For anyone who has ever partaken in any group oriented musical activity
ever, they’ll know the feeling each respective band member is struck with when the
one (or more) songwriter(s) sits down desperate to show you that new riff they’ve been
working on for them then to play note-for-note something suspiciously familiar.
If you’ve been in that position then you’ll also know about all the umming and arring
bouncing off the carpeted practice room walls regarding 1.) where you’ve heard
the riff before; 2.) whether its good or not and 3.) whether listeners will
actually notice. What I’m talking about of course is the age-old rip-off
and all the shapes and sizes it can come in. Whether it’s to shamelessly
steal an idea in place of actually being bothered to envisage one of your own;
a tactful use of versatile musical influences (what everyone wishes the origin
of their rip-offs actually could be construed as) or just purely to pay tribute
to our audible deities.
I’ll be the first to say that I’m 100% guilty of punk rock plagiary in the first-degree and this list could probably be filled with the number of
shameless lifts of riffs that me and all my mates have spun over the years.
However, as narcissistic as that is, I understand it would be far from
interesting for anyone to read. What would be interesting is to magnify
the toe-tingling giddiness I get when I catch one of my own influencers
red-handed in a good old-fashioned rip by collating a list that’ll make
you mime “I cant believe it’s not ripped” as you open up the links to these
comparisons in a new tab.
PRE-TRIGGER WARNING:
Some of the riffs below are direct note-for-note crimes of GTA, some are just stylistically
so similar that it would be hard to believe there hadn’t been some sort of riff-tampering
at least somewhere down the line. ENJOY.
10. Exhorder vs Pantera
I’m sure all the metal metalheads (purposeful double usage
of ‘metal’) will know about this one. How does a spandex-wearing, falsetto
shrieking bunch of Texans worth a dime a dozen (no offence intended) turn into one of the most influential bands in heavy music? These things
don’t usually happen over-night and after rinsing and repeating the blindingly
earth shattering first two full lengths by fellow Southerners, Exhorder, I can
definitely see how the groove stated its claim in Pantera’s power metal sound, refusing
to ever leave. Whilst there aren’t any
direct rips contained across the Pantera catalogue, if you do a track-by-track
comparison (oh yes, I’m sad enough to have done this) of Vulgar Display of
Power alongside Exhorder’s Slaughter in the Vatican, you’ll be
continually trying to unclog those ears in desperation to confirm this Exhorder
record isn’t a long lost Pantera demo sandwiched between Cowboys from Hell with
Vulgar.
There are definitely huge differences don’t get me wrong, Exhorder
are firmly a thrash band and Pantera forefathers of groove metal but the similarities that are
present are of upmost importance to any serious listener. The vocals are almost
identical to Anselmo’s raspy wails; the guitar tone has that clicky (Albeit
less tight) triggered quality that was definite for Dimebag and finally the way
Exhorder just drop probably one of the first groove metal sections ever recorded into the
first track on their debut LP somewhere around the 3:20 mark (this riff could
also easily have been ripped by Death Threat in the breakdown to the song Outcast).
To round off this vibe-rip section, I’m not gonna sulk in the
sentiment that Pantera stole Exhorder’s sound and all credit should go to the latter
band. Whatever you think of them, Pantera were a phenomenally talented band
that arguably kept metal in the forefront of mainstream consciousness during a baron
age for the genre. Its more than likely that members of Pantera saw so much
potential in the groove parts that were unique to Exhorder at the time and
simply revamped it with much tighter musicianship; condensed aesthetic; catchy
lyrics and a gun-toting southern vibe that made Pantera what they were. If
anything, the whole situation was a ‘too early to the party’ scenario where
Exhorder were victims of their own timing. Their debut was way too heavy for
1987 to be digestible to a mass audience and ultimately lacked all of the
commercial factors that would otherwise lead to a band like Pantera’s success.
9. Suicidal Tendencies vs Tokyo Blade
Ok so I’m pretty proud of myself for spotting this one especially
since I wasn’t expecting anything remotely close to a B-tier NWOBHM band rip-off present in one of the most successful hardcore bands of all time. For anyone who doesn’t know, that’s exactly
what Tokyo Blade were, an early era NWOBHM band that wrote some superb songs
but nothing that would ever stick past 1985. As much as I love this style of
metal, it seemed extremely short lived (maybe even more so than the
first wave of hardcore) with Maiden and Priest being the only major acts adhering
to listeners. Anyway, with hundreds of forgettable bands behind a draw bridge
of studs and leather, there is plenty of leeway to thieve riffs upon riffs and
that’s exactly what Mike Clarke from Suicidal Tendencies did.
The opening clean part to How Will I Laugh Tomorrow
by Suicidal is the same, by all but a few notes, to the middle section (3:33)
of Heaven is Hell by the wet-stone sharpened blade wielders in Tokyo
Blade (actually hailing from Salisbury where I’m guessing the idea of a Tokyo
blade was quite exotic and bohemian circa 1979). Everything down to the
clean/acoustic combo is something Suicidal would apprehend in their later, more
metallic period with Clarke bringing with him an abundance of British metal
influences to the Venice Beach cycos. There’s a whole heap of debate as to
which era of Suicidal is the best with hardcore kids on the left swearing by
the self-titled and metalheads on the right preparing to venture perhaps a
little too far into the band’s vast discography. I think the band were on absolute
fire musically all the way up until Lights, Camera, Revolution, largely due to
the array of influences they were able to incorporate before many others did –
this NWOBHM clean guitar streak being one of them (and a recurring one at that
too).
To round off, I salute Mike Clarke – along with Cyco Miko –
for re-popularising Suicidal Tendencies in the late 80s; exceeding the fame ST
experienced after the self-titled album hit shelves and taking something quite alien in
NWOBHM, mixing it with hardcore, thrash, hip hop, Latino gang aesthetic and
beach mayhem to make Suicidal an even more definitive band than they already were.
8. Supertouch vs Elvis Costello
Supertouch are great and I appreciate them a lot more than I did when I was discovering the goldmine that is NYHC (which at
the time I think I just liked them for the novelty of hardcore kids doing a
non-hardcore band). The Earth Is Flat is so timeless in its sound;
unrivalled production compared with any hardcore release and legitimately stands
up as a record on its own without the baggage of “oh did you know these guys
were all NYHC stalwarts beforehand?” remark.
Unfortunately, this rip doesn’t contain much of the hilare
factor and to me is just a genuine example of how great Supertouch were as song
writers and how far their influences reached despite giving more than a hard-hatted
nod to New Wave mogel, Elvis Costello. There would of course be no NYHC without
the strong English Oi! influence but Supertouch take it a step further by incorporating
the reggae style staccato rhythm guitar/bass placement Costello incorporates in
the song, (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea. Elvis Costello was one
of those artists (like Ian Dury) my dad used to slap on in the closing hour of long car journeys just to get the blood flowing again and stop us asking for
the 100th time “ARE WE THERE YET?” Like Supertouch, I appreciate
Costello barrels more in the present day and it was only upon revisiting deep
album listens (obviously my old man only had anthologies or greatest hits CDS)
that I put two and two together with this song and Supertouch’s Detectives. A
perfect “oh shit” moment and just makes so much sense in explaining the
maturity of Supertouch’s sound on this album. Nothing more to hear.
7. The Icemen vs Ozzy Osbourne
Talk about someone full of themselves, you’d think The Icemen
toured the world twice and reached platinum record sales by how highly guitarist
Marco Abularach thinks of himself as a songwriter and the brains behind Carl
The Mosher’s brawn (RIP). Have a read of this interview and make your
own mind up but it strikes me as an acute case of Dennis Waterman syndrome (you
know, write the theme tune, sing the theme tune type thing). Don’t get
me wrong, I absolutely love the 7(?) Icemen songs there are to be heard and
think their sound is fairly unique but no way do I think they outputted enough
top tier material to be regarded as highly as they are nor do I respect the
washed-up opinion of dried-up old prunes like their guitar player’s.
