “The past the present 1982-2007: a history of 25 years of European straight edge” (from now on: “The past, the present”). Both authors, Marc Hanou and Jean- Paul Frijns, play in Birds of a Feather, and both have a long and active history in the hardcore and straight edge scene. This book comes together with the deluxe gatefold LP version of their band’s debut full length, also titled “The past, the present”, on Refuse Records. The 100 plus pages in LP format looks upon the European straight edge scene through Dutch eyes, which is cool with me. As I said, The Netherlands has had some extremely good edge bands, and we can say that Lärm pioneered the whole thing.

Hanou and Frijns tells the story from the beginning, starting the book with the chapter “1982-1988, Why are you here?  - Lärm invents the European straight edge”. It is essentially about Lärm, but also deals with Italy and Poland. Then the rise of one of my all time favorite bands is told through “1989-1993, Myth of Freedom – The Manliftingbanner Era”. With a 7” and a 10”, later re-issued on a discopraphy CD, on Crucial Response Records, Manliftingbanner combined straight edge and militant left-wing politics in a possibly un-preceded manner. It was like Lärm, and featured members of that band, but taken further. And they were fast as fuck. Get into that shit.

After Manliftingbanner, guitar player Big (who nowadays sings for Birds of a Feather) formed Mainstrike, and thus once again made sure that The Netherlands would have a crucial influence on the rest of the continent. Chapter three, “1994-1999, No passing phase – Mainstrike hits hard”, deals a lot with the band’s endeavors. But it also the first chapter in which “The past, the present” can present a lot of stories from other countries. The Swedish straight edge scene exploded around 1994, and is given a lot of credit. The historical part of the book then ends with chapter four, “2000-2007, The decline – Submission is for the weak”, that deals with the years after the European youth crew wave that Mainstrike fore fronted had peaked.  Ironically, one of the best, and possibly most popular, European youth crew bands came forward during this period: True Colors from Belgium. When it comes to true straight edge youth crew hardcore, it’s hard to think of any bands except for Sportswear and Abusive Action who have come up to the level of True Colors.

After a finishing chapter by the authors, “The past and the present – and what about the future?”, space is given to a number of current or former European straight edgers, such as Robert Commitment, Michiel Manliftingbanner, Jeroen Mainstrike, Ricardo For The Glory and a bunch more. These are often very thoughtful and interesting. It gives the story some extra content and analysis.

Ending the book is a very interesting and clever timetable diagram of European straight edge bands, covering 1982-2008. 1996 is the definite peak, followed by 2006.

There are hundreds of absolutely fantastic photos throughout “The past, the present”. Live shots, hang outs, the farm where Lärm started practicing, Johan/Reflections as a kid. It’s all here and takes the book to another level, beaten in this context among recent books on hardcore history only by “Radio silence / a selected visual history of American hardcore music” by  Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo.

I’ve tried to think about whether or not non-Europeans will be interested in this book, the way I have loved books covering American hardcore. Generally, I guess Europeans appreciate American bands to a higher degree than vice versa.  Which is a pity.  Marc Hanou and Jean- Paul Frijns have done an absolutely stunning job, and if you haven’t paid interest in the history of European hardcore before, whether you live here or someplace else, it’s about fucking time do so. This book is a brilliant introduction. Get it, and then start canvassing the blogs for the old bands.

But the book is, as the title suggests, also about the present, and does give hope for a nice future. Don’t sell out and you can be a part of it. Pretty sweat deal. The books covered in this article can serve a great purpose only if they get you on your feet. If they make you wanna destroy at the next local show. If they inspire you to pick up pen and paper and start a fanzine. Get involved in your scene and make sure that books will be written about the amazing shit you and your friends did for kicks, to release all that fucking energy, to feel alive, for the love of it. Hardcore is here and now. If you lose focus for a couple of minutes, you’re missing out.

Sober living
While  Ross Haenfler’s excellent ”Straight edge hardcore punk, clean-living youth, and social change” from 2006 attempts, and pretty much succeeds, to explain the broad phenomenon of straight edge in North America from a context of sub cultural studies, the brand new, fresh out of the presses “Sober living for the revolution - hardcore punk, straight edge, and radical politics” (from  now on “Sober living”) by Gabriel Kuhn (ed.) has a different objective.

Haenfler wrote both for the wider audience, not demanding much pre-knowledge from the reader, and the already sworn in who were given a chance to reflect upon their participation in the collective identity that is straight edge. Kuhn on the other hand presents a chance for the latter to deepen those reflections within a given framework: the revolutionary possibility of straight edge.

While all other books covered in this article have been limited to a specific city, country or continent, “Sober living” is the first to attempt a more internationalist perspective, deliberately collecting stories and views from Europe, South America and North America, and in the process often dealing with the differences and dynamics between these scenes. Many famous scenesters (Ian MacKaye, Dennis Lyxzén, Robert Refuse and many more) are interviewed and well known articles re-printed, but a lot of space is also given to less known activists of different kinds.

Kuhn does a good job at keeping the content interesting, thought provoking and polemic as different and very much conflicting views are presented. Hell, there’s even opposing opinions within included bands, as Michiel and Paul from Manilftingbanner give their take on straight edge and radical politics. And notes I make in the book’s margin, reflecting my disagreement with certain viewpoints, are on several occasions more or less expressed by others as I read on. Kuhn thereby, in all probability with a well thought out deliberateness, forces the reader to investigate his or her own position.

This being said, I would recommend “Sober living” not only for the politically interested, but very much also for the more generally historically curious. As in all the other books, there are some absolutely awesome stories in “Sober living” that by themselves, stripped from the political context of the book, would be more than enough to make Kuhn’s work a worthwhile read. I sincerely hope that it will be welcomed with as open arms as the books that only deal with what’s come out of North America.

And even more to come
For those who are not satisfied with the above mentioned books, there’s a lot more to check out. Siri C. Brockmeier has written a thesis at the University of Oslo called “Not just boy’s fun – the gendered Experience of American hardcore”. I have begun reading it but not come far enough to include it in this article. Revelation Records will release “Why be something that you’re not” in the summer of 2010, covering the Detroit hardcore scene from 1979 to 1985. “Everybody’s scene: the story of Connecticut’s Anthrax Club” by Chris Daily is an account on that classic club. “Trapped in a scene: UK hardcore 1985-1989: frontline reports from the hardcore punk underground” by Ian Glasper promises to an excellent and very extensive read (I have not been able to read it thoroughly enough yet to be able to include it in this article). Glasper has also written books on the early punk scene as well as the anarcho/peace punk scenes of the UK. There is also a book coming out that will gather all 22 issues of Touch & Go between 1979 and 1983.

Before ending this article, some extra attention should be given to the excellent Double Cross blog, covering mostly, but not only, late 80s American hardcore. The gathered material on that blog needs to be printed as a book! Also, as earlier mentioned, do check out David Koenig’s fantastic Digital Fanzine Preservation Society.

For more information, please visit:
American Hardcore
New York Hardcore
The Anti-Matter Anthology
Radio Silence
Sober living for the revolution
Double Cross
Digital Fanzine Preservation Society