Hardcore Punk Music Guide: History and Bands of Hardcore

Hardcore punk is a subset of punk rock that emphasizes speed and intensity. The first hardcore punk bands arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In contrast to commercial stars of the punk scene, such as The Ramones and The Clash, hardcore punks drew inspiration from heavy metal and America’s nascent hip-hop scene. The hardcore sound they developed would go on to inspire decades of alternative rock music, from grunge to metalcore to rap-rock.

Hardcore punk came of age at roughly the same time as traditional punk rock—in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Hardcore scenes sprouted up in various US cities, each with its own character.

• Washington, DC hardcore: In Washington, DC, Dischord Records led a hardcore punk movement that often involved political lyrics and straight edge behavior, which meant abstaining from alcohol and drugs. The label’s major bands included Minor Threat, State of Alert, Faith, and The Teen Idles. Later, Minor Threat frontman (and Dischord co-founder) Ian MacKaye would go on to found Fugazi, a band commonly described as "post-hardcore."
• NYC hardcore: The New York hardcore scene rivaled that of Washington, DC, thanks to groups like Bad Brains, who formed in the capital before moving north. Bad Brains—composed of four Black musicians with some Jamaican ancestry—brought reggae into their brand of hardcore punk. Other hardcore punk bands, such as Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front, closely overlapped with the city's thrash metal scene. New York would later give rise to groups like Helmet and Biohazard, which further blurred the lines between punk and metal.
• Boston hardcore punks: Further north was Boston’s hardcore punk subculture. Bands like the F.U.'s, Sam Black Church, Jerry's Kids, and Negative FX produced intense hardcore music in the shadows of more popular punk and post-punk bands like Mission of Burma, Pixies, and Lemonheads.
• LA icons: Los Angeles was yet another major hub for the hardcore punk scene and home to perhaps the most iconic American hardcore band: Black Flag. Fronted by Henry Rollins—who had previously recorded on Dischord and was originally from Washington, DC—Black Flag was the flagship band on SST Records, a label the group’s guitarist, Greg Ginn, founded. SST was home to other LA hardcore punk bands like The Minutemen, as well as national acts like Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and Bad Brains. Other California hardcore bands included Circle Jerks, The Germs, and The Dead Kennedys.

The hardcore punk scenes of various cities produced different sounds and characteristics, but a few key traits unify the genre.

1. 1. Urban base: From New York to Washington to Detroit to Los Angeles, most hardcore punk scenes arose in cities. Eventually, these scenes would spill out into suburbs. The New York punk scene, for example, expanded to New Jersey with bands like The Misfits and Adrenalin O.D.
2. 2. Hyper-local scenes: The hardcore punk movement produced few national celebrities but many local heroes. A group like Negative Approach was well known in its hometown of Detroit but was highly obscure elsewhere.
3. 3. Connection to hip hop: Hardcore punk and hip-hop became prominent around the same time. Some notable hip-hop artists, such as New York's Beastie Boys, began as hardcore punk musicians.
4. 4. Connection to heavy metal: Many hardcore punks found inspiration in heavy metal. Others directly inspired future metal artists. Groups like Hatebreed, Sick Of It All, and Cro-Mags blur the line between punk and metal, and are sometimes categorized as "metalcore." Even the most intense metal subgenres, such as thrash metal and death metal, draw clear influence from the hardcore punk scene.
5. 5. Dominated by men: From the outset, hardcore punk has been a male-dominated genre. This makes it stand in contrast to other early '80s styles like New Wave and dance pop, where women could shine as vocalists and stars. Two bassists are among the best-known women in hardcore punk: Black Flag's Kira Roessler and The Germs' Lorna Doom.
6. 6. Fierce independence: The DIY spirit pervades hardcore punk. A single band member might serve as a songwriter, performer, producer, tour manager, publicist, and T-shirt artist for his band. LA band The Minutemen described this DIY resourcefulness as "jamming econo." In nearly all hardcore scenes, a similar aesthetic pervades.

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