Getting back on topic, the riff here is the opening gambit to Shadow Out of Timeand I have to say, for someone who thinks their shit don’t stink, this riff sounds so suspiciously like Ozzy’s Bark at the Moon, a part of me is happy that this band never reached greater success when such an iconic riff-steal was committed within their ranks. I don’t have much more to say on this one other than the fact that for a guitarist who doesn’t see himself as a hardcore kid or someone really into the hardcore subgenre, it’s ironic all his band have managed to do is influence legions of hardcore kids to second hand steal already stolen metal riffs. This is of course fine, if you actually have respect for the genre you’re performing within but based on the interview I linked at the top, this guy definitely doesn’t.
6. Converge vs Blind Authority vs Inspector Gadget
Theme Tune
I never thought an actual theme tune would make it into this
list but this one has been driving me to near insanity since I heard it.
Converge were one of the gateway bands for me getting into hardcore so will
always hold a special place in my heart and after rinsing all of the early
material dry at the age of 14-15, this is historically the oldest rip-off I ever
identified. Whether it’s a genuine scramble of the total 11 notes in musical
theory that just happen to sound awfully similar or a purposeful nod to the extendable-armed
gadget master, the riff at 2:45 of The Saddest Day just IS the Inspector Gadget theme tune.
It’s like Converge went so far over the edge of ripping
generic Slayer riffs that the evil harmonies used in composing those riffs went
full circle and came back around via the cartoon theme song exit motorway. I’ve
listened to this song over 100 times in my life and to this day that section
gives me the giggles whilst at the same time being the only appropriate turn
this song could have taken in a seven-minute assault of incalculable twists. The
song itself strikes me as a band saying “let’s make a song that has every
possible type of section in and that’s 7 minutes long.” Well, it definitely
worked because years later I still love this song and the album it’s taken from
(see the 10-minute equivalent to The Saddest Day written by Splitknuckle
that hits all of the same sweet spots that the aforementioned classic manages
to hammer home. This era of Converge will also be the last of the band "finding their sound" after going through a slew of blueprint rip offs from Biohazard on the first 7" to Starkweather and Rorschach on the record in question for this entry.
Despite mentioning that I wouldn’t mention any of my own
rips, I will break that rule to mention a band I was in but didn’t write much music
for…Blind Authority! The opening riff copies the same few notes from Inspector
Gadget so closely that we even had the song labelled as “Inspector G” before we
had a name for it (evidenced by the BA last CTW festat 2:37 where Alex
forgets which song is next and you can hear me shouting at him “Inspector Gadget”
to everyone on the side stage’s amazement). I know for a fact Scott didn’t actually
rip this from the real theme tune, his brain just works so differently from
anyone I’ve ever met when it comes to writing music that’s its just as expected
that only he could cobble together an animatronic set of notes that simultaneously
sound like IG and a blood-pumping hc opening mosh part.
5. Jammer vs Griminal
Stepping outside of the hardcore and metal world for a
second, this rip not only one of the baitest on this list but is the only rip to
result in actual beef, blows and serious bars. I’m of course talking about “ItsAlotGate”
and all the drama caused between NASTY crew and Slew Dem over the Griminaland
Jammer songs of the same name.
To set the scene, its mid to late 00s and Griminal is coming
up as one of the hottest younger MCs at the time with numerous Fuck Radio sets
(some of his best material mind) and a 1Extra Westwood set to boast at such a
young age for the NASTY crew apprentice. In 2008 the It's Not Just Barz tape
drops and contains a song called “It’s A lot" that is SO catchy that the Jammer rehash will make you instantaneously splutter with laughter due to how brash the rip off actually is. Back to the story, fast forward a few months, Jammer releases a whole song and
video of the same name with the hook surely leaving Jammer as the thieving c(g)riminal
rather than the man, Grimson himself. To cut a long story short, after a slew
of radio sets and the infamous Ghetto Mixtape release party - where
fiery words were exchanged as to the origin of the phrase - the whole beef
ended quite sadly with Tempz bottling Grim at Eskimo Dance (typical).
Whether it was due to this or a rumoured cascading decent of mental health
problems, Griminal never reached the heights he undoubtedly deserved and ceased
producing any music whatsoever.
This was one of the more entertaining picks purely for the
fact tat I got to revisit all the dusty grime forums where all this stuff
played out albeit 3-4 years before my time. Courtesy to Marco Abbatiello for
paying such close attention when all this was happening and recalling it
to me in attentively fixating detail.
Griminal setting the record straight. The best moment of this
video is the "do it again Grim, do it again!" just before
going back into the phrase this pick is all about.
4. Cro-Mags vs Iron Maiden, Suicidal Tendencies AND
Faith No More
Oh man, this entry puts the juice into juicy with how
much there is to write about regarding the three-in-one rip special done by the
most legendary New York hardcore band of all time. Now before the elitists jump
out of their crinkled cling-film wrapped skin yet again, I’m going to qualify
this one by stating that there’s no real evidence to suggest two out of three
of these rips were directly intentional and are just interesting to think about
as to their uncanny similarity whilst the remaining rip is unquestionably a rip
in every sense of the word.
Unlike the other
equally well-known contemporaries of the Cro-Mags (to be mentioned later in
this list), these rips had the decency of being executed over three different
songs, over three different albums rather than multiple lifts contained in only
one song?!!? The first being the embarrassingly copy-catted riff in Crush the Demoniac, taken straight from Maiden’s classic, Aces High.What I really don’t get about this one is a.) why Paris or Harley would
even need to rip off anything at this point in the band’s career considering
how incredible their combined song writing ability was and b.) why they would
choose to take from probably the biggest band ever to exist rather than
something a little more obscure that you could at least get away with? It’s Iron
Maiden for fuck’s sake.
Second for the Cro-magnons is a 90.00% similarity ratio with
Suicidal Tendencies War Inside My Head and the ‘Mags song Show No Mercy. Now I’m pretty sure no actual ripping took place with these
two kings of their respective coastlines and its more than likely that with the
scramble for hardcore bands to take it to the next level by going more metal in
the mid to late 80s, these bands simply happened to strum an identical
placement of fifth, seventh and eighth frets. What is more interesting
about these two songs is which one came first? Within the hardcore and metal
world, dates on a record release are never good guides to go by as to when a
song was written due to the fact some bands played live for years before being
able to record or went through unrelenting turmoil that prevented material from
being released. Age of Quarrel was released in ’86 and Join the Army in ’87 HOWEVER,
check out this video of Suicidal playing WIMH as early as 1984 where
the song is full formed and recorded as it would be three years later for Join
The Army. There is one last trump card up Harley and the gang’s sleeve and that
is the original 1982/83 Cro-Mags demos, which in their own right
are amazing recordings, containing the BEST version of Don’t Tread On Me that
was ever recorded. Unfortunately, Show No Mercy does not appear on these
sessions but considering how close the sound is on these demos to what the Cro-Mags
would become, I wouldn’t be surprised if that song either had been written or
was in the process of being written when those demos were recorded.
The final stark comparison for the Cro-Mags is nothing but a
bit of fun and was actually pointed out to be by Augie B. from Vortex
(mentioned in the music video article I did a while ago). More of a blue
print rip than an actual stolen set of notes, have a listen to the entirety of
the Faith No More song Surprise! You’re Dead!You’ll be shocked
to find that in FNM’s quest for an unpredictably brilliant sound often varying
from song to song on the same album, they’ve basically written the template for
what the entire of Alpha and Omega would sound like three years later. The riff
at 0:37 is all the convincing you’ll need and I have a strange feeling Harley
and JJ would have a hard time accepting that they for once weren’t
innovators.
