Where's my punk people at?

[Tarheels.]

I'm looking to get more into hardcore punk. Whether it be early stuff such as Minor Threat and Black Flag or more current day stuff (preferably this because aside from a few names like Kids Like Us, Bane, and Trapped Under Ice I don't know much). I'm just looking to get into more of it. So who has some good recommendations?

[VerbalPuke]

I think I can help you out here, I'm mostly into the early stuff so bear with me.

From the Midwest there was Negative Approach, Toxic Reasons, Zero Boys, and The Necros to name a few.

Out west in California were the Circle Jerks, Wasted Youth, Code of Honor, Fear, Scared Straight, Battalion of Saints, and Dr. Know.

In the East, specifically in D.C. where you found Minor Threat were Government Issue, Bad Brains, S.O.A. (Rollins first band before he joined Black Flag), and Youth Brigade (a different group than what was found in Cali).

In New York there was Kraut, Heart Attack, Reagan Youth, Beastie Boys (seriously), and Cro-Mags.

A few from outside of the U.S. are Puke, Raw Power, Kaaos, Crude SS, and The Stalin.

Two that are more recent are Los Crudos and Antidote.

[LittleDaniel]

I'll offer up the Minutemen and the Dead Kennedy's "In God We Trust Inc."

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Don't think VP mentioned them, but The Germs are quite good in places. Their one studio full-length 'GI' is mostly excellent; the rest of their discography is mostly dreck. They capture the shambolicness of Punk better than most other well-known Hardcore stuff, and have the advantage of being a West Coast band whose vocalist at no time slipped into just doing Jello Biafra impressions (cf TSOL, the Crucifucks).

Despite that, TSOL are worth checking out. Just about. I'm not massively familiar with them, but my favourite songs of theirs are 'Abolish Government' and 'Fuck You, Tough Guy', which both feature really nice riffs. Couldn't recommend an album, though.

If you're into the "tee-hee, look out how OFFENSIVE we're being" strain of early Hardcore, then you could check out Angry Samoans. No matter how hard their ironic Nazism shtick might make me roll my eyes, I can't completely hate a band with an album called 'The 90s Suck and So Do You'.

There's a pretty good compilation of DC Hardcore called 'Flex Your Head', which features some bands already mentioned (Minor Threat, DC Youth Brigade, Government Issue) as well as some not (Artificial Peace, State of Alert, Untouchables). There are also a few tracks from MacKaye's first band, Teen Idles.

As far as current day stuff goes, the British scene in that area seems to consist of mostly Post-Hardcore -- longer songs, more obvious indie and 'rock' influences. I'd still recommend Million Dead (the best British political band of the 00s) though, for sure. You might want to check out some bands from Household Name Records which is the seat of the London hardcore/skacore/etc scene. No idea what's going on in North America, other than Propaghandi.

EDIT: Actually, looks like most of the old HHN bands that I'm familiar with have moved on or died. So I'm not sure about that. They also seem to have signed some sort of bad-faith Oi! revival band. With a song called 'Still Fighting Thatcher'. Did original Oi! bands have songs called stuff like 'Fighting Thatcher' (or feel the need to tell everyone they were an Oi! band every five minutes)? I'd guess probably not.

Edited January 2, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[VerbalPuke]

If I were to suggest T.S.O.L. for their hardcore work I'd stick to the albums Weathered Statues and the self titled album. Both are short albums, but it's pretty typical of hardcore punk bands to produce an album that lasts for only sixteen minutes. There is some good stuff on these albums, Abolish Government as Fuckshit mentioned, but also Property is Theft.

The Germs are a great suggestion, an erroneous omission on my part, considering they bridged a gap between the 77 bands and the hardcore bands. Darby Crash may not have looked or acted it, but he was brilliant, and an excellent lyricist.

Side note, Crucifucks were actually from Lansing, Mi (not trying to be a cunt, but I just thought I'd mention it). As an aside, it reminds me of a band that I can't believe I forgot, Crucifix who actually are from the West Coast. They sound like shit in some of their live performances (probably due to equipment and venue issues) but produced a great album in Dehumanization, it's a must have for anybody interest in hardcore punk.

Edit - As for Oi bands, it depends on the group. Oi bands tend to fall into the skinhead grouping, a lot were skinheads and did remind you of that in their lyrics. Some such as Cockney Rejects, Sham 69, and Peter and the Test Tube Babies tried to distance themselves from the bonehead (Nazi) fan base. It seems that the three groups I just mentioned would mostly refer to themselves as simply a punk rock band, despite being grouped into the Oi sub-genre. Margaret Thatcher was a focal point for many punk bands in England, much as Ronald Reagan was for punk bands in the USA, though she wasn't the only target of their aggression. The Angelic Upstarts (whom I think are highly underrated and probably the best of the oi bands) for example wrote a wide range of political songs, even doing some acoustic numbers that turned out great.

And not to keep ranting about Oi, but there is a compilation called "Oi, The French Connection" which is just fucking awesome. I think the French may be slightly superior to their English brethren.

Edited January 2, 2009 by VerbalPuke

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Oh, right. I didn't realise that about the Crucifucks... I just heard them and presumed they were West Coast; never actually did my research. Oops.

And, yeah, Darby Crash's vocals are tremendous, and his lyrics should probably get more credit. 'The Other Newest One' is one of the best songs about sex I've ever heard, and he's a clear cut above yer standard Hardcore frontman.

[YI]

Okay, this is where I come in and recommend some modern stuff. Some really good bands in the UK at the minute, Dead Swans and More Than Life being my current favourites. Don't think I could ever stomach a HARDCORE show though (I mean, I've seen Ignite/H20 etc, but they're much more melodic etc, though they do attract somewhat of a 'hardcore' crowd...but I wouldn't travel, as I don't particularly like any band that much, well besides Paint It Black who I was going to see...actually, ignore this, I would go to a hardcore show). I mean, the scene up here is non-existent (I blame "Pure Graft" for being so fucking shit), so no one tours here, even UK band for the most part.

Paint It Black

Modern Life Is War (RIP..."D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S" is probably my favourite hardcore-punk tune ever, fucking epic...also I agree so fucking whole heartedly with "Fuck The Sex Pistols"..would have loved to have seen them )

Dead Swans

More Than Life

The Quarry

Your Demise

Blakfish (although are basically some weird blend, as they go all 'indie' at time...the EP's fucking brutal though...in a good way)

Raised First

The Killing Tree (RIP...one of the first hardcore bands I got into...Tim thingy from Rise Against is the singer)

If you want more melodic stuff, there's a bunch of 'hardcore' bands I love;

Break The Silence (RIP...I hope the 2nd album does finally come to fruition, purely for the song title "Connecticut Yourself", which is fabulous..."Iris" still gets my blood pumping something ridiculous...epic live...and do a great At The Gates cover)

Strike Anywhere

Comeback Kid

(earlier) Crime In Stereo (with "Is Dead" they just ended up sounding like Brand New, which, I'm not complaining about)

Death By Stereo (circa "Into The Valley Of Death"...nothing later)

Chief

Oh and for absolute giggles, "Arma Angelus" featuring Pete Wentz on vocals...yeah...Pete Wentz fronted a hardcore band...they weren't terrible to be fair.

[DMN in the House]

DI

[probablyoliver]

I'll throw forth Bear vs. Shark, Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu, Blood Brothers and Thomas Function. All wonderful.