This is a thing I wrote for a fanzine called Losing Streak. No idea if it ever got published. There are many factual errors I've decided not to edit. Teenagers think they know everything of course!
File date is 26th December 2000, when Napster roamed the earth.
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POST HARDCORE?
Since you're all on the 'net, I presume some of you have Napster, am I right?
I'm sat here listening to a little known band called Texas Is The Reason. If any of you are into giving music nice labels (lets be honest, without genres buying music would be a nightmare) TITR would be classed as "emo hardcore". Another term cropping up in the mainstream music press rather a lot at the moment is "post hardcore".
To understand these, we have to work out what "hardcore" is. Now, go ask any wanker in Mansfield what hardcore is and they'll go on about "bangin' choons" for a bit. This is NOT what hardcore is. Ask the average rocker what hardcore is and they might go on about Biohazard for a bit. This isn't really what we're talking about either.
Hardcore originated in the early 1980's as a reaction to the bullshit that punk had become. While punk had become fashion obsessed and secular, hardcore was something new, with appreciation for other music too. Where punk had developed rules, hardcore (at the time) was rule free, so people were allowed to like Black Sabbath if they wanted!
Two of the first bands who you'd define as hardcore are Black Flag and Minor Threat. The singer in Black Flag was one Henry Rollins. You know, that big fella who was in a couple of films and did that song "Liar" with Rollin's Band. Minor Threat's singer was Ian McKaye. McKaye currently fronts Fugazi, a band Kurt Cobain once described as "the best band in the fuckin' world". Indeed, he had a pair of trainers he'd scribbled "Fugazi" on. Hardcore was fast, shouty and absolutely fucking furious with the world. Both these bands are name-checked by aspiring bands of all kinds whenever possible (Coal Chamber's Dez is named after Dez Cadena from Black Flag for instance). If you're what English bands were up to, we produced Discharge. Discharge are Max "Soulfly" Cavalera's favourite band!
Fast forward a few years. About 1988 in fact. Black Flag had split, and Fugazi had just been formed. Hardcore had developed a splinter group: straight-edge. Straight-edge had developed out of the lyrics of a Minor Threat song, extolling the virtues of being drug free and celibate. Straight-edge kids took this to heart, and while it was rare, there are still stories of these kids beating up people just for smoking. Despite this, a big part of the hardcore ethos became unity against whatever oppression there might be at any particular moment.
Anyway, band to the point. Emo hardcore formed from a few places at once. The exact origins are hard to trace. The sound is generally like Fugazi, Sonic Youth and a bunch of other pre-grunge bands. The vocals are either really mental screaming (a la Will Haven) or impassioned wailing (a la Get Up Kids). The line between emo and post hardcore is kinda blurred. Some people would class the Deftones as emo/post hardcore instead of metal. Whatever the case, At The Drive-In are at the forefront of this emerging genre, and I'm loving it all!
So, if you wanna hear some genuinely soulful, emotional music with some nice noisy guitars on, check out some of these amazing bands (or go see Digital Synapse: emo metal!). Also included in my funky list are some old school bands you should check out! In no real order:
At The Drive-In
The Get Up Kids
Samian
The Promise Ring
Will Haven
Fugazi
Quicksand
Helmet
Black Flag
Shellac
Slint
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Cro Mags
Discharge
Far
Gang Of Four
that should do ya for now
Lukas
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