3. A Chorus of Disapproval vs Death
This IS the most directly ripped riff of the whole list and
only comes in at number three due to its notoriety (or lack thereof). I also didn’t
think too many people reading this blog would be avid Chorus fans and neither
do I think Chorus are massively influential or iconic as a band apart from
just being a really really really GOOD metallic straight edge band.
The riff here is a real piss take to say the least and is
found in the intro of the Chorus song, Full Circle Stop.What I later
found out on my death metal binge that lasted for maybe the whole of 2015 is
that the intro for FCS is hook, line and sinker Death’s Pull the Plug,played in a higher tuning through shitter, wannabe death metal amps and
recorded via the standard hardcore production of the time (aka crap). I
remember thinking when I first heard this Chorus song that the riff was insanely
good and heavier than a lot of their other material. How was my super straight
edge, metal oblivious brain supposed to work out it was STOLEN from the most
famous death metal band of all time?
Jeff Banks, who wrote most of the music for Chorus, must
have had at least some death metal leanings due to how noticeably metallic his
playing style was in Visual Discrimination. Banks goes full throttle with
his cherry-picked guitar sounds on The Italian 7” where it’s hard to ignore the
amped up Metal Zone pedal drenched over all the guitars (to my knowledge, this
type of tone was done by almost no one in the straight edge hardcore subgenre
as early as 1992, see the song Seed of Pain which is where the
current band of the same name got their rip fix from). The opening to Full
Circle Stop is so abrupt in how it breaks into the actual Chorus song to
then ensue, almost as if the band covered this riff so much in practice that it
stuck around for good on the recording (I’m sure early era death metal was the
exact opposite to what most West Coast hardcore kids were listening to during Chorus’
reign of terror).
2. One Life Crew vs Exodus
This
isn’t the first time Blaze from OLC has been put under the spotlight for this misappropriation
of another’s property and was mentioned on the Riff Cycle blogspot– a blog
I’d encourage everyone to read (particularly Clevo hardcore fanatics) despite
its criminally short output.
OLC on their own are a hilariously good band and I have no qualms
saying that Crime Ridden Society is one of the best hardcore albums ever put to
tape and would even go as far to say it wouldn’t be nearly as good without the
sketchy self-contradicting lyrics. Guitarist, Blaze really had the right idea
with his riff writing, managing to perfectly concoct a steroid jab of half-step-down
metal riffs with the already metallic Judge sound to take the two fatties from Confront
to the next level. If anything, OLC took a pretty mediocre riff from a band
passed their sell-by date and rejuvenate it into one of the most recognisable
intros ever written (I can't even link this since its been removed from youtube for what's probably the last time). In the words of Mean Steve, pretty good for a bunch of “half
Turkish Jews!” I actually remember Steve uploading some side-splitting YouTube
vlogs of him going full on right-wing dad about everything from buying New Balances
because they supported Trump to shouting at Obama supporters across the road
from some petrol station (if anyone can find these videos please let me know as
I’ve tried all attempts to relocate them on YT to no avail).
It’s safe to say Exodus are perhaps one of the most influential
non-hardcore bands on the hardcore genre; a claim that’ll be solidified with my
number one pick. I’ll also second that statement by stating that the band to
most successfully rip of Exodus have in turn been one of the greatest
influences on the rest of hardcore too, so if there’s one thing to learn from
this…EXODUS ATTACKS.
1. Agnostic Front vs Exodus AND Megadeth
I haven’t tried to be too “top 10” oriented with this list
but there always has to be a number 1 and this is it. Taking the top
spot with an absolutely hilarious double whammy of xerox-copied lyric and
guitar tab sheets are the boys in Aggy Front. I’ll just say before I get into
this, Cause for Alarm is by far my favourite Agnostic Front release *insert
sounds of NYHC purists hammering on Iphone keyboard* for multiple reasons but
having the shaven-headed panache to boldly rip off not one but TWO of the most
classic thrash bands ever in the first 31 seconds is an astounding feat. I’m of
course talking about the opening riff to The Eliminatorbeing an intensely
similar rehash of A Lesson In Violenceby the mighty Exodus and
the opening lyric being a 90.7% copy of Killing is my Business and Businessis GOODby Megadeth. Slam DUNK.
What I love about this pick is how such minimal effort went
into making the riff and lyric sound remotely different from the original
sources despite this record only coming out a mere two years after Exodus and
Megadeth’s debut records. and I can’t help but think AF - in their quest to
become METAL – either didn’t give a fuck what the mighty thrashing mad legends
would think or thought the majority of metal-oblivious hardcore kids simply
wouldn’t notice. What’s probably more likely is that since Pete Steel wrote
almost all of this record, he slipped this in hoping (or knowing) no one in AF
paid enough attention to any metal to question his craftmanship and he
would come out of it the heroic songwriter saving AF from certain doom. Every
time I hear the Eliminator my mind plays out an odd dramatization of Vinnie
Stigma just saying to Steele “Right Pete, I just want us to sound like all this
new-fangled metal stuff the kids like now but without all the gay-ass hair and
leather” and Steele basically coming back with a thrash “best of” collection of
ripped riffs that would become Cause For Alarm.
I’d encourage any thrash enthusiasts to listen to the album
in its entirety not just for how much it RIPS (see what I did there) but you’re
bound to spot some more than convincing homages to your favourite thrashers dotted
around this NYHC classic.
The main men themselves, Vinnie and Pete.
And so, the most recent post draws to a close. This is one
of those articles that I’d genuinely like to function as an open response game
where everyone shares interesting rips they’ve collated over the years (by
everyone, I mean the small in number but diehard readers of this blog). Anyway,
don’t take these picks too seriously and please do share your own, I’ll be buffering
your recommendations faster than you can say I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT RIPPED.
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Brown Inbound #4: Yoonsang Doo [ABUSE OF POWER, FAZE, SOCIETY ABUSE]
Damn, this completely debunks my closing thoughts to the tough guy article that I was going to be posting less frequently. All I can say to the teeny tiny amount of readers who noticed this total contradiction, is that I haven't just been sitting bone idle in the time between now and the Rucktion piece! Trust me, I have this series reasonably planned out in advance and there should be plenty of 'brown' content to be shared when the time is right.
This is the first interview with one of my own contemporaries and will be a refreshing bathe for younger readers who have either seen Yoon's bands play in the UK or for older heads who crave the retro fix of hardcore that the above mentioned acts have reinvigorated. For me, this is an opportunity to interview one of the first people I befriended from the USA (originally acquainted via the violent arena of OG band shirt trading groups on Facebook that are now much better regulated to my knowledge) who not only survived two insane weeks touring up the East Coast with a bunch of of abominable Brits abroad but actually remained as close as an overseas friend can be in the years following. All of this without even having to mention Abuse of Power - the band Yoon is best known to have drummed for - being one of the most influential hardcore bands of the last five years, mastering probably one of the trickiest styles to get right. Lets get into it.
Hi Yoon, thanks for agreeing to do
this interview with me.
Of course Ben. It’s my pleasure
to do so.
I'm gonna start with some quick
questions about yourself starting with your family background, could you give
us a quick history?
I am 100% Korean,
at least to my knowledge. Who knows what a DNA test would tell me. I was born
in Gunsan, South Korea and migrated to the U.S in 1999. My immediate family
consists of my parents (still together) and my older sister and I. My extended
family is much larger since my grandparents on my mothers side had like… 10 kids
or so?
Did your parents listen to a lot of
music growing up at home? What did they listen to and how much of an impact had
this had on your development? Any particular records you still stick on from
time to time?
Yoon reminded me just how important this band were for our generation accessing heavy music and revisiting Linkin Park's early output, I couldn't fault it one bit.
Not really no. My
parents were both musically inclined since my mother is a very talented pianist
who taught music back in Korea and my dad knows how to play guitar, but they
weren’t really too into listening to music at home as far as I can tell. If
anything they really just listened to non-secular gospel music. I can safely
say that the only influence either of them have had on me was my love for
classical music from my mother.
Were they into alternative or punk
music at all?
Never, they
actually hated it and anytime I would turn it on.
What was your perception of
punk/hardcore if you had any as a child or adolescent before you fell into the
subculture? Did you see it a certain way that clashed with your identity/place
in your community before you came to know more about it?
If I can remember
correctly, my first perception of punk and hardcore would be from the Tony Hawk
soundtracks. I had no idea what punk or hardcore was but I’d listen to the
songs while playing the games and think “wow, this music is really fucking cool”.
I definitely had a weird feeling that I was ‘different’ from my peers because I
was into heavier music, since Linkin Park was my first CD I’ve ever gotten at
the age of 6 and it was way different from the other pop/rap songs that were
mainstream at the time. My peers would call me “the kid who listened to
screamo”.
What are your biggest musical,
aesthetic and cultural influences in your approach to the art you have
produced?
In short, I guess
the encapsulation of the 90’s and early 00’s would be the biggest influences
into a lot of the aesthetics, culture, or art that I’ve produced. With that as
the foundation, I also am influenced a lot by my peers. I feel like I have the
most talented group of people I’m honored to call my friends.
What was your first and/or most
memorable experience of racism, if any?
The first was being
called the classic ‘Jackie Chan’ as a child. None are actually memorable as
they all sort of blend together. I suppose the most memorable is when someone
just was super relentless on trying to tell me that my uncle was Jackie Chan or
Bruce Lee or whichever Asian person they wanna relate me with.
This response reminded me of Jackie Chan's own admission of how Westerners identified him,
albeit hilarious as is always with anything Chan related.
How did you eventually find out
about punk and hardcore and what was the process that eventually got you going
to shows and playing in bands?
I've lost count of the amount of times this game has been referenced as a direct access point for discovering hardcore. My other band, Stages In Faith often is described as "something you'd hear on the soundtrack".
I was 14 or 15 in January of 2010, and
my best friend at the time had a car. We were both in a pop punk band at the
time and started to try to be more involved in our local scene. There was a
local band that I wanted to see and they happened to play one of the best shows
to happen in Jacksonville, FL at the time. It was a fest with Kids Like Us,
Down To Nothing, Trapped Under Ice, Naysayer, Forfeit, Cruel Hand, and a few
others. Ironically enough, I missed the one band I actually went there to see
and my friend had to leave briefly to settle things with an ex girlfriend or
whatever but I decided to stay. I was a small young kid watching people beat
the shit out of each other and go crazy and it was nothing like I’ve ever seen
before. The only band name I remembered after that night was Cruel Hand so I
naturally went on their MySpace and found many other bands through their top
friends list. Naturally Have Heart was one of my favorite bands in the
beginning and so watching their last show video and the bands that played that
basically shaped my hardcore music taste.
I actually didn’t
play in any hardcore bands until a few years into becoming a part of the
hardcore scene. But the first core band I was ever in was Society Abuse that I
started with Justin and Tyler.
Which types of people did you
gravitate towards when you began going to shows? Did the social aspect of it
affect how you experienced the scene?
I gravitated
towards anyone who would give me the time of day. Hardcore is a very elitist
scene, especially in Jax where a lot of the older crowd thought I was just a
lame new kid and didn’t really give me the time of day or respect. Justin and
Tyler were really the only people who initially did and I met my first group of
friends in the scene through them. The social aspect definitely affected how I
experienced it. When I was younger and back in those days, I just chalked up
diet racism that I experienced such as names or whatever to just “oh they’re
just messing with me but don’t mean it, its cool”. Weird sort of brainwashing I
suppose.
I know from my own experience of US
hardcore that ethnic diversity is a lot more present in the hardcore, punk and
metal scenes than say, the UK. You yourself are a first-generation immigrant
which sets you apart from many others. Do you feel there are any acute
differences between yourself and US-born ethnic minorities? How has your own
experience shaped your journey that may be different from others or did this
contribute very little to the successes in your life?
Yes and no. I think
it mostly depends if the US-born ethnic minorities parents were also raised in
the US as well. A lot of the differences really depend on how you were raised,
and since I was raised in a very traditional Korean household, it’s way
different than someone who was raised in an American hybrid ethnic household if
that makes any sense. It was honestly a big reason I really didn’t feel much
connection to any of my hardcore ethnic peers. While they definitely
experienced similar things to me, it just wasn’t the same. I think it
contributed largely to any success I’ve had in my life. I was able to take the
good parts of being raised in my Korean household (such as the emphasis on
respecting other people) and mix it into the more American hardcore DIY ethos
and create my own ideal moral code.
Society Abuse were probably the closest thing to what Blind Authority sounded like around 2015/16 but with a slightly punkier undertone. The lyrics to Rights Denied linger in my head to this day: "Are you gonna run or are you gonna FIGHT?"
I remember when I first met you was
in 2015 when you were playing drums in Society Abuse. The guitar player of that
band, Justin was from a Filipino background and went on to join you in Abuse of
Power. I know from my own experience that there is a certain solidarity I would
feel with other people from ethnic minorities even if they were not the same as
my own. Was there this bond in SA/AoP and if so, did it work its way into your
music, aesthetic and band values?
Absolutely. I met
Justin when we were both in High School art class together and the reason why I
was so interested in developing a friendship with him is because when I saw him
in the halls, he was an Asian person who looked alternative. It’s a huge reason
we became so close in my opinion. He’s been in almost every single band I’ve
been in.
Separate from music, you have an
astute entrepreneurial mindset which I’ve garnered just from our interactions
and conversations about music, art, business etc. Do you have any business
advice that you have learned specifically from the hardcore scene or beyond?
Can this advice be applied to hardcore and punk as well as everyday life
tribulations? Do you think hardcore involves a commercial edge just as much as
any other business setting?
It’s a weird and
awkward conversation to have but hardcore does indeed have a commercial side to
it. I think it just depends on how far you’re willing to really ride and stay
on that train that separates it being okay from disgusting in my opinion. In a
perfect world, we would all be able to get by doing the things we love, but you
really do give up a lot just to be able to write and tour in a hardcore band.
There are people who do it for the wrong reasons like popularity, or wanting to
be the cool person wearing a tour laminate at every show, but there are also
people who do it just because they feel the desire and need to do it because
they love it. Going back, I think it’s important to support hardcore bands that
you think are worth supporting because let’s face it, being compensated and
able to live off of what you love doing the most is a good feeling. I like it,
I’m sure you like it, and I can go as far as to say most everyone would like
that. I just think it’s important to keep your expectations real and not get too
greedy. As far as other advice, really just do it yourself. There’s a huge
reason why that ethos is very important in hardcore.
For me, Abuse of Power specifically
was really a band that grew completely in their own over time ending with one
of the best hardcore LPs of the last ten years. You sort of opened the flood
gates to a lot of bands that are reaping a lot of popularity now (One Step
Closer, Wise etc) What do you think was the one sole factor that made AoP such
a unique and pioneering band? Was it a question
of pure musical study of hardcore traditions or was it letting your own
personalities and ethos shine through?
What I'd argue is the "template" record for Abuse of Power's full-length LP. It's genuinely difficult to pull off this style without the songs either being flat out boring or leaning too harshly into the emotional cringe factor.
I’ll
be honest- despite what anyone else might think about why we did the things we
did as a band, Kaleb, Haylen, Lucky and I really started Abuse of Power because
we liked the style of music we made (demo era) for a long time and we all just
had great musical chemistry from playing in Pain Tolerance and Criminal
Instinct together. We did what we did for ourselves, not to be like “oh let’s
start a (name band) type of band.” Atlanta is known for starting trends and
being ahead of the curve and I suppose it just happened to work that way with
Abuse of Power as well in 2016. Look at Foundation and Criminal Instinct for
example, nobody in hardcore was playing 90’s style when Foundation started and
nobody was playing fast hardcore when Criminal Instinct came out, but once
people started realizing, ‘wow this is awesome and a lot of people fuck with
it’ all of the clones followed. My point being is, do it because you want to do
it, not just because it’s the cool new thing to take advantage of.
Further on into AOP’s
career, we just started to evolve as musicians and people in general and during
the time we wrote our full length, it was just a product of our lives in that
specific point of time. People can relate it to this or that and while we do
take influence from many things, I can’t really think of anything it really
sounds like.
Tell me about the
sketchiest/wildest gig you've been to that comes to mind.
Either Merauder in
a 100-cap room or Cro-Mags in a 150-cap room, both in Jacksonville FL. Lot of
scary biker gang members at both shows. I was in a Cro-Mags pit and during ‘Malfunction’,
I saw a gun fall out of one of them in the pit and I respectfully bowed out and
stood on the side for the rest of the show.
Favourite bands with ethnic members
and why are they important to you?
I’m going to keep
this US exclusive since I feel like it’s pointless to say Bastard from Japan or
something because the local color there isn’t white. I’d honestly say Turnstile
is a really good example. Being a band with (almost) all original members
still, they have a black bass player and an Asian drummer. I think it’s really
cool how they create inclusivity in their crowds, and even their bands itself.
There are many other bands with ethnic members but just being Asian makes me
put Turnstile up there. I’ll throw Have Heart up there too. I always thought it
was cool since I was a kid seeing Kei playing for them, especially since they
were of my first favorite bands. I was fortunate enough to tour with Free/Have
Heart get to know them as people and they’re definitely not just cool band guys
- they are genuinely some of the coolest people I’ve met in hardcore.
And
lastly, how have things changed for the ethnic involvement in punk and hardcore
since you started going to gigs? Is there a noticeable difference, have things
got better or worse? If you had a child growing into their teens now, would the
scene as it is be a place you would want them to be? Could it be made safer?
does it need to be?
Blind Authority discover fire in Richmond, VA. This was taken on the Society Abuse 2015 East Coast Tour by Augie Ruiz.
It’s definitely the
most consciously safe place it’s ever been in my opinion. I wasn’t technically
around before 2010 but I can only assume how bad it was considering the fact
that even my early days it was very annoying for me to deal with racism. We can
all do better and put more effort in though, while it’s at the best point it’s
been, it’s nowhere near from perfect. It’s bittersweet that the recent BLM
movements have opened a lot of people’s eyes into looking inside and trying to
right their wrongs, but it’s very sickening that lives were taken away for
people to realize it.
Do you have any ingenious plans in
the works or will we blink and see that you’re either the president of the USA
or living the rest of your life on a private island?
No real plans right
now. I’m just trying to live my life the best I can to be as happy as I can be.
I fucking hate politics and think the world would be better if everyone just
had respect and concern for their fellow people but, I suppose the bare minimum
is a hard pill for some to swallow.
Any last words or anything you want
to air, please do!
Obviously, this
interview was mainly focused on racism and my personal experiences from it, but
for those who are reading, please try to look deeper into yourself and not just
fixate on overcoming and defeating racism, but also misogyny as well. There’s
been a lot of misconduct, especially from men to women and it’s saddening to
see all of the trauma people have had to go through from lack of respect and
selfishness.
Thanks for the
interview Ben, peace and love to you and everyone reading. <3
Ruining holidays 101. BA and SA in 2015 [Augie Ruiz]
Friday, January 29, 2021
Too Damn TOUGH - The Top 10 Tough Guy Bands You May Not Know About...
So you wanna be in a tough guy band? The question many of us
have asked ourselves midway through the Under The Knife Hatebreed 7” or the Bulldoze
demo. Its an odd feeling of testosterone-fuelled empowerment listening to this
sub-category of hardcore music and I take my hat off to anyone who can take on
this type of persona with no questions asked as to their fly-kicking and pool-cue bashing portfolio. The rest of us will have to settle for the six and a
half to ten minutes of muscle pumping fury that these records last for where we
can pretend to be at least half as scary as Kev One in this 2010 Bulldoze
set. I can only hope that the overwhelming majority of r33l tough guys and
wannabes (like me) don’t take on the baggage of evolving into that one sketchy
uncle; only turning up on odd birthdays and funerals, spending our days resharing
abysmally constructed conspiracy memes on Facebook with the only two things
these deplorable images having in common being their strong racist undertones
and - a far more heinous crime - bad grammar.
Unlike my thrash article I will try not to produce
a thesis report on this subgenre and try to keep the descriptions relatively
short (emphasis on TRY x2), the purpose of this entry is just to shed some light
on records that I’ve excavated through either running out of stuff to listen to
at the gym or more simply just to tell you about bands that I think you should
know about as I believe there to be a surfacing demand for unknown gems in this
category within the current UKHC demographic. So, let’s get started on the list
of records below that were just too damn TOUGH to fit through the sands of time
and be remembered in the hardcore hall of fame…
[In throwback fashion to old blogspots, I’ll leave
downloadable links to any of the records that aren’t available somewhere on
streaming services or YouTube]
Disciplinary Action – 'Burnt Out ' (1992)
Now I’m guessing most of you have listened to Long Island legends,
Neglect (can’t imagine who would be reading this who hadn’t heard at least one
Neglect song) but you probably haven’t heard of LI contemporaries Disciplinary
Action. DA did a demo in 1989 which slaps almost has hard as the record I’ve
chosen for this list and is basically the same sound as that 7” just without the
sludgy beatdown sections making this record more tough guy worthy (of course).
To imagine this band’s sound just take the maniacal vocals and guitar sound
from Neglect and mix it with the tempo and urgency of bands like Breakdown or
Outburst. This has to be without a shadow of doubt the most agitated sounding
record on the list and packs such a punch for what I believe is a single guitar
band (Neglect also managing to deliver such shipping container heaviness with
just one guitar, must be an LI thing). To cut a long story short, this band are four skinheads playing beatdown and on that description alone this record should immediately be open in a new tab on your browser. This IS the closest thing you’ll ever get to a band sounding even slightly like Neglect and If I’m right, this band predate Brian and the gang by a year or two therefore a possible key influence on Neglect’s scarily heavy sound (especially for 1991).
Despite the DA 7” being
released in 1992 I get the feeling the band were already playing heavier songs
as early as 1990 since the ’89 demo is already heading in that direction meaning
the 7” songs quite possibly could have been played live while Neglect were
still forming. Regardless of historical nerdiness, it is just SHOCKING that most
people have never even heard of this band despite how heavy, catchy and
original the songs are and the fact the 7” came out on Stephen Kickback’s label,
Hardway Records. I can only think the quintessential metallic 90s sound had
already taken off in 91/92 and this record came out just a year too late
to make any waves since most were already used to the late 80s NYHC sound by
that point. It’s a pity because if anyone had bothered to skim this 7” onto
their turntable they’d be completely balled over by the sheer heaviness of the dense
production and song writing Disciplinary Action exude from every inch of their
bald heads, braces and camo trousers. Just listen to the song “What’s Wrong”
which is borderline sludge metal. Burnt Out is a serious CLASSIC.
I’m trying to get this
one in early since most of this list comprises of East Coast bands and VD is
one of the few West Coast entries on this list. Many of you may know guitarist Jeff
Banks’ band Chorus of Disapproval which came after VD and is what Banks is best
known for. Despite being the baby band of a cult classic 90s hardcore outfit,
VD packs no less of a West Coast assault on the senses and has all the tough
sounding guitarwork and death metal-tinged licks Banks would hone in Chorus.
What Visual Discrimination do is essentially take a sound
more akin to New York acts like Killing Time, combine it with chaotically fast California
bands such Uniform Choice, Crucifix, Final Conflict etc and play all of this
through Florida DM sounding guitar stacks. What you get out the other end is “tough-punk”
which sounds as weak as the newly masqueraded Brexit deal but trust me on this,
you won’t regret blasting this VD record during those eye-watering zoom
meetings that go on for at least an hour longer than they should. One of my favourite
things about this band sonically is the fast sections sound just as tough as
the half time “moshy” parts and serve as sections in their own right rather
than just to build tension.
As to tough guy credential rating, Jeff Banks trained boxing
and every other member of VD was into some form of athleticism. However, there
will be another West Coast act mentioned on this list that has far more extreme
gang banging bragging rights over VD (who for the most part fall in line with
the high school jock category of hardcore kids much in the same way that Pat Dubar
from Uniform Choice did in the mid-80s California hardcore scene).
All of their material is on Spotify along with the insanely
good comeback EP, “Serial Killers” from the late 90s.
So there’s a certain point within the tough guy sub-genre
near the top right of the ven-diagram where tough turns to scary. Now
this diagram has several other categories and I imagine there being the
following sections: Tough IRL; Tough On Record; Scary On Record; Scary IRL; Not
Tough and Not Scary. Now just to put this into perspective, a band that falls
in the most extreme corner of Tough IRL and Scary IRL might be Cold as Life:
tough as nails and could scare the pants of you via the threat of just shooting
you in the face. Then you get the Tough IRL and Tough On Record area of the diagram
which is a lot of crew type bands who might not do anything actually scary
(scary being threat of death, the macabre and any general unsettling behaviour
- see Kickback grave robbing story) but would definitely kick the living
shit out of a bystander for any type of disrespect. The section Newport News, Virginia's own MAYDAY fall into is the Tough On Record and Scary On Record tiers therefore
having no known tough or scary credentials but by sound alone could strike fear
into the hearts of any unbeknownst listener.
Its a shame this band aren’t hailed by many hardcore adorers
as a definitive as I actually think Mayday’s sound translates quite well to
hardcore bands of today and other contemporary groups that are held in high
regard (eg 100 Demons, Stigmata etc) and I’d even go as far to say that Mayday
are a key influence on both as their sound can be dated back to 1992. Take the B-side
song on the 7” I’ve picked for this article, “Pestilence” and compare it to any
Incendiary song. The mid-paced grinding of the chugs holding the song together and
stellar double pedal work would definitely resonate with current day listeners.
However, what I think makes Mayday such an interesting band is just how EVIL
they manage to sound throughout all their records. This is one of those groups
where its less the impact of the riffs that make the hair stand up on your neck
but more the general eerie vibe of the low-fi production; droning ring outs and
possessed vocal delivery. In this sense, Mayday are almost akin to many black
metal bands in the merciless quest to create the most sinister sounds by any
means necessary.
The easiest band to compare Mayday to is of course, Integrity
(whom actually did a split with Mayday in the early 90s which many perceive
the Mayday side being the better of the two) as both bands were key in pioneering
that orchestral creepy sound of the early 90s. What makes Mayday SO much better
is the songs ooze hard-done-by-weirdo-school-shooter vibes that Dwid often
clumsily tried to engineer on early Integ records to the only avail of being
beaten up by various tough AND scary characters.
I’ve uploaded a link to an unofficial Discography for this
legendary tough guy band that includes some unreleased material that I would implore
everyone to listen to (see the final 12”, Staplegun where they really went off
the deep end on the SCARE factor). I’ve only picked the above 7” for the list
as it best represents Mayday’s sound providing the cross generational link to later
90s groups and current hardcore bands of this style alike.
This World Rejected is the logical continuation of the
mythical beast that is Zero Tolerance. For anyone who doesn’t know, ZT were a
straight edge band hailing from Buffalo NY in the late 80s and to my knowledge
were one of the first Buffalo/Upstate NY bands to open the flood gates for all
the seriously lairy acts from the same area to run rampant throughout the 90s. ZT
did a 7”, a smattering of demos and two compilation tracks before their unfortunate demise.
Whilst the 7” isn’t anything noteworthy, the transformation from that record to
the final demo and compilation tracks is like the final scene of Hellraiserwhere the skeleton dragon thing flies off into the night sky.
Have I hit home my unhealthy obsession for this mighty quintet
enough rather than talking about the band that’s actually on the list? ZT are
also steeped in mystery when it comes to tough guy lore, all the way from the
members single-handedly removing the Neo-Nazi contingent from Buffalo hardcore
to some oddly macabre happenings surrounding their demise. Someday I’ll pluck
up the courage to interview Buffalo legend, Scott Vogel to really get to the
bottom of how nutty this fine legion actually were.
Anyway, back to TWR! One can view this lesser known 7” as the
final ZT record under a different name along with minor line-up changes to
birth this beast of a record. There’s a notable slowdown from the more thrash
metal/Cro-Mags-esque foundations that ZT built up on their later material with
these songs dragging the listener firmly forward into the groove-drenched 1990s.
TWR are the perfect balance of more commercial outfits like
Biohazard and Pantera via simple arrangement of E-chugged rhythmic density but keeping
a firm hardcore grounding through vocal delivery and no-punches-pulled production.
Almost every lyric on this thing is quotable (my personal favourite being “I hold
the key to my own destiny, just remember it belongs to no one but meehhhhhh”)
and I assure you that none of these songs will be able to go through one ear
and out the other…they’re just THAT good. There is such an acute awareness by
the band of their own talents that make this record so commercially viable
that I don’t know what A&R person wouldn’t have been frothing at the mouth
to sign this gang of goons amidst all the tattooed savagery being released in
the early 90s.
It’s a shame really, the three songs on show are so
masterfully crafted that I couldn’t help feel ZT/TWR could have become as big
of a household name as any of their contemporaries (and maybe even more so) with
this 7” serving as the starting point fished out to record companies
nationwide. Unfortunately, this would be
the untimely end of the road for this speeding freight train as the members of This
World Rejected would finally come off the tracks with the release of this
self-titled epic, releasing no further material and fading into the obscurity
of the gloss filled used 7” bin.
There’s always one wild card to any list which bucks the trend
of its accompaniments and this is the entry that does just that. Circle One
trade in the “tough metallic” sound in for an originating hardcore PUNK transmission
but amount to all of the hooligan antics of every band mentioned on this post
combined and then some. Remember me saying there would be one more West Coast
act in this list? Well, Circle One are who I was talking about with a wrap sheet
placing them slap bang on the far corner of the Tough IRL and Scary IRL section
but (to the ears of some) not sounding too tough or scary on record. There is
plenty of material already on the internet about how insane the singer of this
band, John Macias (RIP) was. From beating LAPD cops to a literal pulp to being
shot to death in the middle of LA for throwing a security guard off a pier, the
chronicle of John Macias and his punk-gang “The Family” reaches far and wide.
Without going too much into the gaping depths of this band’s history (I’ll leave some further reading links for anyone interested), Henry Rollins actually
had a great section in one of his early stand-up tours where he explains the story of Circle One far better than anyone else could.
I like to the think of Patterns of Force as the evil little
brother to the first Suicidal Tendencies LP, a very early take on LA Punks
trying their hand at a proto-crossover sound. I really do love this LP for all
its bizarre qualities; from Macias’ possessed wails to the disjointed rabid
playing of the rhythm section to what is possibly the first Christian hardcore
lyrics ever written on the track ‘Gospel’. To some, this record may come off as
a confusing mish mash of incessant wailings of a madman combined with a band
playing so ferociously that the songs just about make it to the end without
falling to pieces. All of the above may be true and is exactly why I love this
album, there just isn’t anything like it and combined with the unbelievable back
story to the membership, there should be no surprise that this band has had a
massive influence on my own band, Lawful Killing (listen to the song Plastic
Life/Rapture and you’ll see what I mean).
Those partaking in the listening of this record should take
note that this is not only one of the earliest relics of tough guy hardcore but
hardcore generally and that the sounds on Patterns of Force are completely in
tune with the time the record came out. Even the first Cold as Life demos are
at base level a brilliant take on Negative Approach with yank-Oi edge factored in
so, what tese shaven headed LA Porta Rican punks were doing in 1983 makes perfect
sense for the time.
It’d be hard to write this article without mentioning the
mecca of all tough guy bands, Cold As Life who hail from the mecca of tough guy
places…Detroit. Pittbull – intentionally misspelled for what reason I can’t
fathom (although it does makes it easier searching them up and not getting the results
filled up with the shiny scalped Dr Evil look alike rapper of the same name) -
were a phenomenally talented Detroit hardcore band from the late 80s and early
90s who were one of the bigger Detroit contenders after CAL. I’m really trying
to hone my knack for slick one liner band descriptions on this article (well-oiled
from the years of inscribing Facebook event page descriptions) and Pittbull are
basically what you’d get if Judge weren’t the slightest bit straight edge, got
dragged through the gun slinging streets of Motor City and actually had a
palpable aura of mystifying danger charging around them in the same way Piccolo did when he fused with Kami.
I remember talking about this band with Nate Bean (from
various legendary UKHC groups) and him telling me he instantly bought the first
couple of 7”s purely because of how ratchet the band looked on the back of one
of the discs. Maybe not the best analogy but I sort of see Detroit in the same
way I see Birmingham; an industrial wasteland that was once booming with
business but degraded slowly as all industry was exported away from the indigenous
population who were thus left behind in ruin and tumult. Musically, bands from
Detroit and Brum always manage to engrave their records with a sizzling
industrial insignia that reflects back what I just mentioned about the two
cities. Pittbull is no exception and provides a wholly unique sound made up of
all kinds of influences. The music, like I said, is metallic in a similar way
to Judge or Killing Time but that’s where the comparisons stop. The band is
tinged with a raging rock ‘n’ roll/heavy metal vibe in the guitar playing with vocals
adding an almost soulful Motown vibe in how every note is bellowed out in tuneful roars (not rawr). Singer, Mikey really knew what he was doing on the early Pittbull
material and manages to sound as pissed off as Laughing Hyenas era John
Brandon whilst still reaching sonically high ranges reminiscent of James Brown
or Little Richard within the same song!
This is definitely one of those groups I wish I had more
information on as I can’t see how being in a hardcore band from Detroit in the
early 90s couldn’t have been the most gnarly experience ever with probably every
member containing their fair share of nail-biting lore. I do know singer, Mikey
was featured briefly in the CAL documentary trailer so if that film ever
does surface it would be a rare treat to get a perspective of a mostly isolated
(but extremely influential) hardcore scene that really isn’t delved into enough
in the modern age.
Streaming platforms have a weird “Worst Of” collection of
Pittbull’s material; 100% worthwhile if only for the first four tracks (these
songs are from the first few 7”s which are a pain to track down otherwise) but
the quintessential material is the self-titled LP, thankfully uploaded to YouTube.
PS this is the only hardcore band I’ve ever seen where the drummer
plays traditional grip. Nothing to add here, it’s really fucking cool, check it
out in the below vid.
Elements DEC – 'Demo Collection' (Hesitation is the Enemy
1997 and Win or Lose 1995)
One for the emotional and introspective tough sub-section;
Elements DEC (Dead End Concept or Dead End Cruks Crew) were an NJ hip-hop/hardcore
fusion act from the late 90s. If I had to do a FFO list for each band on this
list, Elements DEC would have E-Town Concrete slapped next to their name and it
really is a shame this band probably only share less than 1% of the notoriety their
steroid pumped white boy rapper contemporary enjoys.
The head turning fact for Elements DEC will be that several
of the members went on to be in the mighty Agents of Man (which gives me some
peace of mind that people who made demos THIS good at least went onto do
something that was recognised by a sizable division of the hardcore masses) with
the quality of song writing and playing ability really showing pedigree promise
on both demos. Unlike E-Town, everything on the DEC catalogue is rapped with no
harsher degree of vocals juxtaposing their way into the fray. This only works in the
band’s favour as every single bit of spoken delivery on both demos is stellar
and I could honestly listen to the vocalist rap on just straight hip-hop beats
without batting an eyelid as to the credentials of the man behind the voice
(which I can’t say for any other hardcore/hip hop combination band). It’s also
a close battle with This World Rejected as who takes the best lyrics award for
this list as the way each word is written on the songs is extremely well
thought out and carries a certain intricate intention that I always think makes
for GOAT tier lyrics; not to mention the fact the lyrics sway from intelligent
to ignorant at the drop of a hat. Check the acapella song ‘And Then There Were
None’ and cross-compare with the lyrics in ‘Any Questions?’ “Did I mention we
be dirty? Our section, New Jersey!!”
Musically the band are firing on every cylinder available
and live in the perfect sweet spot of showing off musical chops without going OTT
enough for you to notice upon first listen. Expect mid-paced hymns throughout
exhibiting the chunky rhythmical guitar sound of Bulldoze or Terrorzone with
the emotional “blues-hardcore” twang of Gavin’s guitar style in Burn and
Absolution.
Aside from what I’ve mentioned above, there isn’t too much
information on this band aside from a few rehearsal videos on YouTube
and one article floating around on a blogspot which I used as my main
and only source. The first demo “Win or Lose” got added to Spotify recently so
I’ve only linked the harder to find “Hesitation is the Enemy” Demo below but if
you listen to any band from this article please do listen to either of the
demos as I always go back to these records and am always pleasantly surprised (they
might even be so lucky to win the thumbnail pic competition for this article).
War-Time Manner – 'We The People Compilation' (1996)
Everything and anything Upstate New York. That seems to be
my go-to mantra when it comes to hardcore these days with so many weird and
wonderful bands teeming from the cracks of this East Coast region, it’s no
surprise several outfits on this list hale from those parts. I was lucky enough
to be shown this absolute gem by Omar Soul Search (who I’m due to do a Brown
Inbound interview with any day now) and I’m glad he was the one who trawled
through the Blogspots, Discogs entries and YouTube related videos to discover
the criminally unknown, War-Time Manner.
Troycore at its best, this band shares members with Stigmata
and Dying Breed but like so many others on this list, never managed to amass
the cult status of brother (or sister) bands practicing their respective trades
at the same time and same geographical areas. War-Time Manner basically sound
like early era Krutch (who are probably the band that sonically represent the Golden Age of tough guy hardcore the best) with much slicker production, deeper vocals
and a very patriotic/militaristic slant when it comes to lyrical themes. In
fact, when it comes to the lyrics, I honestly can’t work out of these are
tongue-in-cheek or not: “When the day will come, they’ll send me overseas,
freedom is not free, I love this country!” I’ll leave this live footage
and a picture of the band denoting the “samples” and “keyboard” credits for readers
at home to work that one out.
Getting back to the music, the songs on this Upstate
hardcore compilation are about as procore as it gets and I was flattened
to learn these songs were recorded for just a local hardcore compilation
considering how high-end they are. The guys in the band must either have really
shelled out for these recordings or just knew someone who worked at a top grade
studio because not many bands in the mid-90s were mustering production value
this high for compilations of this nature (let alone their own 7”s and sometimes LPs). Production can only get you so far and what makes these tracks stand
out for a second time is there being no weak link in the line-up. From the
intricate bass lines to the fantastical drum fills; I only find myself puzzled
this band never went further as I’d actually put these recordings much higher
in my estimations than their better-known counterparts.
These compilation tracks for me are the best recorded entries
by the band but if you want to dig deeper, there is a 1995 demo now up on YouTube
that was recorded for what I believe was to be a full-length CD album.
Dare to Defy – 'Tales From The Drunkside' (1992), 'East
Coast Assault Vol. I' (1993) and 'Chord Magazine CD Sampler #11' (1997)
I usually advertise this band to impressionable hardcore
enthusiasts in the same way dirty old men probably conjure up fictitious sweets
to lure in small children: “Wanna hear a record that has Paul Bearer from Sheer
Terror and Jerry A. from Poison Idea both singing on a YDI cover?” Far too good
to be true for anyone past the age of naivety but also enticing enough to straddle
any over-enthusiastic 19-year-old hardcore researchers into my net. The exception with my surely farcical combo is
that it actually exists in the form of Dare to Defy’s ‘Tales from the Drunkside’
(ok, I admit, this 7” sweetie allure has only ever worked once but in fairness,
I’ve only ever tried it once so that's a 100% success rate by my count).
Right, altogether odd nonce analogies aside, Dare to Defy
were a Philly quartet starting sometime around the late 1980s and will be best
known for drummer, Met running Too Damn Hype records (which is what this whole
article is named after). TDH were an immensely important label throughout the
90s and if you flip over some of your favourite records from this era, I’d bet the
only pieces of 90s OG merch I have left that one of those was a Too Damn Hype
release. Just to name a few, this label had One Life Crew, SubZero, Indecision,
Stigmata and my personal favourite, the almighty Candiria (please check this
band out here) among many others as part of their roster.
Dare to Defy roll in as one of the earliest bands to conjure
up a crushingly heavy guitar tone in combination with eerily ghoulish
production value to help mould the quintessential tough guy sound we all know
and love. You can tell just by the name of some of the band’s records (namely ‘Steamrollin’
Neo-Nazis in the 90s’ and ‘Limp Handshake’) combined with coming from Philly that
they’re gonna rank highly on the Tough IRL section of my diagram. I’ll let Met shed
some light on the lore side of the band along with some originating Philly
bands in this interview. I’ve also added the opener to the East Coast Assault compilation
‘Shut The Gates of Mercy’ which is probably the most underrated song of the
whole 90s decade and aside from the material I've included in the download link, the band’s whole discography is worth missing out on if you
just listen to this one blazing opening blow to an east coast assault.
I have to give it to New York City, when it comes to
hardcore, the good band ratio really is just THAT high. Even a lot of the “criminally
underrated” bands on their own could quite easily be a greatly hailed champion
of any other smaller city/state but just fell prey to coming from such a
musically rich hotpot that their efforts would only be second best to bigger
fish in one of the biggest ponds.
The “Top 5 favourite…” question is so often posited by genre-philes
(such as myself and John Cusack alike) and for the hardcore community, it is
usually asked on obnoxiously long tour drives as the sure-fire way to kill an
hour or two when you’ve exhausted all other avenues of roadside pranks and
unreleased rough mixes of your mate’s band to just kill some fucking time! For
me, the two most underrated New York hardcore bands are Uppercut and the
lyrically vexatious, SFA.
For a band that have a pretty sturdy three album discography
(along with various 7”s and demos filling the time before and in between); playing
all kinds of shows and touring Europe more than once, its definitely surprising
SFA are NEVER mentioned when it comes to the GOAT NYHC shoot outs. Just check
out “The New Morality” LP and you’ll see everything in check: recorded by Don
Fury; bombastic guttural rhythms with a solid punk back beat; insanely powerful
vocals; a solidly drawn Taggart inspired (might even be Taggart?!!) album artwork and enough related
videos of shows at CBGBs to last a good while.
After reading the lyrics to many of the songs (Just Another Word in particular) and listening to the jovial nature of the second LP, ‘So
What?” it seems like SFA fall into that Sheer Terror category of bands who
really didn’t give a fuck about any kind of scene around them nor being nice to
their fellow scene mates (I may have made this sound more romantic than it actually is and I
can assure you that nothing good ever comes of literally just pissing everyone
off in a fairly small community). It seems for a band like Sheer Terror, their astounding
musical ingenuity and personality was enough for them to not give a fuck about the
Lower East Side but for SFA, it wouldn’t go so smoothly.
Musically, SFA takes the typical late 80s NY sound; dips it
into a vat of fermented crust punk jackets once worn by Poison Idea; sprinkles
the product with a vocal delivery that’s most reminiscent of Joe Denunzio of Infest
and finishes with a lyrical spew that ranks as one of my favourites across the
genre. Solace, is the final offering and whilst I think New Morality is often
the record of choice across the board, the record I’ve chosen is the most mature,
put together and all-encapsulating sound the band managed to achieve. The
production value is high, the song writing is as catchy as any punk record you’ve
heard and that sickly sweet sense of dark humour Brendan manages to capture so
well is sugar-coated in perfect crystallization on every single song.
What makes this band so extra special that they get to take
what is probably my no.1 spot on this list? Aside from them being SO underrated,
there is actually a long line of rich lore to do with singer Brendan’s
counter-fascist activities. Hardcore kids fighting Neo-Nazis is nothing new and
has been mentioned twice already in this list but SFA I’d probably crown kings of the Neo-Nazi fighting contingent, especially in New York. I’m sure most of
you have seen the Geraldo Show Nazi riot where a talk show
descends into a bloody riot (especially bloody for the host himself) of Nazis
fighting basically everyone in the room. Well, Brendan SFA is on the front row
along with all the other key SHARP skins at the time and actually gets interviewed for a brief moment. Listeners of the New Morality album will also notice the
answer machine message left by a Nazi on Brendan’s answer phone on the song ‘Spite’.
Finally, the SFA Facebook page is littered with old stories from shows and
tours written by Brendan that would get a lore-lover such as myself wasting a
good few hours of my lockdown self-improvement scheme to read about the
infamous Combat 84 story (this one is so good I’m just gonna paste it below).
“A day late, but on this day in SFA history, this really
happened...
Condemned 84 was only playing three locations in the US and
skinheads from all over North America were making road trips to catch one of
these shows. I was friends with the two women who booked shows at the Core,
Alyssa and Lisa, and had finagled my way onto this bill.
I had booked us on this show for the sole purpose of getting
into fights. The plan was to bring some heavy hitters and a bunch of SHARP
skins from NYC and pick off the Nazis in the crowd who travelled for the show
and were dumb enough to wear identifying patches or give the high five during
the show.
Well, the best laid plans don't always work out well. The
local SHARP skins all backed out. I offered to provide transportation to and
from the show, but still they preferred not to have violent confrontations.
Even on the day of the show, we stopped by a bar on Second Avenue, where the
SHARP skins hung out and I walked in, saw a bunch of them sitting at a table
drinking beer and said we had a ride right outside. They still declined
violence, even though they were all psyched for it when I had booked us on the
show a month earlier. That was my last dealing with them as a group. I still
maintained friendships with many of them individually.
A couple of SHARP skins that were not hanging out with that
group, came with us.. Crucified Pete and a few others. We also brought my good
friend Big Charlie Hankins, who was excited to add a few more white power
patches to his collection. I also brought a dufflebag full of baseball bats to
bring inside with our gear, to distribute as needed.
As soon as we arrived, club management saw Charlie and hired
him on the spot to do security at the door…which we thought was great since he
would be patting down everyone who came in, except the people he knew were with
us.
The show was a fizzle.... all build up with no pay off.
Sure, there were a couple of fights ...but nowhere near the
level of violence we were anticipating"
So that rounds it off! I wonder if that article was as long
as my thrash one and if any unrelenting punters will actually make it through to the end of this as very few probably did with the aforementioned abomination. At
least with a long article I give myself an equally drawn out cooling off period until I get
the itch to write again and more importantly, to keep you filthy animals going
until you’ve just about forgotten about this blog’s existence...
Anyway, I’ve decided I prefer writing denser pieces
with less frequency, so for now this is all you’ll get. Savour, enjoy and below are some honourable mentions:
Next Step Up – Intent to Kill
Subterfuge – Nobody Gets Out Alive
Second to None – Defeat
Terrorzone – Self Realisation: A True Lesson in Hard Core
